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For Christians in Gaza, Christmas is a time to celebrate, reflect – and escape

Many of the Christmas traditions in Gaza might seem familiar if a little askew. 

Families gather over food, more likely to be steaming plates of maqloubeh, a mound of rice and chicken, than stuffed turkey. Small Christmas trees go up in people’s homes, though the desperate electricity shortages mean that their fairy lights are usually switched off.   

But in recent years, Christmas has meant a new tradition for Gaza’s Christian families: counting the neighbours and relatives who used the festive period as a chance to escape from the isolated enclave. 

Gaza is home to around 2 million people and counting but its Christian population has dwindled to just 1,100 and is shrinking quickly. On current…

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