zimatravels

I lived in an Israeli Arab town in 1986 when I worked in a program to promote peaceful coexistence between Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews.  Shefaram is unusual in that Moslem Arabs, Christian Arabs, and Druse live there.

     MERRY CHRISTMAS!  They came to church dressed in all new clothes.  The weather was deceptively springlike, and there were far more than just one “real” Santa Claus parading down the street.  Unlike the American Santa Claus, the Arab Santa Claus wasn’t fat and chain-smoked.  In the creche in the church, Jesus was born in a cave instead of a stable.

     While the themes were familiar, the words were in Arabic.  The food was in abundant supply, but there was no turkey bulging with stuffing.  It was the first and only time I saw two beggars on the street.  I accompanied my Arab Christian neighbors to mass where these Catholics don’t kneel and have an 80-year-old Roman priest with parapsychological powers.

     Gifts are not emphasized for Arab Christmas, but the children’s faces lit up like kids anywhere when they saw several Santas ride by in a horse-drawn wagon rather than a sleigh.  The wealthier families pre-arranged for a Santa to come to their home to personally hand a gift to each child in the family.

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