“Smuggled” Photos with Christmas Trees in “No Christmas” Countries: From Saudi Arabia to Brunei

There are regions and countries in the world where Christian citizens are forced to secretly hold religious ceremonies and celebrations or those with religious overtones.

A Facebook page has recently been launched in support of “persecuted Christians.” On this page, Christians have been asked to send photos of their decorated Christmas trees to the page.

This initiative has become known as “TreeDom”—a combination of the words tree and freedom in English. So far, dozens of photos from different parts of the world have been sent to this page. For example, an image from Brunei, a small country in Southeast Asia where two-thirds of its 430,000 population are Muslims. The Sultan of this country has recently banned Christians from celebrating Christmas. He announced last year that the country would move toward implementing laws based on Sharia, and has since added punishments such as stoning to its laws. Nonetheless, some Christians in the country have secretly set up Christmas trees, put on “Santa” hats, and taken photos.

There is also an image from Kobani, a Kurdish city in Syria on this page. A city that came under ISIS control for a period at the beginning of this year, but Kurdish forces succeeded in expelling the group, and intense fighting between the parties continues. Taking such a photo in that region last year might have been impossible.

An image from Karbala, Iraq has also been sent to this page. Currently, Christians living in this city face no problems. In fact, this city has become a refuge or “paradise” for Christians fleeing other Iraqi cities, particularly areas under ISIS control, but the photo senders posed the question: how long can this situation continue? Christians living in this city are concerned about attacks and the advance of ISIS in Iraq.

In Saudi Arabia, one Saudi family published a photo of their Christmas tree that was “smuggled” there from Bahrain. The practice of any religion other than Islam in Saudi Arabia has been declared forbidden by the country’s authorities. This is while approximately 4 percent of the country’s population, or about 1.5 million people, are Christian in Saudi Arabia, yet no church officially exists in Saudi Arabia.

This image was also sent from northern Nigeria to this page. An area where Christians are in severe danger due to the presence of the terrorist group Boko Haram. A group that has threatened Christians and recently announced an alliance with ISIS.

This page has also published images from countries where people freely celebrate Christmas. Individuals who, by sending their photos, showed their solidarity with “persecuted Christians.” Images from Dubai, Bahrain, and Iran have also been posted on this page. In Iran, despite the freedom for Christians to practice their religion, Muslims who convert to Christianity may face legal persecution. Nevertheless, Christmas celebration is not only popular among the Christian community but also among Muslim youth in the country, and every year during this season many stores sell products related to this celebration, and young people gather under this pretext and celebrate.

Source: RFI Persian