Last week, my friend sent me a link to participate in our annual ‘secret santa’ gift exchange, and told me to put in a wish list so that the person gifting me wouldn’t go through a hassle. I pondered for a long time what I could put in because I already have everything I want — except for one thing: I want a ceasefire in Gaza. For the past 11 weeks, this has been my one true wish and prayer, for Gaza to see a permanent ceasefire. Not a ‘humanitarian pause’ or a ‘temporary ceasefire’ but for the ongoing genocide in Gaza to finally see an end. Exacerbated by the month of Christmas, this wish has been heavy on my heart, especially as a Christian struggling with the guilt of celebrating while the Christians in Palestine will see no Christmas. In Palestine — the place synonymous with the birth of Jesus Christ — Christmas is canceled. “If Christ were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble and Israeli shelling,” Reverend Munther Isaac told Al Jazeera. Palestinian Christian leaders from across different denominations collectively decided to abstain…
