ASMA KHALID, HOST:
And for the second year in a row, Christmas in the city of Bethlehem doesn't feel full of the usual holiday cheer. It's in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has also faced violence amid the latest war in neighboring Gaza. For Reverend Munther Isaac of Bethlehem's Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, church services offer some respite.
MUNTHER ISAAC: We want to go to church. We want to pray. We want to do Christmas singing - hymns and so on - so that we feel that we are still in this land where Christmas began.
KHALID: After 14 months of war, Reverend Isaac, who is Palestinian, says no one is in the mood to celebrate today.
Reverend, last year, in your Christmas sermon, you had this to say.
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ISAAC: The world is watching. Churches are watching. The people of Gaza are sending live images of their own execution. We are asking here, could this be our fate in Bethlehem?
KHALID: How do you feel as you hear your own words now, a year later?
ISAAC: I'm really sad. Maybe all I need to do this year is play the same sermon because nothing has changed. You know, our emotions have been maybe desensitized to the idea that this is part of life. Children killed is part of life. It's sad that we felt back then that if we make such a strong call from Bethlehem during the time of Christmas, maybe the world will listen. But here we are 12 months later, and it's the same message. And we feel powerless, honestly, because all of these efforts we've done over the last few months to stop this war are in vain.
KHALID: You mentioned feeling powerless. I know that when some people might look at just the sheer amount of loss - more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. When people see that scope of suffering, I think some folks would say, it feels natural to perhaps question God's wisdom. How do you find solace in your faith in this moment?
ISAAC: This is when our faith is tested. And when you listen to the testimonies of people who are still in Gaza or those who were able to escape somehow or other to Egypt or so, they will tell you that, actually, it was their faith that helped them survive or that sustained them. Right now, we are literally drowning, and the only thing we have is to help one another, sustain and encourage one another. And faith plays an important role in all of this.
KHALID: Reverend, one argument we have heard is that when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, they killed nearly 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials, and that the actions that have taken place in Gaza, we hear, is Israel acting in self-defense. What do you say to those who make that argument?
ISAAC: It's ridiculous, really, and outrageous to claim that the current genocide taking place in Gaza, that has destroyed the entire civilization. Think of it - 80% of the homes are completely or partially destroyed. You mentioned, you know, 45,000 killed. These are the numbers that were counted. This is not counting those bodies that are in the streets or still under the rubble. It's much higher than that. How is that self-defense? How is the killing of 17,000 children self-defense? This is not about defending oneself. This is destroying an entire civilization under the pretext of self-defense.
KHALID: You know, we are also in a moment of such change that feels so different than last Christmas. The leader of Syria has been ousted, and Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel are at war. Where you are in the West Bank, it has become so much more volatile. How does all of this shape the way that you talk to your congregation?
ISAAC: We live in the unknown right now, given that, you know, a new American administration, a new Syria that we hope is not a new cycle of violence. And then, the Israeli government is determined towards annexing the West Bank. We don't know what that means on the ground. Of course, it means more land taken. That means no opportunity, no future for Palestinians, more restrictions. I hope I'm wrong, but we're bracing for the worst. And sumud has become a common Arabic word that we repeat these days. Sumud means persistence, resilience. And so we're preaching to one another that we need to have this resilience and sustain one another to survive these coming dark days.
KHALID: Reverend Munther Isaac with the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, speaking to us from the West Bank. Thank you very much for taking the time.
ISAAC: Thank you, Asma, for having me again. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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