Syrians send Santa some advice

Workers wear Santa Claus and little Mermaid costumes as part of their Christmas presentation inside Ocean Park in Manila, capital of the Philippines, on Monday. Romeo Ranoco / Reuters

'No gifts please, only clothes and blankets. Don't forget your ID'

"Dear Santa, please do not bring gifts this Christmas, but bring clothes and blankets to the homeless children. I know that you cannot bring security and stability, but could you please bring my people love pills from your magical land? All I want is for my old Syria to come back! Do you think it will?"

These are the words Kinda, a young girl from the Syrian capital of Damascus, wrote on her Facebook page to Santa.

She hopes that the "love of the universe" will be contained in pills for Syrians to take so they can love each other and stop the fighting that has engulfed the country for 22 months and claimed the lives of tens of thousands.

With Christmas arriving on Tuesday, many Syrians expressed their hopes for the holiday season on social networking sites. Some posted black humor, some were cynical and others expressed hearty wishes for Syria.

A widely shared online message was meant to give Santa some "advice" before he visits Syria this Christmas.

"Santa, when you come this year, don't forget your ID card because we have too many checkpoints. And please don't wear your red robe because the blood here has reached people's knees and we now hate this color. But most importantly, you have to lose some weight because a lot of people here are starving, so it's not appropriate for you to come with your big belly hanging out."

One picture that has swept across the Internet in Syria is a portrait of Santa dressed in military uniform and holding a bag filled with rifles.

Amid this gloomy atmosphere, Syrian Christians will not celebrate Christmas as they have done in the past, because the country is experiencing its worst crisis in decades. Instead, they have decided to limit their celebrations to carols and charity bazaars.

"We have a tradition that every year at Christmas time, we hold charity bazaars and raise funds for poor families," Madam Nimr said while arranging her goodies at one of the charity bazaars in the Qassa district in Damascus.

"We will try our best to heal the wounds of those who have suffered and those who have been displaced. We will carry on with our duty toward our people and our country," Nimr said.

Families in Syria are usually very busy in the days before Christmas. They usually decorate their balconies with lights, and the festivities run from the beginning of December to the New Year. Some people wear Santa outfits and wander the alleys to distribute sweets and chocolate to children.

However, Syrians now prefer to stay indoors for fear of being killed or kidnapped, especially following the recent threat by militants to carry out attacks against Christians backing the government.

Jabhat Al Nusra, an al-Qaida-affiliated group that has claimed responsibility for many bombings in Syria, has emerged as the most powerful fighting group in the Syrian rebel opposition.

The group has reportedly stated that it will apply Islamic Sharia law in the post-Assad era, stoking fears among Syria's minorities, including Christians, that their religious freedoms will be abolished.

Militants fighting against the Syrian government have told two predominantly Christian towns in the central region of Hama that they will be attacked if they do not "evict" military forces.

The warning to the towns of Mharda and Sqilbiya came from Islamist rebels in a video message posted online on Saturday.

Syria's Christians, comprising around 10 percent of the country's 23 million inhabitants, have been known for their loyalty to the government, fomenting the resentment of the Syrian rebels who work to overthrow the administration.

(China Daily 12/25/2012 page11)