Baba black holiday gift bearer in egypt plus#

A Bethlehem-area church encases the cave where believers say St. The tradition of Santa goes back to the 4th century, when St. So the two meet to hand off merchandise in a hotel parking lot in Area C of the West Bank, where Israelis and Palestinians are both allowed to visit. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict hovers in the background: The Palestinian toy store owner doesn't have an Israeli military permit to travel to Jerusalem to his Israeli toy supplier, and the supplier is prohibited from traveling to Palestinian Bethlehem. 'But we are glad to be in the place where Jesus was born.' The Christians are becoming less and less in Bethlehem,' says Nadine Musallam, 18. One Christian family that Santa visited says it has applied for American citizenship. 'You have to know, in Bethlehem, we don't have a difference between Muslims and Christians.' 'Muslim Santa!' exclaims Maradona toy store owner Khalil Battah. Sabri Canaan, the man who dons the red suit and bearded mask, is a 30-year-old Muslim. Santa and his chauffeur do it all over again on Christmas Day, and for two more days in early January, when the city's Orthodox Christians celebrate the holiday. on Christmas Eve, and continue till midnight. The Santa tradition is kept alive in Bethlehem with help from a Muslim-owned toy shop called Maradona, which sends Santa to deliver the gifts its customers buy at no extra charge.

Baba black holiday gift bearer in egypt plus#

Israel's separation barrier and restrictions on movement, plus a sometimes uneasy coexistence with Muslim neighbors, have led some Palestinian Christians to seek better opportunities in the West. In Jesus' birthplace of Bethlehem, Christians have dwindled to a minority in recent decades. Now Santa greets children inside the church. Not anymore, since the Islamist group Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. In Gaza, there used to be a Christmas tree in a main square, and Santa used to go house to house delivering presents and distributing candies, says Kamel Ayyad, head of public relations at Gaza's Orthodox Church. She expressed surprise on learning this is not how Santa usually does it in the United States.Ĭhristmas is a time when the Middle East's Christian minority takes stock of its precarious status in a region where Christianity took root, but where conflict has affected many ancient Christian communities.Ĭivil war and ISIS have ravaged Syria, but this week in Damascus, Christians paraded in the street for the holiday. 'But each time the holiday arrives, I say, I have to. 'Every year I say maybe this is my last year,' Boukeleh says.

In the Israeli coastal city of Jaffa, Christian schoolteacher Vivianne Boukeleh, 43, makes Santa rounds to relatives and others - even to Muslim friends, and once to her Jewish hairdresser's home - dressed in a bearded mask and costume.