Syrians welcome Christmas with joy… and more than sorrow
Decorated balconies and illuminated trees, their images seeping out from behind the curtains of Syrian homes in most regions of the country, especially Christian ones. With the advent of Christmas, Syria’s markets, streets, and stores dressed up for this occasion, despite the difficult economic conditions they are experiencing.
In the capital, Damascus, the streets are crowded during this period of the year, and thousands of citizens go to the Bab Touma area and the Al-Qassaa neighborhood, which is predominantly Christian, as it is centered on the edges of the streets and in front of the churches that contain Christmas trees, cones of yellow lighting, and cartoon figures of Santa Claus. Claus) and deer pulling carts full of gifts and more.
Syrian George Sarkis (35 years old) stands in front of one of the churches of the Al-Qassaa neighborhood in Damascus, where he shares the Christmas atmosphere with the celebrants as he is accustomed to doing every year, and he took his wife and two daughters with him.
In an interview conducted with him by “Arab World News,” Sarkis said: “The form of Eid differs from previous years. However, he still maintains a large part of his joy and enjoyment in manifestations of joy and celebrations, even if they seem timid.
He added, as he joined his youngest daughter, Mary: “Despite all the circumstances we are living in, Eid brings joy and an atmosphere of love… It is true that we have given up on many things; Because of the high prices and the living situation, we have not given up on joy.”
Sarkis believes that this holiday represents an outlet for many people, making them feel a degree of happiness, instead of the anxiety that hardly leaves them.
A crisis economic situation
The tense living situation continues to plague the atmosphere of preparation for celebrating Christmas in Syria, coinciding with the exacerbation of the worst economic crisis the country has experienced in years, which led to a record collapse in the value of the local currency (the lira) against the US dollar, and a rise in prices.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the extreme family poverty line, as an indicator of food deprivation, last April in Syria reached 1.19 million Syrian pounds (about 149.6 US dollars), an increase of 41 thousand pounds over the previous year. In March of the same year, the lowest poverty line reached 1.87 million liras, an increase of 64 thousand, and the highest poverty line reached 2.59 million liras, an increase of 88 thousand.
Lighting the Christmas tree on a street in Damascus (archive)
The report confirmed that the wage gap compared to the highest poverty line reached 89 percent for a university employee in the public sector, and 55 percent for a worker in the private sector, while it reached 54 percent for an employee in the civil sector, which indicates a high level of poverty among a large segment. Of the population, especially public sector employees.
In the face of the deteriorating living conditions, the erosion of savings with the decline in income levels, and the insane rise in prices, Syrian Fadia Sabbagh went to a jewelry store in central Damascus and sold gold jewelry worth 7 million liras. To secure a small Christmas tree and buy decorations to place in one of the corners of the living room, and to buy some of her children’s needs.
Forty-year-old Fadia, a mother of three children, left the store holding her young child, who was not more than five years old. She showed signs of anger at the deteriorating economic situation in Syria and the high prices that made her unable to buy Eid clothes, food, or hospitality, not even a tree. Small, as she put it.
Fadia told the Arab World News Agency: “The joy of Eid is something we cannot deprive our children of; The smile on their faces during the glorious holidays is much more valuable than the treasures of the earth. Despite the outrageous prices and empty pockets, we will do everything possible to make them a holiday as humble as possible.
The Christmas tree is an heirloom after its high price
Syrian Marina (32 years old) believes that the family’s celebration of Christmas will cost her millions of pounds if she wants to complete the usual festive rituals, given that the prices of decorations have become unacceptable and exaggerated.
Marina said that she needed about 1.5 million liras to put up a Christmas tree in her house, which prompted her and her husband, who receives a salary of 500,000 liras per month from his government job, to refrain from buying.
Christmas decorations in Bab Touma (archive)
Syrian Rita (25 years old), who works in a store selling decorations and gifts, said that prices have more than doubled, noting that the price of a medium-sized artificial tree has become no less than one million liras, compared to 500 thousand liras last year, adding that the lowest type The cost of decoration is currently 600 thousand liras, while last year it did not exceed 250 thousand.
Rita confirmed to the Arab World News Agency that citizens’ buying of Christmas trees and decorations has not stopped, but demand has become very weak compared to previous years, noting that she has sold 20 trees so far, while the store’s sales amounted to hundreds of Christmas trees and hundreds of pieces of Games in the past.
Nihal, who was buying lights for her tree, interrupted her conversation, saying, “Most families have inherited a Christmas tree due to its current high price and poor quality. Today we buy decorations by the piece, whereas in the past we used to buy them by the dozen.”
As for Salma Mahmoud, an employee and mother of two children, she said: “Because our priorities at the present time are focused on securing food, medicine, and emergency needs, we decided to limit ourselves to putting up a Christmas tree last year without decorating; Trying to connect colored ropes of light is like applying makeup to a dead body,” she said, noting that there are power outages of up to 21 hours a day in her area.
However, one of the sweets merchants in the Al-Qusour neighborhood in Damascus confirmed at the same time that he and other merchants were affected by the decline in purchasing power. The merchant, who requested that his name not be published, said, “Dozens of customers and citizens come only to know the prices without purchasing.”
George Makdisi, the owner of a clothing store on Al-Hamra Street in central Damascus, told the Arab World News Agency that Syrians began to console themselves on Eid with the phrase “Eid is the Eid of Wellness,” and its meaning is that “they are still alive.”
Gaza is present in the scene
Maqdisi pointed out that most Syrians also feel sad about the events in the Gaza Strip, which is reflected in the preparations for the holidays, and prompts them to refrain from buying holiday supplies.
The Apostolic Vicar and Head of the Latin Community in Syria, Bishop Hanna Jallouf, requested in a statement that Christmas and New Year celebrations be limited to churches, monasteries and parishes “due to the current conditions that our country is going through in general, and in solidarity with the tortured Palestinian people, especially in Gaza.”
Pastor Boutros Zaour, the spiritual head of the National Evangelical Church in Damascus, said that the prayers and hymns at Christmas call on celebrants to live reconciliation and ask for forgiveness. “We find an intensification of the prayers that precede this holiday, which are called (preparation prayers) before and after Christmas.”
Zaour pointed out the many charitable markets held in churches, the proceeds of which go to those in need, so that joy and a feeling of security prevail among everyone on this occasion.
2023-12-23 17:26:00
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