Christmas in the Middle East: Joy and Tension Amid Uncertain Times

The Word of God says, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace” (Isaiah 55:12). For Christians across the Middle East, Christmas this year unfolded as a lived paradox of that promise. It was marked by moments of joy and communal warmth, yet simultaneously overshadowed by fragility, insecurity, and unresolved political and interreligious tensions. Across cities, villages, and refugee-scarred neighborhoods in the Middle East, believers marked the birth of Christ with gratitude and restraint, mindful that the freedom to do so is neither secure nor guaranteed.

Unresolved Tensions in Syria

In Syria, Christmas 2025 carried historic weight. For the first time since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024, and following more than a decade of devastating conflict, public celebrations returned to cities such as Latakia and Al-Qusayr in ways many described as unprecedented.

Streets were adorned with lights, church courtyards filled with worshippers, and Christmas trees stood once more in public squares. In Al-Qusayr, residents gathered at Mar Elias Church around a decorated tree in what the minister Issam Kasouha described as a “historic moment.” For many Syrians, these scenes represented far more than seasonal festivity. They symbolized a yearning to reclaim ordinary life and to rebuild a shared civic identity after years of sectarian fragmentation, mass displacement, and deep trauma. The Christmas season, with its focus on peace and incarnation, offered a rare moment for collective breathing.

Yet this fragile hope was quickly tested. Protests erupted across Syria after a Christmas tree was set alight in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah. The incident sent shockwaves through minority communities already anxious about their future in a shifting political landscape. While authorities offered assurances, the symbolic violence of targeting a Christmas tree was deeply unsettling.

The ruling party, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Sunni Islamist movement, announced that foreign fighters had been detained in connection with the incident and pledged to protect religious freedoms. Nevertheless, demonstrations spread as far as Damascus, underscoring how quickly confidence can erode in a country still grappling with unresolved grievances, armed factions, and fragile governance.

For Syrian Christians, Christmas this year was both a declaration of hope and a reminder of vulnerability. The celebrations illuminated the possibility of renewed civic life, yet also exposed the thin line between peace and fear.

A Fragile Glimpse of Peace in Bethlehem and Gaza

In Bethlehem, the city that stands at the heart of the Christmas story, the season remains a defining cultural, spiritual, and economic event. Traditionally, midnight services, festive processions, markets, and decorations draw both local Christians and international pilgrims. After two years of disruption, Christmas lights and markets returned in late December 2025, offering a cautious sense of renewal amid ongoing political tension and economic strain.

The motto for this year’s celebrations was “Arise and Shine,” drawn from the book of Isaiah. The phrase carried deep significance. Children gazed wide-eyed at the towering Christmas tree; scouts, both boys and girls, played bagpipes through the streets; and choirs lifted hymns cherished across generations in praise of the Child of Bethlehem. These moments of beauty and continuity carried particular significance in a context where normality is often fractured.

Yet the proximity of joy to suffering was unmistakable. Just 45 miles away, in Gaza, Christmas was observed with quiet determination rather than public festivity. Following a ceasefire, the tiny Christian community, numbering fewer than 600 Christians, gathered inside the Holy Family Church. There, they decorated a modest Christmas tree and sang carols, even as the Christian community remained displaced and in recovery after two years of war.

For many Gazan Christians, this was the first Christmas in years to feel even faintly normal, a fragile, precious glimpse of peace holding both gratitude and grief. As hymns rose, memories of lost family members and friends remained close. Celebration and mourning embraced, bound together by faith.

Violence and Vulnerability in the West Bank

Not all Christmas observances were peaceful. In the northern West Bank city of Jenin, a Christmas tree and Nativity scene outside the Church of the Holy Redeemer were deliberately set on fire in the early hours of December 22. The act caused partial damage to the display and sent a chilling message to the local Christian community.

Authorities reported that surveillance footage led to the arrest of three Muslims suspected of carrying out the attack. Police described the incident as an attempt to incite sectarian tensions, while church leaders condemned it as a “shameful and reprehensible act.”

In a powerful act, the community installed a new Christmas tree ahead of their Christmas Day service. The decision to proceed with worship and visible celebration was itself a testimony to faith.

Christians make up less than 1% of the West Bank population, and incidents such as this highlight the pressures they face, not only from extremist elements but also from the wider instability linked to regional conflict, economic hardship, and political uncertainty. The burning of a Christmas tree may appear minor in a landscape marked by daily violence, yet for minority communities it carries a heavy symbolic weight.

Celebration and Recognition in Egypt

In Egypt, Christmas this year carried a different tone, one shaped by visibility. Christians welcomed the recognition of Christmas Day as a national public holiday, a decision that affirms the place of Egypt’s Christian community within the nation’s social fabric.

While challenges remain, the public holiday provides a degree of protection, legitimacy, and freedom to worship collectively. Churches across the country marked the season with extended services, music, and community gatherings. Christmas trees, once rare, are now an increasingly familiar sight in public spaces.

“Christmas trees are becoming an increasingly familiar sight in the streets,” noted a Barnabas Aid researcher, “and many churches celebrate with extended services, filling the air with joyful songs in honor of the Baby of Bethlehem.”

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, in his Christmas address at the Nativity of Christ Cathedral, urged Egyptians to remain united and hopeful, stressing love, respect, and national solidarity as foundations of social harmony. He warned against division and expressed appreciation for Egypt’s historic Christian community.

For many Egyptian Christians, these developments signal cautious progress rather than full security. Recognition does not erase discrimination, nor does visibility eliminate vulnerability. Yet the ability to celebrate openly, to hear hymns sung without fear, and to gather as families and congregations remains particularly meaningful at this time.

Joy Intertwined with Tension

Taken together, these varied experiences across the Middle East reveal a persistent reality for Christians in the region: moments of genuine delight are rarely unaccompanied by tension. Celebration exists alongside fear; hope alongside grief.

Yet Christmas itself speaks into precisely such spaces. The incarnation did not occur in comfort or certainty, but amid displacement and threat. For Middle Eastern Christians, this theological truth is lived rather than abstract.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

As believers gather in churches, homes and – where possible – public squares, their celebrations testify not only to faith but also to endurance. They remind the global Church that the survival of Christian communities in the Middle East is not merely a matter of heritage, but of living witness.