Mia Cortés Castro, Contributing Photographer

Hundreds gathered at the New Haven Tree Lighting on the night of Thursday, Nov. 30, to show support for victims of the Israel-Hamas war who cannot celebrate the holiday season.

New Haven Jewish Voice for Peace — a branch of Jewish Voice for Peace, the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the United States — hosted an interfaith vigil called “No Festivities Until Palestine Is Free” to mourn lives lost in the war.

“The lights are off in Bethlehem, so why should we have these on?” New Haven JVP member Zachary Herring told the News, referring to the Christmas lights on the tree. “We want to show that the real Christmas spirit would be recognizing that these are not normal times.”

In mid-November, Palestinian Christian leaders in Bethlehem encouraged those living in the West Bank city not to turn on their Christmas lights or put up decorations as an effort to spend the holidays standing in solidarity with those impacted by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Christian leaders in Bethlehem have only set up a small nativity and placed rubble atop it to represent the suffering of Jesus alongside his people in Gaza, according to the Washington Post.

Though only about 2 percent of Palestinians and less than 1 percent of the population of Gaza are Christian, most are now homeless due to the destruction of homes or displacement during the war. Israel destroyed the oldest active church in Gaza by airstrikes on Oct. 14.

“I don’t see how so many people can celebrate the shopping and gifts side of Christmas when so many can’t,” Matthew Potter, another New Haven JVP member and organizer, told the News.

On Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel, killing at least 1,200 people and taking 240 as hostages, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Israel responded with ground and air bombardment of Gaza, killing more than 15,500 Palestinians as of Dec. 3, according to figures from the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, the Associated Press reported.

During Thursday’s vigil, New Haven residents of all ages gathered with signs and Palestinian flags around a banner event organizers laid on the ground. The banner read, “Lights are off in Bethlehem. Lasting ceasefire now?” 

The banner anticipated the ending of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which began on Nov. 24 and lasted for seven days. The pause in fighting was initiated to allow for the release of some of the hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack and to deliver necessary humanitarian aid to residents of Gaza, according to the Associated Press. Israel resumed combat in Gaza on the morning of Dec. 1, after Israel claimed that Hamas had fired toward Israeli territory.

“It’s imperative that we are in mourning,” Rabbi May Ye, who was in attendance at the vigil, said. “We are here demanding a permanent ceasefire now, and representing the majority of Jews and constituents in this country.”

For an hour before the city’s Christmas tree was lit, attendees held LED candles and sang along to traditional Christmas and Jewish folk songs. Organizers distributed a songbook with the lyrics to the songs via a QR code handed out to attendees, some of which had lyric changes to reflect the intentions of the vigil.

The traditional Christmas song O Ye Faithful’s lyrics were changed from “O come let us adore him” to “O come let’s not ignore it,” and the Jewish folk song Lo Yisa Goy was sung in both Hebrew and English.

The flyers distributed with the songbook QR codes on them also gave recipients a guide to calling members of the New Haven Board of Alders to demand that they support a ceasefire. The organizers also distributed pamphlets with information about the number of homes destroyed, people displaced and children killed in the war. 

Once the Christmas tree was lit, attendees stopped singing and began chanting in favor of a ceasefire. “Viva viva Palestina!” echoed through the Green as people gathered around the new Christmas tree. 

The vigil ended with a lap around the New Haven Green as attendees continued chanting and singing. 

New Haven JVP previously hosted a protest for a ceasefire outside City Hall on Oct. 20. 

Correction, Dec. 4: This article has been updated to include a more current estimate of Palestinians killed, reflecting Dec. 3 reporting from the Associated Press.