A Star In The East

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wael al najjar-1tent
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From top: Wael Najjar holding his brother Fares; their home in Gaza; Shahd Al Najja, one of ten people living in the tent (centre).

The ‘Irish In Gaza’ write:

How far is it to Bethlehem – not very far. 61 miles to be exact.

The light from inside gives the makeshift tent a beautiful orange glow against the darkening cobalt of the Palestine night. Winter-clear stars spangle in the frosty Gaza sky and the fronds of palm trees, visible in silhouette, give a ubiquity to the scene – one familiar to Christians the world over. All is calm, all is bright – but this belies the reality of the situation.

Inside the flimsy shelter – ineffectual against the Middle Eastern winter winds and rain, a baby, just a few weeks old is asleep in the arms of his mother. Her face is careworn, she has been crying.

The Al Najjar family of two adults and eight children were driven from their home that now lies in ruins beside where they have taken refuge in the mish mash structure of corrugated metal, UN food sacks, sheets of plastic and wooden pallets.

During the summer’s onslaught, they fled with the clothes on their back and all they could carry – not much – to the refuge of a UN school. Now these possessions, and little more, are all that they have.

With over 110,000 similar cases, the UN are finding it hard to provide adequate aid to all those who need it. Less than 2% of the donor aid donated by the international community has made it into Gaza, sitting instead on the border; caught up in political wrangles including demands for pathological monitoring of every item that enters Gaza.

This is despite the fact that Israel’s siege of Gaza, now in its 7th year, is illegal under international law. Besides the lack of food, clothes, bedding, electricity and water – the much trumpeted reconstruction of Gaza is an illusion – the UN’s Shelter Cluster have said it will take more than 20 years to rebuild Gaza at the current rate.

Meanwhile, in the deep mid-winter, while frosty wind makes moan, baby Fares Al Najjar has no crib for a bed – he sleeps on a mattress on the cold ground, huddled with the rest of his family.

And across 60 miles and 2000 years, we are certain that Jesus wept.

The ‘Irish In Gaza’ is a number of Irish volunteers on the ground supporting people (including the Najjar family) displaced by fighting in Gaza. They wish to remain anonymous.

Pics: Anne Paq and Irish In Gaza.

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14 thoughts on “A Star In The East

  1. ABM

    But these Irish people are not “in Gaza”, are they? They’re in a secure hotel room on expenses (the donors really should know better).

    These international social justice warriors are quite happy to invoke Jesus when it suits their agenda; yet they’re silent when it comes to hatred of Israel, when Christians are tortured and killed in Turkey or Egypt or when so-called community leaders in Gaza are firing rocks or designing rockets. If any of the families even so dared speak out against these community leaders, they’d be on the street (i.e. not a tent). It’s all very fine these professional protesters off in Israel for Christmas – I hope the Facebook photos are to your liking. Christianity is the culture these international social justice warriors inherited, benefitted from and were brought up in; yet Islam is the religion of peace and Christianity caused AIDs in Africa.

    1. Surely They Wouldn't Lie To Us

      Israel is hated because of its actions, they are a right wing racist state.
      They can no longer hide beside the Anti Semitic card people don’t buy that crap anymore.
      Happy Xmas

      1. ABM

        How do you think those with a homosexual inclination get on in Gaza?

        I suspect 1) they’d find it hard to get a tent together and 2) adherents to the “religion of peace” have more pressing issues to be worrying about than sniffing around for the next man (though I’m sure there’s someone angling to do a PhD on the gender identity of Palestinian transgender men out there somewhere – if only they could get the funding…)

  2. bisted

    …the israelis killed and injured Palestinians today in Gaza as they do most days. Today it was air strikes and shelling….but their day will come…the strength in the faces of those children guarantees it.

    1. shitferbrains

      They killed one of the gunmen who opened up on troops inside Israel . But don’t let the truth get in the way of your prejudice. But nice to see UNWRA doing the job that the government of Gaza – elected, so I’m assured – should be doing if they could be bothered to take time off from rearming and tunnel building.

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