Children attend an protest in Martyrs square, Beirut, to show solidarity with the children of Gaza, on 26 December 2023. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Around 200 people, mostly mothers and children, gathered in Martyrs' Square in Beirut, Tuesday, to show solidarity with the children of Gaza, a day after Christmas, while the war still rages on between Israel and Hamas, and in southern Lebanon.
The "Christmas Gathering," under the slogan "From Lebanon to Palestine with love," was organized "spontaneously by Lebanese mothers who wanted to teach their children how to stand in solidarity with the children of Gaza, and Palestine in general," during the festive season, Dana Jaber Khatoun, one of the organizers, told L'Orient Today's photographer.
A woman giving a speech during a pro-Palestine protest in Martyrs square, Beirut, in solidarity with the children in Gaza, on 26 December 2023, while children hold banners. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
Khatoun explained that the event was planned in response to the feeling of helplessness experienced by this group of mothers in regards to the bloodshed in Gaza. So, they decided to "do something about it."
"We will keep teaching our kids about this cause, create more awareness, and continue trying to make a difference, even if it's a small one."
The program of the event entailed storytelling, a live band singing songs in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, and the screening of a message relayed by Gazan journalist Plestia Alaqad, who gained fame by covering the first two months of the war in the enclave before leaving to Australia with her family.
Live band performance event in Martyrs square, Beirut during an event in solidarity with the children of Gaza, on 26 December 2023. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
A message from the pastor of the historic Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Munther Ishaq was also screened.
Children in Lebanon also wrote solidarity messages to the children on Gaza, and a joint poetry reading of Refaat Alareer's poems was held.
Alareer was a writer, poet, professor, and activist from the Gaza Strip, and was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, earlier in December.
"The event was attended by mothers and children from Lebanon, but also from Palestinians who came from refugee camps across the country to attend the event, which is one of many that we are planning to hold in Lebanon," Khattoun concluded.
Earlier in December, dozen demonstrators, mostly women and children, sat with their mouths covered in a symbolic gesture, with the slogan “Gaza” or “Ceasefire now,” in front of the National Museum of Beirut, in solidarity with Palestine.
A mother had told our journalist Matthieu Karam that the silent demonstration was "to demand a cease-fire because children are being killed."
All Christmas festivities were cancelled in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank in Palestine to show solidarity towards the people of Gaza.
Since the war erupted between Israel and Hamas on Oct.7, 20,915 people have been killed in Gaza and 54,918 injured in Israeli strikes, according to the latest numbers from Gaza's Health Ministry.
