Hamas has asked Muslims to “limit interaction” with Christmas celebrations in the Gaza strip. This restriction was included in an internal document issued on December 15 by Dr. Walid Owaidah, Director-General of the General Authority of Preaching and Guidance in the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Wakf and Religious Affairs. The document, addressed to Dr. Abdel Hadi al-Agha, Deputy Minister of the Wakf and Religious Affairs, is titled: “The Activities of the General Authority of Preaching and Guidance to Limit Interaction with Christmas.”
The document recommends Islamic preachers to take part in online campaign and issue fatwa against Muslims attending Christmas celebration. The number of Christians in Gaza Strip has reduced from 3,000 in 2009 to 1,000 in 2020. This attitude towards Christians and their celebrations show the basic Islamist character of the ‘liberation’ movement.
The Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA), a secular PLO group, expressed outrage over the Hamas decision, dubbing it “a blatant departure from the values of tolerance and brotherhood that have always prevailed among the Palestinian people, Christians and Muslims alike.”The group added that the decision was “a clear violation of both the [Palestinian] Declaration of Independence and the Palestinian Basic Law, which stipulate reject Intolerance and emphasize the right of all to freely practice their religious rites.”
The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Wakf and Religious Affairs on Saturday evening issued a “clarification” regarding the controversial decision. “Our policy is based on tolerance in Islam, which sanctioned freedom of worship,” the ministry said. “The Christians in Palestine in general, and in the Gaza Strip in particular, are partners in the homeland, the cause and the struggle, and we represent with them the highest values of human coexistence and have strategic relations with them. The [Hamas] government secures their religious rituals and protects their churches and places of celebration.”
(with inputs from The Jerusalem post)
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