Christmas letter to the editor
The Need for Worldwide Christmas Peace:
Displacement in Bethlehem, Lahaina, and Gaza!
In one of the most familiar verses from the Christmas story, Luke records that “she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).
In the August 2023 Lahaina fire, at least 100 people lost their lives. More than 2200 structures (homes and businesses) were destroyed or damaged and nearly 8000 people remain temporarily housed and being moved from hotel to hotel 100 days after the fire. Full recovery, restoring the environment of aloha ‘aina, and new housing will be a long journey.
In Gaza, the situation is even much worse than in Lahaina. Gaza is an area as small as the island of Lanai, a little more than half as big as the military Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) in the center of Hawaii Island, but with a population of 2.3 million people. Since October 2023, the figures of deaths, injuries, and displacement from Israel’s bombing of Gaza with US weapons, are shocking. More than 70,000 have been killed or injured and the numbers keep growing daily. Many more are lost in the rubble of destruction. More than 2 million of the 2.3 million Palestinian people in Gaza have been displaced from their homes. That’s more than 90% of the population. Half of Gaza is starving. The World Health Organization (WHO) said weeks ago that more people in Gaza could die of starvation or disease than have already been killed by Israel’s bombs. The WHO says about 3/4 of Gaza hospitals have shut down. Child diarrhea cases are about 100 times normal levels. Patients wait for hours on hospital floors and in parking lots. Clean water, sanitation, and medical supplies are severely lacking. Nowhere in Gaza is safe.
Lord hear our prayer for a Worldwide Christmas peace. Permanent Ceasefire NOW! Please help us relearn how to love one another.
Jim Albertini
Dec. 20, 2023
Jim Albertini Malu ‘Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown) Hawai’i 96760
Phone 808-966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
