Bethlehem Christians Fast Ramadan

“My grandmother used to fast,” Mike Kanawati, a Christian resident of Bethlehem, who manages a souvenir and jewelry shop, told Al-Arabiya News.

“Both Christian and Muslim fasting, and we were raised this way to show respect for and solidarity with other religions,” Kanawati said.

In Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, adult Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.

The sick and those traveling are exempt from fasting especially if it poses health risks.

Around the globe, Muslims observe Ramadan with a set of traditional rituals including family gathering at iftar, religious lessons, special evening prayer and helping the poor.

Kanawati stressed that the meaning of fasting is the same in both Islam and Christianity.

“Fasting, either the Christian or the Muslim way, makes one feel the suffering of those who do not have food,” he added.

Kanawati said he was proud “like many other Christians” of fasting the Muslim month of Ramadan and stressed that doing so in no way diminished his Christian faith.

On the other hand, Muslims too usually share their Christian friends their fasting by abstaining from eating cheese, meat and milk, in demonstration of solidarity with the Christians.

The tradition was preserved over generations of Muslims and Christians who coexisted in Bethlehem for hundreds of years.

Bethlehem has a Muslim majority, but is also home to one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities.

In a survey of Bethlehem’s Christians conducted in 2006 by the Palestinian Center for Research and Cultural Dialogue, 90% reported having Muslim friends, 73.3% said that the Palestinian Authority respects Christian heritage in the city, and 78% reported that the emigration of Christians from Bethlehem was due to the Israeli travel restriction in the area.

HK