By Mohamad Jamous, Abrahamic Reunion Director of Programs in Palestine

Mohamad Jamous begins the evening

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The year has almost come to an end. It has been a successful year that has included Many different programs under the name of the Abrahamic Reunion in Palestine.

Some of the programs have been related to youth, some were related to the elderly, some were beautiful, and some were difficult, some were influential, some were full of joy. All of them called for one goal, which is the unity and belief in peace among all religions.

Today we celebrated the last program of 2019. I was a program commemorating one of the most festive Christian holidays.

Today we celebrated “Christmas Day” in Memory of Jesus’ birth.

But before I continue this report, let me share with you some of the most difficult and beautiful moments that I had.  The results are very impressive…

” Period of Preparation ” 

At the beginning of December, nearly three weeks before the Abrahamic Reunion’s Christmas Program, I headed from my home in Jericho to Bethlehem, which is regarded as “the cradle of Christ” to begin coordinating and preparing and for this occasion.

Because Bethlehem is regarded as the birthplace of Jesus, and it is full of churches, monasteries and mosques, it is full of tourists, and visitors from all over the world.

I arrived in Bethlehem and contacted some friends who have participated in previous Abrahamic Reunion events. We all met in a cafe to drink coffee and plan the December program.

I wrote down the names and contact information for Muslim and Christian clerics, university professors, schoolteachers and administrators, people from the Bethlehem Scouts Administration and other guests, so on my next trip to Bethlehem, I could visit them one by one, to invite them to our program. 

Then I thanked the friends who I had met in the café and I left to search for a venue for our program, but unfortunately all of the halls and restaurants I visited were already booked.  

They told me:

Mohammad, if you want to reserve a hall in Bethlehem during the holidays, you should have booked two months ago! All of the halls are booked full of reservations now!

That night I returned to Jericho and I was hoping that God would help me and make it easier for me. 

In the week that followed, I returned to Bethlehem to visit the people who I planned to invite for our program. I had over 10 meetings in different mosques, monasteries, and office buildings, and at each place I described the Abrahamic Reunion’s mission and work in Palestine and abroad! Everyone welcomed me.

After I finished inviting the guests, I began to search for a venue again.

For more than two hours, I went from place to place searching, but I still could find nothing.

Finally, I called the Canary Restaurant, the same place we had our Christmas Celebration last year, and the owner there told me the room was available!

Did I not tell you that God would help me?

After completing the reservation, and planning the dinner with the restaurant owner, half of the planning was done!

It was after nightfall, and I returned home to Jericho to organize the rest of the program. There was only one week left until our Christmas celebration!

Now I had to complete the second half of our plan. I started searching for a band to play Christmas music for our event. I spoke with more than 10 Bands from Bethlehem, some of them were already busy at that time, and others asked a very high price for their work.

Finally, God helped me again, and I found a band and coordinated everything with them.

Now I can tell you that we were fully prepared for our beautiful program!

  • Mohamad Jamous begins the evening
  • Sheikh Ghassan Manasra

“The Celebration Day” 

On this beautiful morning, I went to Bethlehem. I was accompanied by nearly twenty young Muslim and Christian youth from Jericho. Most of them had participated in the Abrahamic Reunion’s youth program in November.

When we arrived in Bethlehem, we waited for the other participants from around Palestine to arrive.

After a short while, a group of 20 participants arrived from Nablus. Then another group of 20 participants arrived from Jenin, and another group of 40 participants came from Bethlehem and Hebron. Altogether there were over 80 men, women and children.


We all went to the Canary Restaurant and I hung the Abrahamic Reunion banners and we worked with the restaurant’s staff set up the room and organize all of the tables and chairs for our guests.

Not long afterwards, our speakers and eminent guests joined the rest of our group They were: 

Dr. Sulaiman Suleiman: Lawyer and Master of Contemporary Islamic Studies, and teacher at the Ministry of Education – Bethlehem

Dr. Khalil Atwan: A former supervisor at the Ministry of Education, and a teacher at the American School – Bethlehem

George Zaina: a journalist for Al-Quds newspaper and leader of the Scouts of Teracinta School – Bethlehem

Sheikh Raafat Al-Kharouf: Imam of Aawarta Village Mosque – Nablus

Father Issa Thaljieh: A Greek Orthodox parish priest – Bethlehem

Michael Macy: former Senior Foreign Service – U.S. Department of State and current Abrahamic Reunion Board member and his wife Rashmee Roshan Lall journalist and author.

 David Less: Co-Founder of the Abrahamic Reunion and U.S. Abrahamic Reunion Board Chairman

Sheikh Ghassan Manasra: The International Director of the Abrahamic Reunion

Sheikh Abed Al-Salam Manasra: Abrahamic Reunion Program Director in Israel and Sheikh of the Qadriyah peace method & his Family

After everyone gathered in the restaurant, I welcomed them and wished them a glorious Christmas Day.

I invited Sheikh Ghassan Manasra to deliver a speech and he said:

I am happy that we are all here together today, we have come from different cities from Palestine, Israel, Europe and North America.


We are here with each other and each year we start our programs with more strength and more faith. This coming year will be a year full of Abrahamic Reunion activities, programs and areas of co-operation under the directorship of Mohammed Jamous here in Palestine.

The words of Sheikh Manasra gave all of us a lot of hope, optimism and strength and helped us to look forward to a beautiful future in the name of the Abrahamic Reunion!

After the beautiful words of Sheikh Manasra, I invited Sheikh Raafat Al-Kharouf to deliver his speech and he said:

I welcome all of you and congratulate you all on the arrival of Christmas.

I do not want to make a long presentation, but I will talk about two important points: the first one is about religious belief, and the second one is the human and social aspect of cooperation.


I will begin by reading from the Holy Qur’an, “O People of the Book! come to common terms between us and you: That we worship none but Allah; that we  associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah.”


In this spirit, I will talk with my Christian brother, and I admit that I disagree with him ideologically, but I agree with him regarding the worship of one God.


However, I must not search for matters where we are ideologically different.

Rather, I must search for our common meeting points between me and him so we can all raise up in this homeland.


To build a future for all of our children, I do not want them to inherit a legacy of differences, I would rather help them look for our meeting points. The points where I can meet with my Christian brother.

The second point, I always say and repeat this for the human and social aspect, Yes, we are sitting now with each other and we are very happy, but I want this atmosphere to continue to be reflected in our homes, and with our friends, and in the streets,  and at work, I want this atmosphere to renew our public social life and not only take place through multi-religious meeting events.


I do not want to prolong this further, but I hope that we become stronger and continue this atmosphere publicly throughout all aspects of our social life. Thank you all! 

After Sheikh Al-Kharouf finished delivering his speech, I invited Dr. Suleiman to deliver his speech and he began and said:

I am happy to be part of this beautiful occasion
And I congratulate everyone on the occasions of Christmas and New Year’s. And I wish everyone will have a beautiful new year full of peace and love.   

History has shown that Palestine, and the Palestinian Muslims and Christians, have the honor of living in brotherhood, love and peace, in the land of the Apostles and the Prophets.


Our country is the cradle of these heavenly religions and the starting point of human civilization.


From here the message of Jesus, peace be upon him, started. And the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, experienced the miracle of the Night’s Journey from the sight of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Whoever has the opportunity to visit this blessed land, will always hear the call to prayer from the mosque mixed with the ringing of bells from the churches and monasteries, because our Christian families live side by side with our Muslim families. We have a unique fraternal atmosphere that you cannot find in any other country.


The Almighty said, “We have honored the sons of Adam.” A person is honored and appreciated for his respect for others.  Sometimes you pray in the mosque, or you pray in the synagogue, or you pray in the church, and you are concerned that this prayer is a Muslim prayer, or a Christian prayer, or a Jewish prayer.
But what concerns me is your dealings with me as a human being! 


That is why we must treat people as human beings, respect their beliefs, respect their nationalities, respect their ideas, respect their mentalities, and respect what they believe in!

In Palestine, in general, and in Bethlehem, in particular, there is a significant coexistence between Islam and Christianity, as Christians and Muslims we interact with each other on a daily basis in our schools, on our roads and at work.


I hope that the day will return when the Christian mother will put her children with the Muslim mother to take care of them! And the Muslim mother will put her children with the Christian mother, and recommend that she take care of her children! For that is the most precious and intimate connection that we can share.


But I am sure that if you will continue your work in this way, with the strength of your faith, and the purity of your hearts, and with your courage, that these days will return again!


At the end of this speech, I wish to extend my warmest congratulations to my Christians brothers in Palestine, in particular, and to the world in general, on the occasion of Christmas and the New Year.


And I call upon God to make this year, a year of peace and goodness for us all. Thank you very much and special thanks to Mohammad Jamous for inviting me.
May peace, mercy and the blessings of God Almighty be upon you. 

When Suleiman finished delivering his beautiful speech, the participants applauded him warmly, and I invited Dr. Khalil Atwan to deliver his speech.  Atwan started by congratulating everyone on Christmas and New Year’s Day by saying:

I want to visit some stations in the history of Islam, from the era of our prophet Muhammad, may God bless him, until our time, so we can understand the direction of this great religion, and understand how it has related to other religions.

For the first stop we will visit with the companions of our prophet Muhammad, who were persecuted in Mecca, and the prophet Muhammad directed them to a place called Abyssinia, and when they asked him, why this place? Why Abyssinia?

He answered them, “Because Abyssinia (which was a Christian land) is the land of honesty. And there is a just king there who does not oppress anyone.” So, Mohammed’s followers went to Abyssinia to seek refuge.  And the Christian king there welcomed them and hosted them with honor.

And it happened that there was a war between the Abyssinians and the Gentiles, so the Muslims were praying that God would support this king.

As for the second stop, we will visit the document of the constitution, when Islam triumphed and established its first state in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, this document with the People of the Book was based on a common life, and we all represent this trend and this life.

And let’s not forget the third stop, the age of the covenant when Umar ibn al-Khattab became the just caliph of Jerusalem.  And when he conquered and received the keys to Jerusalem from Safronius, he wrote the covenant that led to peace by giving everyone his rights. And in that covenant, it stated that Muslims could not violate any of the rights of their Christian brothers.

And now we move to the fourth stop during the time of Suleiman bin Abdul Malik. At that time there was a church next to the Prophet’s Mosque and Salman bin Abdul Malik wanted to expand in the Umayyad Mosque, so part of the church was destroyed in favor of the mosque. And when Suleiman died, the Christians came to the next caliph, Omar bin Abdul Aziz, the fifth caliph Al-Rashid, asking if they could take back the land that Solomon Ibn Abd al-Malik had usurped

And Omar bin Abdul Aziz ordered the demolition of the part of the Mosque that had been built on the seized Christian land, so that their Christian brothers would be willing to forgive them.

However, the Christians ultimately accepted a sum of money as compensation for their loss.

So, there has been a long history of coexistence, not only in Palestine, but in this whole region. 

At the end of my speech, I am grateful to all of you for this important invitation, which has given me the opportunity to communicate my message to everyone and say that Palestine is the country that models coexistence and does not differentiate between anyone.

After Atwan finished his speech, I invited George Zeina to deliver his speech and he said:

Welcome everyone to your city, the city of Bethlehem!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My brothers and sisters, how beautiful it is for us all to meet together, especially on this great occasion, and in this happy time, at the place where the angels sang in the sky of Bethlehem, “Glory be to God in the highest, on earth, peace and goodwill to men!”

Two thousand years ago, we heard this chant, and now we hope that peace will be achieved in the land of peace. The chant of hope is renewed in us at birth, and the chant of faith is renewed in human principles and values.

In these moments, we must sublimate our pain and rise above our wounds, and to put a smile on the faces of our children, and shine like candles and radiate love and harmony so that we may live in joy.  Let us live in the blessing of joy, and let human beings live with their human brothers and sisters on this holy land. Peace reigns in us, joy overflows, and peace, security, stability and tranquility are granted to us.

Yesterday, we celebrated the Prophet’s birthday, and today we have this bright Christmas tree, and it is also Teacher’s Day!  Earlier today, we celebrated St. Nicholas Day in Beit Jala, and the launch of the Christmas Caravan, and now we are celebrating Christmas.

In conclusion, I am pleased to extend my thanks and appreciation to the brothers who organized this event, and extend to everyone the warmest congratulations, blessings and best wishes for the new year.  And I particularly want to thank Muhammad Jamous for this beautiful opportunity that allowed me to be here with you.

After he finished, I invited the Co-Founder of the Abrahamic Reunion and U.S. Board Chairman, David Less to give his speech, and Sheikh Ghassan Manasra translated the speech into Arabic for the participants.

David Less started his speech by saying: 

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year.  First, I want to talk to you about a great person. There is many people who believe in peace, but there very, very few who work for peace, and there is one man that I know who really does that work and he does it with passion, and we are all very happy to have this man as part of our group, and that man is Mohammad Jamous. 

And besides Mohammed all of us do a little bit work too.

One last thing, we come to earth for many different reasons, but if you are sitting here tonight, part of the reason you came to earth to make peace.

I love my family, I love my friends, but there is something really deep that I recognize.  It is really important for people to feel peaceful within themselves, and then they can share that feeling of peace with everyone else. So, I pray that everyone here is happy. That is my prayer. 

When the Co-Founder of the Abrahamic Reunion finished his speech, everyone applauded him warmly! And then I invited the Israeli Abrahamic Reunion Program Director, Abdel Salam Manasra, to deliver his speech.  He started by congratulating our Christian brothers and sisters on the occasion of Christmas. And he continued:

I want to thank Mohamed Jamous for the great work he is doing, and for the presence of us all today.

Every Year, it is an honor for us to meet you on these big occasions for co-existence sponsored by the Abrahamic Reunion.

For the most part there is usually harmony between us, but it is good that we have a platform that brings us all together, so that we can meet and move towards one goal.

You are welcome and happy every year. 

After Abdel Salam finished his speech, I invited Father Issa Thaljia, who had come with his family, to speak.  Father Thaljia began by saying:

Welcome all of you to your second home, and your second city, Bethlehem. In fact, I am very happy to have you here today, because your presence here increases the beauty of this city, and the presence of the Abrahamic Reunion increases the strength of this city.

I received the invitation for this beautiful celebration from a person who is so close to my heart and who I love very much, because of his courage and his strength of faith and his work for peace, and he is Mohamad Jamous, Thank you Mohamad!

Perhaps our guests and our professors have covered what I was going to say, but I want all of you to know that Palestine is the land of the three monotheistic religions, and in spite of all the difficulties that we live in here, and despite the obstacles that we face most of the time, believe me, your work and these activities, reduce these difficulties and obstacles, and increase the feeling of love and peace among us.

I want to congratulate all of you on this beautiful work, and I wish you to experience more progress in working for peace, and Merry Christmas for all of us! 

Here, after all our guests finished delivering their beautiful, hopeful and optimistic speeches, I invited The Masar Theater Group, Managed by Director Malik Al-Ghuj who came from Jericho to this event to share their work as actors and singers. 

A young woman Sumaya Amara, from the theater group delivered a poem entitled “Peace”:

Peace on you, and peace on us
Peace to you, and peace to us,
Peace to those who respond to the offer of peace
And even to those who don’t
Peace,
In the name of God, Peace
The eternal refuge, the God of the faithful
Peace in which we grew up
Peace kneaded with the ground of this country
A Peace we no longer dwell in
A Peace that no longer dwells within us
The Peace that we observe,
As it packs its luggage to leave our lands, slowly, and gradually
To be replaced by submission and surrender,
And Islamization devoid of Islam
As if the Islam of our ancestors doesn’t concern it.
Do you know why peace leaves us?
Do you know why we are engulfed by darkness?
Simply, because we are a fearful society
We are a society that fears diversity
My words, might not please some of you,
Or most of you,
Or all of you
I know!
But I will say it
Because I refuse to be like a sheep
We are a society, that refuses to admit
We nest in backwardness
We are a society that screams with all insolence
Claiming to carry a different thought
We are a society, that indulges in arrogance, in a vacuum
And claims to be a cultured
Woe to me, what a disgust!
We embrace diversity only as a mask
The difference of colors harms us

The difference of forms harms us

The difference of thoughts harms us

The difference of religion harms us

Even the difference of gender harms us

Thus, we attempt to kill our diversity

And we became a lethal poison to each other

We are a society sillier than the fool

Yes, we are a society sillier than the fool

We dispute over trivialities, exaggerations, and superstitions

We consistently refuse to dive into the deep

And I don’t absolve anyone

Neither civilians nor politicians

Or anyone who is calm in the dull quietness

Neither the one who claims we are holy

Nor the one who blindly follows the West

Or those who want to recreate the glories of the caliphate, and slavery

And to the amputation of legs over differences

Let us today, try to dive inside ourselves,

Inside our deepness

Let us try to embrace our souls

Let us try to embrace the diversity inside our souls

Here I am,

In front of you

With my color,

With my hair,

And my poems,

And with my whimsical thoughts

I am not afraid of you

I am not afraid of your differences over me

Because I am of you

And you are of me

Let’s create art

Let’s dive into the dreams

To build a culture immune of ridicule

To instill sophistication in ourselves,

In its superior state

Let’s dissolve traditions, races, specters, thoughts, colors, and religions

So, we do not see, except a human

After the creative, young Somaya finished her poem, everyone applauded her very warmly! Then the young women Jinan Awajneh, another member of Masar Theater, also performed a beautiful artistic dance, while wearing a Santa Claus dress! Awajneh painted a wide smile on everyone’s faces!

After Masar Theater presented their artistic performances, the band “Music” began to sing us beautiful Christmas music! 

And the restaurant staff began distributing a dinner of chicken thighs stuffed with rice, served with a variety of salads and soft drinks and water.

As everyone ate dinner Christmas music was ringing in our heads! Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way!

I wanted to the surprise all of the participants, so I left the room and dressed up as Santa Claus and then I returned to distribute baklava and pose for pictures with the children and their families.  

At 9:30 pm, some guests and participants began preparing to leave, to make the long journeys to their homes. I bid them farewell hoping to meet them again at other Abrahamic Reunion programs in the year 2020.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The year has ended here. It has been a year full of success, and all of this is thanks to God Almighty.

In my name, Mohamed M, Jamous, “The Programs Director of the Abrahamic Reunion in Palestine”

I thank everyone near and far who has helped make our programs in Palestine and elsewhere in the world successful!

You are the strong bridge upon which we build a platform for peace, and you enable us to raise our voices to deliver our message of peace to the world.

Thank you, Abrahamic Reunion members, directors and supporters