Christmas

Activists Declare: No Christmas During Genocide!

December 26, 2023 People's Dispatch. Resistance Report Christmas, Genocide, Human Rights, Israel, New York City (NYC), Palestine, Wars and Militarism

Thousands marched through New York City’s busiest shopping district on December 23, to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The march called for by the #ShutItDown4Palestine coalition stated that there can be no holiday celebrations as usual while Israel carries out a genocide in Gaza, with complete political and financial backing of the United States. Organizers from the Palestinian Youth Movement, the ANSWER Coalition, the People’s Forum, and more condemned the ongoing atrocities and the role of US officials in perpetuating them. Watch Peoples Dispatch’s report from the streets!

They Clean After Holiday Shoppers But They Don’t Get To Celebrate

December 11, 2023 Sarah Lazare, In These Times. Organize! Christmas, Class Struggle, Health Care, Worker Rights and Jobs

For Elbida Gomez, the winter holiday season is not marked by cheer or family time, but by an exponential increase in her workload — cleaning bathrooms and store offices, taking out the trash, mopping entrances and wiping up food from the floor of the employee cafeteria. The 43-year-old mother of two says she is one of just two people whose primary job is to clean the Woodbury, Minn., location of Cabela’s, a big box store chain that sells hunting, fishing and camping goods. Foot traffic increases as patrons do their holiday shopping. Parents line up with their children to take a photograph with Santa Claus. The floor gets covered in chocolate, candy wrappers and footprints.

Jamaica’s Christmas Rebellion

December 26, 2021 Perry Blankson, Tribune Magazine. Educate! Christmas, Jamaica, Rebellion, Slavery

In late December 1831, white Jamaican planters slept restlessly in their beds. Rumors had long been circulating of disquiet among the enslaved Africans residing in plantations across the island. Before they knew it, the island would be set ablaze as tens of thousands armed themselves to fight for their freedom. As it became known, the Christmas Rebellion (or Baptist War, named so after the faith of many of its key conspirators) was the largest uprising of enslaved Africans in the history of the British West Indies, and directly influenced the abolition of slavery in 1833 and full emancipation in 1838.

The (In)Visible Hand, Scarcity, Venezuela, And The PlayStation 5

December 21, 2020 Dakotah Lilly, Popular Resistance. Educate! Christmas, Market Economy, Socialism, Venezuela

As Christmas approaches around the world, lines get longer, prices fluctuate, and everyone wants to get their hands on the seasons hottest gift or toy for their loved ones. This holiday seasons most sought after gift appears to be either a Sony PlayStation 5 or a Microsoft Xbox Series S/X, with price ranges from $299-$499 depending on the model. However, as of this writing in December 2020, it is almost impossible to acquire any of the models for anything less than several hundred more than the suggested retail price, with some scalpers and speculators selling them for thousands of dollars on online marketplaces. It is estimated by some that these speculators have made almost 30 million dollars on a reported 60,000 resold consoles.

Bethlehem’s ‘Santa Claus March’ With Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets

December 25, 2019 Middle East Monitor Resist! Christmas, Israel, Palestine, Tear Gas

Israeli forces Friday suppressed Bethlehem’s “Santa Claus March,” shooting tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at participants, with many suffering from tear gas inhalation. A number of demonstrators, including five journalists and foreigners, participated in a march near the Israeli checkpoint 300 in the north of Bethlehem, which separates residents from Jerusalem. The march, which includes participants dressing up as Santa Claus close to the Christian holiday of Christmas, was launched under the banner “Terrorism and occupation are two sides of the same coin,” and demanded the opening of Israeli checkpoints for Christian tourists to celebrate the holiday in the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

Debunking the Myth of Santa Claus

December 23, 2019 K.J. Noh, Popular Resistance Educate! Christmas, Workers Rights and Jobs

Santa wasn’t always so. St. Nicholas of Myra, was originally known for rescuing women from prostitution. Legend says he dropped gold into the stockings of three women who, having no dowries, were about to be sold into prostitution. It’s also said that he brought back to life men butchered, or kidnapped. From this, he became a Patron saint of women, children, prostitutes, protector of the oppressed and in extremis. Later, he became the patron saint of the poor, and St. Nicholas’ feast became a day for alms and redistribution. Over the years, however, Santa acquired other significant functions. During the Dutch slave trade, he became Sinterklaas, taking on the trappings of a slave trader, kidnapping young children with a black henchman (Zwarte Piet) and sleigh drawn by eight black slaves.

What Christmas Means

December 25, 2017 Chris Hedges, truthdig.com Educate! Christmas, Oppression, Refugees

In the early 1980s I was in a refugee camp for Guatemalans who had fled the war into Honduras. It was a cold, dreary winter afternoon. The peasant farmers and their families, living in filth and mud, were decorating their tents with strips of colored paper. That night, they said, they would celebrate the flight of Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus to Egypt to escape the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem ordered by Herod. The celebration is known as the Day of the Holy Innocents. “Why is this such an important day?” I asked. “It was on this day that Christ became a refugee,” a farmer answered.

Bethlehem’s ‘Santa Claus March’ With Tear Gas,Rubber Bullets

December 25, 2016 Staff, www.maannews.com Resist! Christmas, Israel, Occupation, Palestine, Terrorism

By Staff for Ma’an News Agency. Israeli forces Friday suppressed Bethlehem’s “Santa Claus March,” shooting tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at participants, with many suffering from tear gas inhalation. The march, which includes participants dressing up as Santa Claus close to the Christian holiday of Christmas, was launched under the banner “Terrorism and occupation are two sides of the same coin,” and demanded the opening of Israeli checkpoints for Christian tourists to celebrate the holiday in the birthplace of Jesus Christ. A Ma’an reporter witnessed Israeli forces fire rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas into the crowd, which caused a number of participants to suffer tear gas inhalation. Five journalists were also injured, including the cameraman for the Jordanian al-Roya TV Muhammad Shoudha. Israeli forces reportedly fired tear gas canisters directly at his foot.

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