Pro-Palestine activists have created a “12 Days of a Ceasefire Choir.”
The toolkit lists numerous traditional Christmas carols that have been altered to fit a call for a ceasefire.
Instead of singing the traditional “Joy to the World,” the lyrics say, “Joy to the world! We have a choice, To end this genocide!”
Other songs include “Stop the Bombs” in lieu of “Deck the Halls,” “We Wish for the Liberation,” “In the Bleak mid Wartimes,” and others.
The purpose of the toolkit is explained to be, “To call white/European-descent Christians + Christian lineage people into action for a permanent ceasefire, to stop the genocide in Gaza, and an end to the occupation of Palestine. We want the return of Israeli hostages and Palestinian hostages/political prisoners.”
“This call is due to both the role and relationship of Christian hegemony related to Palestine/Israel, as well as to call people into alignment with liberatory Christian teachings,” the document reads.
The toolkit also includes “political context,” where the activists explicitly target Christians in their desire to end “Israeli occupation.”
“White/Christian-lineage people have played major roles in Zionism, longstanding Israeli occupation and apartheid, warmongering, and are the majority of key power holders in the US government. Anti-semitism originated in Christian Europe,” the document says, adding, “Additionally, the active mass violence/killings, apartheid, and sourcing the conflict with US money and weapons are not in alignment with Christian values and are fundamentally opposed to the teachings of Jesus. This action series is explicit about being against Islamophobia and Antisemitism.”
“As Christian-lineage people, many of us have internalized feelings like ‘what’s happening is Israel/Palestine isn’t my issue’. ‘It’s so terrible how Jews and Palestinians/Muslims hate each other (and this has nothing to do with me)’. ‘This conflict is too complicated and can never be resolved.’ This project intends to help us as Christian/lineage people understand our stake, how we are complicit in these systems of violence, and to move into action.”
Describing the “Christian” and “Christian-lineage” carolers, the toolkit says, “We mean anyone who has ancestors who practiced Christianity, anyone who was raised Christian, or anyone who practices Christianity today. This includes religious Christians as well as secular Christians. Christians are incredibly diverse, and include people of all races, ethnicities, ancestries, and are all over the world.”
“As Christians living within Christian hegemony and in a Christian-dominant society, we are members of the dominant group. One of the ways privilege manifests for Christians is having the ability to opt-in and opt-out of identifying as Christian. By contrast, many Muslim or Jewish people cannot “opt-out” of being perceived as Muslim or Jewish and they cannot opt-out of islamophobia and antisemitism,” it continues.
The toolkit has been condemned on social media, with conservative radio host and associate editor of The Post Millennial Ari Hoffman saying, “These actions aren’t about a ceasefire, they’re about hating Jews & Christians.”
In addition to holiday classics such as "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," activists have also ripped off Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" to "All I Want for Christmas is For You to Recognize Christian Hegemony" pic.twitter.com/AMi9d1spGS
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) December 26, 2023
