The manger scene of the Baby Jesus swaddled in a Keffiyeh has created much commotion and attention. Even though the Vatican has removed the display, the consciousness-raising alone means that the image has had the intended effect.
We are talking front and center through religion about the plight of the Palestinian people.
This is not the first time someone has reinterpreted something for their own purpose. I have seen many iterations of Jesus: white, very white, swarthy, black. Many religions that have Jesus at the center of their theology have him displayed realistically on the cross, his body cradled in his mother’s arms, lovingly gazing down upon us in a portrait or looking upwards in an icon. As a babe in mother’s arms, as a man spreading the Word, at a bountiful supper, and as a martyr. And now swaddled in a keffiyeh. We use religious symbols to motivate the audience toward a vision or narrative. This is frequently for good and exemplary purposes and too often for malicious purposes.
The charge that this current manger display is Antisemitic is a particular, not universally shared Jewish perspective. Some deliberately embrace that evil message. I am sure that was not the intent of the Pope or the Church. And if the manger is allowed to be a message of hatred, it will have failed miserably in its mission.
Raising awareness of the plight of the Palestinians is important. Christmas is an essential Christian symbol of God’s love and our hope. Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards men is the universal message of the extraordinary celebration.
Can this awareness-raising symbol be channeled into constructive forces to promote the welfare of the Palestinian people, who have been victimized for too long? It is time for the people of goodwill to lay down their arms and reach out across the divide to each other. May love supplant the hatred that has kept both sides at war for too long. May the promise of Christmas resound in that troubled place of Jesus’ birth so that two people learn to live together in peace and security.
Merry Christmas!