“It’s true that the Americans are Christians and we are Christians. But they should not associate us with them. All the Christians want the Americans to get out and the occupation to end. Nobody is with the Americans.”

— Father Gabriel Shamami of St. George’s Church in Baghdad.

There are approximately 700,000 Christians currently living in Iraq, and as Borzou Daragahi reports in The Washington Times, these Christians are reluctant to celebrate Christmas for fear of radical Muslim reprisals.

Prior to the American war in Iraq and in contrast to the current situation, Christians celebrated Christmas in harmony with their Muslim neighbors. Twenty-eight-year-old Sirab Suleyman, an Iraqi Christian, states: “Before the war, Muslims and Christians used to celebrate Christmas together,” he said as he rubbed his hands for warmth in his modest living room. “Muslims used to visit their Christian friends and greet them. It was a true celebration. That’s over now.”

Mimi Hanaoka