Preserving Palestinian culinary heritage... As a small pastry shop in Jerusalem, Zalatimo Sweets came to this world. Their journey started over a century ago, namely in Palestine in 1860. It all began with the "Mutabak" - a popular Arabian pastry.

Pals

@palsofnations

 

As a small pastry shop in Jerusalem, Zalatimo Sweets came to this world. Their journey started over a century ago, namely in Palestine in 1860. 

 

It all began with the "Mutabak" - a popular Arabian pastry. 

 

Mohammad Zalatimo had decided then to set up a small pastry shop in the old city of Jerusalem. 

 

The operation was kept on a small scale where Mutabak was offered as a take-away product for breakfast, in addition to a few specialty sweets that he made daily. 

 

Year after year, this one-man show proved to be very successful; he rented an adjacent shop and offered a seating area for the customers to enjoy his freshly made sweets.

 

Preserving Palestinian culinary heritage.

The first Zalatimo Sweets Shop in Amman, Jordan opened in 1986. It was an immediate success, accessible to anyone from the region and internationally.

https://x.com/palsofnations/status/1945110021668544890

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Carrying the hope of Christmas ... the children of Palestine

Saturday, December 20, 2025, Photos from the second day of the pastoral visit to Gaza, where His Beatitude Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, accompanied by His Excellency Archbishop William Shomali, presided over the Divine Mass in the parish, followed by the presentation of a Christmas play by the children of the parish, and concluded with the distribution of Christmas gifts to them, carrying the hope of Christmas   

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

@LPJerusalem

Palestine's Children of Gaza Nativity 2025

Palestine's Children of Gaza Nativity 2025

Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem issue a Christmas Message for their congregations and the to Christians around the world, 2025

  https://x.com/LPJerusalem/status/2003050636691317182/photo/2

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A baptism in Gaza today. Welcome the Holy Land’s newest Christian son

https://x.com/chunguskitten/status/2002766202427654609

Sunday, 21 December 2025, photos from the third and final day of the Christmas pastoral visit to Gaza, during which His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa presided over the Christmas Mass at the Holy Family Church. During the Mass, he administered First Communion to nine parishioners and the Sacrament of Baptism to a child  https://x.com/LPJerusalem/status/2002763147787030836/photo/3

 

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa celebrated First Communion and a Baptism in Gaza City this morning. Sunday, December 21, 2025. Day 807  https://x.com/chunguskitten/status/2002733600358429176/photo/1

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https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/21/middleeast/catholic-patriarch-gaza-church-christmas-mass-intl 

"At least 401 people have been killed since the ceasefire on October 11, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on Saturday. In total, 70,925 Palestinians have been killed and 171,185 people injured since October 7, 2023, when Hamas and other militant groups launched an attack on Israel, the health ministry said.  

CNN footage from Gaza City on Sunday showed loud bells chiming over the parish, where a baby, Mario, was baptized to mark “new life” and “new hope,” according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Red and gold baubles, green wreaths and ribbons were dotted around the Holy Family Church, and a tall Christmas tree draped in tinsel was erected in the corner. "  

CNN News: ‘We are still here.’ Catholic patriarch leads Christmas Mass at Gaza church bombed by Israel during the war 

“For over two years, a coordinated campaign to dismantle UNRWA has reached unseen levels, using disinformation as a weapon...” Philippe Lazzarini

 https://x.com/UNRWA

 UNRWA

@UNRWA

 

“Disinformation is an affliction around the globe. 

 

For over two years, a coordinated campaign to dismantle UNRWA has reached unseen levels, using disinformation as a weapon. 

 

One major myth is that UNRWA maintains #Palestine Refugees in a refugee limbo. 

 

The truth is that, wherever they are, refugees remain refugees in the absence of just and lasting political solutions to their plight. 

 

Dismantling UNRWA will not end the refugee status of Palestinians in the absence of a political solution. 

 

Those who would pay the price are the most destitute among the Palestine Refugees: those refugees living in the camps and having no alternative but UNRWA for basic services such as education and healthcare. 

 

Their only alternative is a genuine investment in peace and in future empowered and capacitated Palestinian institutions. 

 

Meanwhile fueling disinformation will be a distraction causing real harm to one of the most vulnerable populations across the Middle East.” – @‌UNLazzarini

 

https://x.com/UNRWA/status/2002982550864556519 

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 UNRWA Works  https://x.com/UNRWA

https://bsky.app/profile/unrwa.org

https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/unrwa-commissioner-general-over-two-years-coordinated-campaign

Philippe Lazzarini

@UNLazzarini

·

Dec 15

The ability of humanitarians to provide lifesaving assistance depends on strict adherence to the principles of humanity, independence, impartiality & neutrality. 

 

We cannot, under any circumstances, be part of efforts that violate these principles by discriminating against people in need of assistance or politicizing human suffering. 

 

This principle has always guided  @UNRWA’s work.

 

https://www.unrwa.org/ 

Cold is not a natural disaster when shelter is denied- After destroying over 85% pf Gaza's homes, Israel is blocking the entry of caravans and reconstruction materials

Euro-Med Monitor

@EuroMedHR

 Maha Hussaini

@MahaGaza

 

At least 17 Palestinians were killed when severely damaged homes collapsed on them during winter storms over the past month. 

 

Five children also died from hypothermia in makeshift tents Israel continues to block the entry of reconstruction materials and emergency shelters

 

https://x.com/MahaGaza/status/2003002839493496846 

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"The Christ child still lies among the rubble, reminding us that God chose not safety, not power, not palaces—but vulnerability and solidarity with the crushed of the earth. And yet now, rising from that rubble, stands a tree - a living tree. For me, this is a profoundly Palestinian image—and a profoundly Christian one. The tree is declaration. It is the tree of life. It is defiance in the face of death. It is hope planted where despair is expected to rule. The tree appears almost as if it grows out of the rubble itself. Not beside it. Not after it is cleared away. But from within it. This is our story." Rev. Munther Isaac

Rev. Munther Isaac منذر اسحق

@MuntherIsaac

 

Today I had the chance to visit Christmas Lutheran Church, where I served for more than ten years—eight of them as the main pastor. 

 

Returning to a place that shaped so much of my life and ministry is never an easy experience. It carries memory, prayer and appreciation. 

 

Under the faithful and courageous leadership of my dear friend Rev. Ashraf Tannous, the church made a deliberate and meaningful decision: to keep Christ in the Rubble—but to place it under the Christmas tree. 

 

This old-new crib spoke to me again. 

 

The rubble remains. 

 

The broken stones are still there. 

 

The Christ child still lies among the rubble, reminding us that God chose not safety, not power, not palaces—but vulnerability and solidarity with the crushed of the earth. 

 

And yet now, rising from that rubble, stands a tree - a living tree. 

 

For me, this is a profoundly Palestinian image—and a profoundly Christian one. 

 

The tree is declaration. 

 

It is the tree of life. 

 

It is defiance in the face of death. 

 

It is hope planted where despair is expected to rule. 

 

The tree appears almost as if it grows out of the rubble itself. 

 

Not beside it. Not after it is cleared away. But from within it. This is our story.

 

A cry from the heart and a call to action from a Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian

In this impassioned and incisive book, Munther Isaac challenges Western Christians’ uncritical embrace of Zionist theology and politics. Speaking from his unique vantage point as a prominent Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian, he proclaims a truth that is rarely acknowledged in Christian circles: Israel’s campaign to eliminate the Palestinian people did not begin after October 7, 2023. Rather, the campaign is a continuation of a colonial project with nineteenth-century roots that has, since 1948, established systems of entrenched discrimination and segregation worse than South Africa’s apartheid regime. 

Writing with close-up knowledge of conditions on the ground, and rooted in a commitment to nonviolence and just peace, Isaac argues that support for the State of Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza reflects a failure to apply a properly Christian theological critique to colonialism, racism, and imperialism. He calls on Christians to repent of their complicity in the destruction of the Palestinian people. And he challenges them to realign their beliefs and actions with Christ―who can be found not among perpetrators of violence, but with victims buried under the rubble of war.

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Dallas church’s Nativity evokes immigration detention centers, homelessness: The Nativity scene asks passersby to consider what it would look like if Jesus’ birth took place today.

Oak Lawn United Methodist Church’s Nativity scene depicts silhouettes of Mary and Joseph surrounded by chain-link fencing topped with razor wire. “I feel it doesn't make the story more political, it makes it more biblical. It invites us back into the raw and difficult nature of the true setting of the story,” said senior pastor Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison.    

Dallas Morning News story by Marcheta Fornoff 

 

Oak Lawn United Methodist Church’s Nativity scene depicts silhouettes of Mary and Joseph surrounded by chain-link fencing topped with razor wire. “I feel it doesn't make the story more political, it makes it more biblical. It invites us back into the raw and difficult nature of the true setting of the story,” said senior pastor Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison.... READ MORE  https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/2025/12/17/dallas-churchs-nativity-evokes-immigration-detention-centers-homelessness/

 &

Oak Lawn UMC Reveals Nativity Display Lifting Up the Journey of Migrant Families

Social Media Statement:

This installation on our front steps reimagines the Nativity in the reality faced by thousands of families fleeing violence, poverty, and political instability. The Holy Family were migrants seeking safety. In Dallas, many families face the same uncertainty.  At Christmas, we remember that God chooses to be with those the world pushes to the margins. May this scene call us to make room — in our hearts, in our city, in our policies — for the Christ who comes as an unhoused immigrant child.

Full Press Release:

Dallas, TX — Oak Lawn United Methodist Church has unveiled a powerful new public installation on its front steps this Advent season—an artistic reimagining of the traditional Nativity that places the Holy Family in the lived reality of thousands of migrants and asylum-seeking families today.

The installation invites the Dallas community to see the Christmas story through the eyes of those fleeing violence, poverty, and political instability. Reflecting on the piece, Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison, Senior Pastor of Oak Lawn UMC, said, “The Holy Family were migrants seeking safety. In Dallas, many families face the same uncertainty.”

By grounding the Nativity in a contemporary humanitarian crisis, the church hopes to spark deeper compassion and honest reflection during the holidays.

“At Christmas, we remember that God chooses to be with those the world pushes to the margins,” said Rev. Griffin-Allison. “May this scene call us to make room—in our hearts, in our city, in our policies—for the Christ who comes as an unhoused immigrant child.”

Oak Lawn UMC serves as a key community hub for hospitality ministries, including outreach to unsheltered neighbors and support for recently arrived migrant families through Dallas Responds. This installation reflects the congregation’s ongoing commitment to embodying solidarity, justice, and radical welcome.

The Nativity will be on display throughout the Advent and Christmas season. Community members are encouraged to visit, take photos, and reflect on how the story of Christ’s birth speaks into the urgent realities facing Dallas today.

Press Contact:
Rev. Ryan Wager
Associate Pastor & Operations Leader
Email ryan@olumc.org
Wireless 405-213-8944

 https://olumc.org/nativity-2025/

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