Dear fellow activists, Palestinians and sympathizers,
In the last two months, we all have been witnessing a genocide in Gaza, as has the rest of the world. With tens of thousands of people martyred and wounded (70% of which are women and children) and with all of Gaza being on the brink of starvation: we don’t think this is a time for celebrating. This is why we say: let’s #CancelChristmas. Let’s make it a consumerless holiday, in mourning for so many people’s deaths and in solidarity with the suffering of Gazans. We call for this action to call for a permanent ceasefire for Gaza.
Christmas is coming soon—this is why we need to move fast. In Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, Christian Palestinians have decided to forego Christmas celebrations in solidarity with Gazans. We would like to follow this example, and we invite everybody to join us in this. #NoTime2Celebrate. This doesn’t mean to cancel the holiday totally but to cut back on our Christmas spending in protest to the horrible violence visited on Gaza. It’s no time to celebrate.
So here is our plea: Please join us, starting today until 7 January (Eastern Christmas Day). The idea is to have no celebrations, no big fancy dinners and no gifts. The Christian Patriarchs in Jerusalem have similarly called for a scaled back Christmas season, in respect for so many lives lost in Gaza and the deteriorated situation in the West Bank. Let’s have just a simple Christmas, without the conspicuous consumption. We can, as the Christian Palestinians in Jerusalem and Bethlehem have demonstrated, have a modest Christmas and like Jesus, show our solidarity with the poor and the needy, and show our grief for so many lives lost, and people injured. Let’s focus our celebration on humanity, our families, our meetings, our places of worship.
Note, for example, that Starbucks has lost billions of dollars, because activists have begun to boycott them in large numbers since the bombing began on 8 October. Also, on Monday, 11 December, we saw that people around the world answered a call for a global strike for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. So many people didn’t go to work and didn’t spend any money. In Amman, as well as in the Palestinian cities, streets looked completely abandoned. Can you imagine the impact we can have if millions of people decided to say today: #NoChristmas4Palestine_NoChristmas4Us? Stop the Christmas spending and send the important message that we want a permanent ceasefire now.
Will you help us? We would like you to spread our message to all of your friends, co-workers, neighbors and family, so they can likewise scale back on what they spend for Christmas. You can use the link of this website, you can copy this text, you can use the image or you can also make your own memes and captions. Please also post your own ideas on Facebook about making a simpler Christmas. Use also #GiveYourChristmas4Palestine
You can use the texts below to send to all your contacts on Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, X, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and the like.
This is an initiative of international activists and partners of CPT Palestine who are tired of standing by helplessly. TOGETHER we can make an economic impact! NOW is the time, because if not now, then WHEN? It’s time for a permanent ceasefire NOW. So please join us, because what we really need is a Free Palestine, equality and justice.
Don’t share the campaign too fast to to many people at once because that will get you blocked, so take some breaks!
If you like, you can donate some of the money you would be saving for aid to Gaza.
You can use all the hashtags, preferably together:
#CancelChristmas
#NoTime2Celebrate
#NoChristmas4Palestine_NoChristmas4Us
#GiveYourChristmas2Palestine
