Christmas shopping was disrupted, and a traditional Christmas display was put in doubt by “pro-Palestine” protesters in Melbourne, Australia, recently.
Myer, an Australian retail giant, canceled the festive unveiling of its traditional Christmas window exhibit after “Pro-Palestine” protesters announced plans to hold a rally in front of the store. This was the 69th annual display and will remain until January.
The store released a statement explaining its decision:
“In light of recent developments and to ensure the wellbeing and safety of customers and team members, we will no longer hold an event on Bourke Street Mall for the unveiling of our Christmas windows,” a spokesperson said.
“Myers’ Christmas windows have long symbolized joy and community, and we remain committed to providing a safe and positive experience for all visitors.”
In response, the protesters announced they would not hold their “Crash the Christmas Windows” protest, though a handful of flag-waving protesters continued to protest at the store in Melbourne’s Central Business District, or CBD. Despite their announcement that they would not protest the unveiling on Sunday, a handful of protesters did attend, chanting, “While you’re shopping, bombs are dropping,” and “Shame on you” to passers-by.
Amy Settal, the protest organizer, explained their motives to the media.
“The intention was to interrupt the media spectacle and economic gain sought by Myer,” Settal said. “The children coming to see the Myer Christmas windows were never a target because children are not a target.”
“Pro-Palestine” group Disrupt Wars had shared the Crash the Christmas Windows event on its social media accounts.
“Christmas is canceled, and there will be no joy or frivolity while children in Gaza are massacred,” a social media post read.
It is unclear what the connection is between Australian holiday retail and the war in the Middle East.
Jacinta Allan, the premier of Victoria, was furious over the decision, saying the group had “chosen to politicize a beautiful event for children.”
“I’m just as mad at all the others who have quietly stoked this division and egged them on,” she wrote on social media.
“Blocking the Christmas windows won’t change a thing in the Middle East, but it will let down a bunch of kids in Melbourne. Who does that help?”
The premier said that while people had a “right to demonstrate,” they did not have a “right to divide.”
“We cannot let ugly protests ruin a beautiful Christmas tradition, and we cannot let violence, division and vilification ruin what makes Victoria great,” Allan wrote.
Speaking on 3AW Radio, the premier singled out the Victorian Greens, accusing the political party of using “conflict in the Middle East to bring further division and conflict into Melbourne.”
She said most Victorians were “sick of it.”
I am furious that a small group of people have chosen to politicise a beautiful event for children.
I’m just as mad at all the others who have quietly stoked this division and egged them on.
— Jacinta Allan (@JacintaAllanMP) November 14, 2024
In a related story, an antisemitic Tiktoker called on her 50,000 followers to “make Christmas Palestinian.”
Fiona Ryan of Salisbury, England, was found guilty in September of posting anti-Semitic material. At her hearing at the Magistrates Court, she apologized but told District Judge Timothy Pattinson that the posts were not anti-Semitic. Her posts compared Ashkenazi Jews with Nazis and made false claims about Jewish doctors performing sex change procedures on children. She claimed her posts were protected as free speech.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Gavin Sumpter disagreed, stating,”Fiona Ryan sought to hide behind the right to freedom of speech, however, the court found that her posts and videos were grossly offensive.”
“Her vile rhetoric reached a wide audience and has caused real harm in the Jewish community, the impact of which she was fully aware of,” he added.
The judge ruled in favor of the prosecution, saying, “Any reasonable person would find all of this material featured in this trial grossly offensive” before finding her guilty on all four charges. Last week, she received a sentence of 20 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months.
She responded to the sentence by posting a TikTok video urging her followers to “make Christmas Palestinian.”
Ryan was wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab head covering, around her neck. Popularized by Yasser Arafat, the Egyptian founder of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the keffiyeh has come to symbolize a call for violence against Israel.
“What I think we need to do is make Christmas Palestinian as much as we possibly can,” Ryan said in the video. “That means decorating your tree with perhaps some Palestinian decorations, maybe telling your family, your children about how Jesus was a Palestinian, and how Christmas is a Palestinian story.”
“Mostly, it’s about supporting Palestinian businesses, whether that’s with presents, whether that’s through donations, however you want to do it.”
“The most important message that we get out this year is that Christmas is Palestinian. Make Christmas Palestinian again … Do this. Let’s make this Christmas the most Palestinian Christmas that ever was.”
@fiona.ryan05 #christmas #christmas2024 #palestine #fionaryan #diplomacyisfree ♬ original sound – Fiona Ryan
Islam believes in Jesus as a prophet. However, according to Islam, Jesus was not crucified, did not die on the cross, and was not resurrected. Instead, He is depicted as having been miraculously saved by God and ascending into heaven. However, Muslims do not celebrate Christmas.
Jesus as a Palestinian was an invention of Yasser Arafat’s adviser, Hanan Ashrawi, a Christian, who said in an interview with the Washington Jewish Week on Feb. 22, 2001, that “Jesus was a Palestinian.”
This became the official PLO platform as evidenced by their frequent reference to Jesus as “the first Palestinian martyr” and whose annual Christmas statement reads, “Every Christmas, Palestine celebrates the birth of one of its own: Jesus.” This year, the Palestinian Authority prohibited public celebrations of Christmas in Bethlehem.
This false claim has been incorporated into Christian theology in what is called Liberation Theology. This portrays Jesus as a secular social justice warrior fighting the “Occupation.”
Liberation Theology portrays Jesus as a Galilean Jewish revolutionary figure, aligning him with the marginalized and oppressed groups rather than the religious elite. The article suggests that the typical Christian understanding of Jesus obscures His ministry’s political and social dimensions. The temple-state in Jerusalem is portrayed as oppressive toward the common people, especially Galileans, imposing heavy burdens through taxation and religious regulations.
It suggests Zionism, like earlier empires, disconnects Palestinians from their biblical heritage and homeland. Liberation Theology defines Jesus as a Palestinian living under Israeli occupation. It represents Christianity as a human-rights movement.
