December 2023

 Dear Friends

I am writing to you this greeting the day before Christmas with a very heavy heart.  It is usually the time when the grandchildren and I would  be  busy preparing for the family gathering the next day.  My oldest grandson Omar,  the designer in the family,  and who is unable to be with us this year, usually comes up with a very creative Christmas tree.  But unfortunately and sadly, this year  I am unable to even have a  green branch on the mantelpiece.   Watching the atrocities against the people in Gaza makes one reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.  This short message is not meant to be a theological analysis, but an earnest call for repentance on behalf of all those complicit in enabling this  genocide to take place. 

We were hoping the Security Council would come up  with a resolution that would  put an end to this carnage, and we waited anxiously for the delays so that the security council would guarantee a no veto vote.  What a fiasco vote it was that eventually  passed with the abstention of both the USA and Russia,  which proves my point in my recent reflection regarding the redundancy  of the  UN in  its present structure.   Ironically it was considered a victory that the US did not veto the resolution.  I watched the representative of the Emirates who had proposed the resolution giving the American and British representatives a big hug for this “great achievement of allowing relief material to get into the Gaza Strip.”  No wonder Mr. Guterrez was greatly disappointed with such a resolution that could not possibly be implemented while the invasion and  bombing was going on.

 My immediate reaction was an Arabic saying which means that the rage and labor of a mountain delivered a mouse. 

تمخض الجبل وولد فأرا

With hope and best wishes for Christmas and peace throughout the New Year.   Samia 

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