Christmas is canceled: Community gathers at California State Capitol in solidarity with Gaza

SACRAMENTO — At the California State Capitol on Monday, Palestinians and Palestinian Americans announced that Christmas was canceled.

In Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ was born, local leaders scaled back festivities as the war between Israel and Hamas continues from Gaza to the West Bank. In Sacramento, a sister city to Bethlehem, crowds gathered Monday in solidarity and remembrance with those killed in the conflict.

Sarah Alzanoon has lost dozens of family members in Gaza.

“There is a larger outreach to what is happening on the ground,” Alzanoon said. “We’re not seeing news about it three weeks later.”

In the West Bank, an Israeli military raid occurred in Bethlehem just two days ago.

“This is something that a lot of analysts are calling genocide and no one uses that term lightly,” David Mandel said.

With Christmas effectively canceled in the city of Jesus’ birth, Sacramento’s Palestinian community came out to draw attention to the conflict abroad.

“This is bigger than religion,” Alzanoon said. “We have Palestinian Christians being affected by this and I don’t think that’s being talked about enough.”

People shared tearful stories, read the names of the dead and called others to action.

“My ancestors fled pogroms to come to this country,” Mandel said. “We should not be committing those same kinds of acts on Palestinians in Bethlehem or any other town.”

Members of the community feel this conflict has been different.

“It’s not a religious war, it’s an ethnic war,” Makeezz Sawez said. “People are being indiscriminately bombed.”

As the conflict continues, Pope Francis made mention of Bethlehem during his Christmas Eve mass saying the hearts of Catholics worldwide were in the West Bank city this holiday.