Dear Friends,
Please do not send me a Hallmark Christmas cards because the town of Christmas is now a prison for the children of God he entrusted with Beitlehm. Please do not bother go to Walmart and buy me a Made in China novelty that I have no use for and will be in my 60 gallons recycling box. Please do not feel offended and No, it is not because I was born and raised a Muslim and supposed to celebrate only the Fitre and Adha Eid. Christmas was a holiday to celebrate the king of peace in the land of peace where everyone lived together in peace.  The hometown of the King of Peace now is a prison that forgot the meaning of joy and awash with blood although someone’s blood was shed for it 2004 years ago.

Please tell me how can I celebrate Christmas and there are more Christians from Nazareth in Sydney, Australia than in Nazareth because “ the Chosen people” built a wall and drove millions of the children of Abraham and followers of the king of peace away from their homes. How can I celebrate Christmas where the Christians of Nazareth cannot break bread with their brethren and fellow Christian in Beitlehm.  How can I celebrate Christmas when the believers in Cairo, Beirut and Damascus are welcomed with guns and humiliation to the homes of their brethren who welcomed them for centuries before.

But I will celebrate Christmas one day. I will celebrate Christmas when the people of Beitlehm can go to Halab Alshahba * and follow the footsteps of Abraham and Sarah.

I will celebrate Christmas when I can ride a donkey from Halab to Damascus and Beirut to visit the Capuchian churches where the Muslims who attended the services with their Christian brothers and sisters shared the joy of Christmas just like the Christians shared with them the joys of Eid Aladha.  I will celebrate Christmas when I can walk the streets of Beirut with Henry who lives in San Francisco and left his home in Beirut because some one thought that his Jewish faith meant support for the fascist who tarnished the land of peace, The home of the king of peace.

*  The historical events recorded indicate that father Abraham milked his cow at the gates of the city to feed his children hence the name of the city Halab Alshaba. Halab means milked and Alshaba means cow.