Feature: Palestinians celebrate Christmas with historical traditions

Lights and ornaments decorated the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah, shining rays of hope amidst tensed situation and signaling the joys of the holidays season, where people celebrate Christmas and the end of the year in cozy family atmosphere.

At Rita and Mazen Totah's house, the decorations can be seen afar, where lights showing rein dears, Santa Claus and bells reflect the festivities of Christmas.

The Totah family celebrate Christmas dinner together, sharing gifts and quality time, amongst family, friends and neighbors. This year's Christmas is even more special since last year a wave of violence between Palestinians and Israelis overshadowed the season that passed without any celebrations or public festivities.

"The atmosphere in Ramallah this year is distinguished," said Mazan Totah, adding "this has happened because last year people were hit with depression and were not happy with the holiday or enjoy the joy of the celebration due to special circumstances in our region."

He explained that gifts are essential to this holiday. This tradition reflects the intimate relations and mutual respect among the Palestinians, especially for children.

"The gift is always a special thing in the holiday and it is also loved by the elders, and the atmosphere was very nice," he said.

Currently, about 20 percent of Palestinians are Christian, with the majority Muslims, but Christmas is shared amongst people from all religions. As a national holiday, it is celebrated by nearly all Palestinians.

Usually, public festivities include a church mass, Christmas carols sung in public, and celebrations such as the lighting of the Christmas tree. Besides, a Christmas parade is organized and bagpipe bands spread music and joy in the streets, along with people dressing up as Santa Claus to give out sweets.

During this two-day holiday, Palestinian families share a dinner table and exchange gifts. On Christmas day, neighbors and friends exchange visits, having home baked ginger cookies and chocolates.

After almost a month of preparations, Rita Totah woke up early on the holiday to start the preparations of the special dinner. She prepares many dishes and dessert, underlining that it is a special family event that happens only once a year.

"Christmas eve, we spend it in the kitchen preparing the dinner and delicious platters. We wait for the children to come over at night when we sit together on a dinner table that I prepared and it was very delicious," she said with satisfactory smiles on the face.

For Palestinians, this holiday is strongly tied to their longing for peace. The holiday spirit reminds the people of the message of peace and humanity, as well as strong social and family bonds.

Nina Totah, 22-year-old university student, said that what makes this holiday special is that it brings family close together and dissolves the boundaries between people.

"It is rare nowadays that we meet, as everybody is busy with their work. The most important thing is to be one family together, to unite and stop the growing evil in this world," she said. Endit