Syrian girl asks Santa to bring 'love' instead of gifts
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E-mail Xinhua, December 24, 2012
"Dear Santa, please do not bring gifts this Christmas, but bring clothes and blankets to the homeless children. I know that you can not bring security and stability, but could you please bring my people love pills from your magical land? All I want is for my old Syria to come back! Do you think it will?" Kinda, a young girl from the Syrian capital of Damascus, wrote on her Facebook page to Santa.
She wishes that the "love of the universe" would be contained in pills for Syrians to take in order to love each other and stop the fighting that has engulfed the country for 22 months and claimed the lives of tens of thousands.
With the upcoming of the Christmas, many Syrians expressed their wish on social networking sites. Some posted black humor; some were cynical and others expressed hearty wishes for Syria.
A widely-shared message was meant to give Santa some "advices" before he comes to Syria this Christmas.
"Santa, when you come this year, don't forget your ID card because we have too many checkpoints. And please don't wear your red robe because the blood here has reached people's knees and we now hate this color. But most importantly, you have to lose some weight because a lot of people here are starving, so it's not appropriate for you to come with your big belly hanging out."
Another picture which has also swept the internet here is a portray of Santa dressed in military fatigues and holding a bag filled up with rifles.
Amid this gloomy atmosphere, Syrian Christians will not celebrate Christmas as they used to do, as the country is experiencing its worst ever crisis in decades. They decided to limit their celebrations to carols and charity bazaars.
The only thing that has remained unchanged is the Christians' insistence not to leave the land of their ancestors.
"We have a habit that every year at the Christmas time, we make charity bazaars and we raise the funds in favor of the poor families," Madam Nimr said while arranging her goodies at one of the charity bazaars in the Qassa district in Damascus.
This year, our feast is like no other, she said. "This year the feast comes as we are sad for Syria. We are challenging everything and we said that we have to make this bazaar and to show that Syria is still fine and God willing will stay fine and we will try our best to heal the wounds of those who have suffered and got displaced. We will carry on with our duty toward our people and our country," Nimr said.
For the families in Syria, they are usually very busy few days before Christmas. They wrap presents, bake cookies, prepare turkey, and hang stars and lights on Christmas trees.
They usually decorate their balconies with brilliant lights and the festivities start from the beginning of December to the New Year. Some people wear Santa Clause outfits and wander alleys to distribute sweets and chocolate to children.
However, they now prefer to stay indoors out of fears of being killed or kidnapped especially following the recent threat by militants in Syria to carry out attacks against Christians backing the government.
Jabhat Al Nusra, al-Qaida-affiliated group that has claimed responsibility for many bombings in Syria and has emerged as the most powerful fighting group amidst the Syrian rebel opposition, has reportedly stated that it will apply the Islam Sharia in the post-Assad era, stoking fears among Syria's minorities, including Christians, that their religious freedom will be abolished.
Moreover, militants fighting against the Syrian government have warned two predominantly Christian towns in the central region of Hama, saying that they will be attacked if they do not "evict" military forces.
Islamist rebels, in a video message posted on Saturday, warned Mharda and Sqilbiya in Syria's central province of Hama that they will be attacked if they do not evict government forces.
Still, Patriarch John X Yazigi of Antioch and All the East for the Greek-Orthodox Church stressed few days ago that Christians would remain in Syria alongside the Muslims to face the outside challenge that seek evil for Syria.
"We are advocates of peace, love and tranquility as we are celebrating the Christmas," he said, adding that "We have to remember the divine saying: Do not be afraid, we bring you great joy."
"We, Muslims and Christians, stand together, shoulder to shoulder, and will continue to withstand difficulties and are confident that the face of Christ will not miss this land from where Christianity was given birth."
"Syria is our homeland and we encourage all our people to stay in it and the Patriarchate would seek all ways and means for help, " he said.
Syria's Christians, comprising around 10 present of the country 's 23 million inhabitants, have been known of their loyalty to the Syrian government, fomenting thus the resentment of the Syrian rebels who work to overthrow the Syrian government.
They were blamed by the rebels for blocking access to the capital, which has been their most haunting dream to attain their goals.
By the end of November, two deadly car bombs exploded in a Damascus suburb of Jaramana, mostly populated by Christians and Druze minorities, both of which are loyal to the government, and killed at least 34 people.
The two blasts topped several previous attacks that targeted Christians' quarters in and outside the capital.
Christians, since the start of the conflict in Syria in Mid- March 2011, have chosen to remain neutral, but they later taken the government's side out of fear of the rising danger of extremists in the country.
Lights of Syrian churches have dimmed and the sounds of their bells sputtered under the brunt of the prolonged crisis that has strained and exhausted all Syrians alike.
