The Nativity of Jesus could never have happened in 2026

 

Photo from the 'Vatican News' media

Earlier this month the Galway Advertiser newspaper published my letter entitled "The Nativity of Jesus could never have happened in 2026."

I, as with the vast majority of the Irish people and indeed of the whole world, am horrified by the utter brutality of the Israeli occupation forces (both the military & the colonists) in the West Bank and Gaza and had to 'put pen to paper' once again.

But I was inspired also by Pope Francis's inauguration during Christmas 2024 of the "Nativity of Bethlehem 2024" scene placed in the Vatican which featured the baby Jesus lying on a Palestinian keffiyeh. The scene was crafted by Palestinian artists Johny Andonia and Faten Nastas Mitwasi from Bethlehem and featured olive wood figures of Joseph and Mary with the infant Jesus swaddled in a black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh. It gave due recognition to the present day sufferings of the Palestinian peoples whether they are Muslim, Christian or secular. 

 

My letter below:

The Nativity of Jesus could never have happened in 2026

 

It was only a few weeks ago on January 19th that Christmas Day was celebrated amongst the oldest Christian communities in the world, namely in the Middle East. It got me to reflect on the story of the Nativity or birth of Jesus and its significance in the 21st century.

The story is well known. Joseph walks alongside his heavily pregnant wife Mary sitting on a donkey as they journey across difficult terrain from their home in the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Joseph’s ancestral home of Bethlehem in Judea to register for a census required by the imperial Roman authorities. Once there they found there was no room available to rent for their stay. So they had to make do by taking shelter in a stable amongst animals where Mary subsequently gave birth, laying the new born baby in an animal feeding trough (manger). Singing angels appeared in the night sky and asked shepherds looking after their flocks of sheep in the hills above Bethlehem to go to the stable where the baby Jesus lay. Nearly two weeks later three magi or priests from lands far to the east of the Jordan River followed a star to Bethlehem to present gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the new born infant and family. As a result of their visit though, soldiers later came to Bethlehem to carry out the orders of King Herod (the ruler of the Roman vassal state of Judea) to kill all baby boys under the age of two in order to stop the fulfillment of a prophesy that one of them would become a future "King of the Jews". To save Jesus from certain death, the family fled Judea and took refuge in Egypt. They only returned to Nazareth after the death of Herod.

In spite of the poverty and terror in the ‘Holy Land’ during the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius and his local client ruler King Herod, it is unlikely that the Nativity could occur in 2026.

For a Palestinian Arab from Nazareth would be generally forbidden from traveling to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank even if it was his ancestral home. The same holds for Palestinians going in the opposite direction. Even if they managed to get a permit from the occupying military power, they would have to go through multiple Israeli checkpoints, a eight metre high separation wall as well as encounter illegal settlements and their armed Jewish residents who are increasingly and violently taking over Palestinian lands (against international law) through attacking, evicting and killing the indigenous population. Where Palestinians have being forced by an Israeli campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide to escape to nearby Jordan or Egypt they, unlike the family of Jesus who temporarily fled to Egypt to save their lives, would be able to return to their homes, which more than likely would be occupied by Jewish colonists.

Nor would the three Magi ever be allowed access to Bethlehem in order to give gifts to a new born child. It is probable that the Magi were members of the Persian priestly caste of Zoroastrianism, then the main religion of the Parthian Empire centred on what is now Iran (formerly Persia). Few if any Iranians today would be allowed to visit Bethlehem by the occupying state. Nor would frankincense and myrrh and be so readily available as gifts. Grown primarily in war-ravaged Somalia and Yemen, the frankincense and myrrh trees are facing major threats from climate change, over-exploitation and population growth.

The heavenly sounds of angels singing have been replaced by the sounds of armed drones.

But there are other aspects of Palestine/Israel in 2026 that evokes the story of the Nativity. As in the time of Jesus the people of Palestine use donkeys to transport people and goods, this time though in Gaza to flee Israeli bombardment.

Whilst Jesus was born in an animal’s stable, today so many Palestinian women in Gaza give birth in the unsanitary conditions of tents made from plastic and tarpaulin as their homes and hospitals had been deliberately destroyed by the Israeli military.

Shepherds like those that came to worship Jesus at his birth still live in Bethlehem but their lives, lands and sheep are threatened daily by armed Zionist colonists.

The narcissism and tyranny of Tiberius and Herod emulates in so many ways that of Trump and Nethanyahu, both groups of rulers accepting or implementing a collective slaughter of civilians.

Two thousand years after Jesus, Christianity faces extinction in the land of its birth due to colonisation and ethnic cleansing against the indigenous Christian and Muslim populations in the occupied West Bank and genocide in Gaza.

Jesus message of peace and ‘love thy neighbour as thyself’ in 2026 is more important than ever before

Keeping Alive best of Irish Xmas traditions

Cepta and myself have fond memories of our childhood Christmases and the stories that our parents told us of their own youthful days at this very special time of the year.  We did indeed experience many of the characteristics of today’s Christmas such as Santa Claus, a Christmas tree in the living room and special programmes on the TV station. Nevertheless it was then first and foremost a deeply religious festival of Christian thanksgiving which our parents expected us to respect and to observe.

In my father’s (& mother’s) time…

On winter evenings around the fireside, mom, dad and particularly my grandparents, would tell stories of their own harsh poverty-stricken Christmas in a rural Ireland before the era of plastic trees, glittering baubles, twinkling electric lights, expensive gifts and sumptuous festive dinners. In those bygone days they would get up early and gather branches from Holly (holy) trees in the hedgerows to decorate their homes. For them the thorns and red berries symbolised the bloodied crown of thorns of the crucified Jesus. But the sacredness of this native Irish tree goes back thousands of years earlier, when it was recognised as a protector of Nature, with its red berries providing a rare source of food to the birds in the depths of darkest winter, and a reminder too of the resurrection of life during the coming Spring.  Lots of families made their own wooden figures for Nativity scenes that were placed prominently in the kitchen and which was a microcosm of the larger crib in the local parish church (a custom introduced by Francis of Assisi during the European Middle Ages).

Morning mass, where they happily engaged with all the cousins and neighbours, was followed in the late afternoon by a family meal comprising exotic foodstuffs not consumed at any other time of the year. Before refrigeration, a key element was the Christmas pudding (kept in a recycled metal biscuit tin), comprising fruits that had been dried out and stored from the autumn harvest with a generous lashing of home distilled whiskey (poitín) even though my parents throughout their lives hardly ever drank alcohol (Dad was a lifelong ‘pioneer’).  As in the modern era, the main delicacy was poultry. But rather than the American-originated turkey, they usually had the luxury of enjoying one of their own geese. 

But in the lives of ordinary people, meat was then a rarity. It was only normally consumed on Sundays (the ‘Sunday roast’) and on important religious/seasonal festivals.

This celebratory meal was primarily a gathering for the extended family, when those bothers and sisters who had gone to work in Dublin or had emigrated to nearby Britain would, at least before they got married, try to travel home for the most important day in the Christian calendar.

As was the custom at the beginning of every mealtime in Irish Christian homes in times past, a prayer was recited in thanks for the food that was about to be served.

On Christmas night, a simple wax candle was lit and placed in the window. It represented the ‘Star of Bethlehem’ that guided the ‘wise men (possibly Zoroastrian magi from the land of or modern day Iraq or Iran), with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, to the livestock barn where the newborn baby lay.

In the days before rural electrification, it must have been an awe-inspiring sight for children to look across a darkened Irish countryside vibrating with small flickering candle-lights emanating from isolated farmers’ cottages. It was as if the heavenly night sky had become one with the Earth.

So in honour of our parents for this and all Christmases, our family (as with so many other families) continue to observe some of the best of the old Irish Christian traditions. We decorate the walls with holly, make a Star of Bethlehem backdrop for an internal Nativity scene, place candles on the windows and doorways with some family members attending the local church and then enjoying a festive meal together.

Whilst I have many disagreements with the Catholic Church stretching back to my teens, nevertheless I have always being an avid follower of the great inspirational progressive, radical, pacifist, non-sectarian, communal feminist figure known as Jesus Christ.

So to all my atheist, pagan, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and Hindi friends may I wish you all a peaceful and joyful Christmas and New Year.