Eugene Doyle reflects on the dire outcome for babies and children in Gaza, at this time, and urges us to do all we can to bring to a close Israel’s war on Palestinians.

THE CHRISTMAS CONCERT at St Mary of the Angels in Wellington was wonderful. The Bach Choir, Chiesa Ensemble and excellent soloists sent a thrill through my body. But the final piece, Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria” (RV 589), unsettled me.  

We know the Gloria as a traditional element of the Catholic Mass, and the maestro’s version is a perennial Christmas favourite. But hearing it again in 2024, in the middle of the Gaza genocide and Israeli landgrab, it must call us to more than turning up to church and enjoying the choir. How can we translate Gloria in excelsis Deo to communicate today?

Gloria in excelsis Deo. Glory to God in the highest.

The best way to venerate is to emulate. This gave rise to the American bumper sticker theology of “WWJD”, What Would Jesus Do? — quite a practical question. The curious part is they come up with the craziest answers. American bombs, delivered by Israeli soldiers, have killed thousands of Palestinian children and severely injured others.

A year ago, in the early days of these crimes against humanity, I heard a life-changing sermon by Palestinian minister Munther Isaac, delivered in the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. He spoke about “Christ in the rubble”. At that time he feared not just for Gaza but for all of Palestine. He said: “We are tormented by the silence of the world. Leaders of the so-called Free World lined up one after the other to give the green light to this genocide against a captive population.”

We are approaching a second Christmas and the situation for Palestinians is far worse. Northern Gaza is facing what one United Nation official called “an apocalypse”. The Israelis are refusing access to aid organisations. The UN’s Volker Türk said: “As we speak, the Israeli military is subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of starvation.” He insisted that a massive expansion of aid for the Gazans is the most Christian thing we can do this Christmas.

Governments are not only witnesses to genocide, they are participants. New Zealand is actively supporting Israel on multiple fronts including sending troops to the Red Sea as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian. US B52 bombers and UK jets are attacking Yemen, a country already wracked by hunger thanks to Saudi Arabia and the West, and we have troops there as well.

Israel is now giving Lebanon the Gaza treatment — bombing the people from a distance which only triggers more misery. If the war between Iran and the West breaks out, millions could be forced to head north into Europe. As one commentator pointed out about Westerners: for people who don’t seem to like refugees, they sure know how to make them.  

Heroic officials like Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, have published reports trying to activate people across the globe to protest the killing. Major reports such as “Anatomy of a Genocide” (March 2024) and “Genocide as colonial erasure” (October 2024) are well worth reading. 

Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. And peace on earth to people of good will.

Jesus, a Palestinian, died a violent death at the hands of a colonial regime working in concert with local elites. We know where his sympathies would lie today — with the refugees, the starved, the sick, the persecuted. 

When confronted with something on this scale, it is important we refrain from despair or helplessness. We can be part of building a global movement of solidarity with suffering humanity. 

• This is a time for activism eg, join demonstrations in support of Palestine. They bring good people of all faiths and outlooks together. 

• Tell your bank and your stockbroker (if you have one) to divest from Israel. If you are an ASB customer, check out the Don’t Bank on Apartheid campaign. 

• Donate to organisations like Justice for Palestine.  

• Gift books on Palestine for Christmas. I recommend The 100 Years War on Palestine by Palestinian-American writer Rashid Khalidi and A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe.

• Expand your news sites. Al Jazeera is the best mainstream media site. Jadaliyya.com is edited by distinguished scholar Mouin Rabbani. Middle East Eye and Middle East Monitor are more informative than our major news sites.

• Write to Parliamentarians, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters, about your concerns, eg, that it is time to join South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ); to expel the Israeli ambassador in protest; to take our US ally to task for their part in the genocide; to call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire; to withdraw NZ troops from Operation Prosperity Guardian; that New Zealand must live up to its obligations under the ICJ ruling 19th July 2024 “not to recognize as legal the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Territories and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation”; to restore and massively increase funding to UNRWA and to condemn attacks on the United Nations and to call genocide by its name.

Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram. You who take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.

Jesus was not born in a stable so that thousands of Palestinians could be born in tents. If God so loved the world, do we imagine our loving God would approve of the violence being meted out to 2.3 million Palestinians this Christmas? Or the continuing violence in Ukraine, Sudan and other parts of the world.

Would God forgive the leaders of all the Western governments, including New Zealand’s, who have supported this daily slaughter of the Innocents?

The Babe Jesus isn’t the only baby we should be caring about this Christmas. All people of goodwill need to oppose these crimes and do all we can to bring to a close Israel’s war on Palestinians.

Miserere nobis. Have mercy upon us. 

Come on, New Zealand, let us support the Palestinian people in their hour of need. 

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 299 December 2024: 4-5