Winter Holidays and End-of-Year Realities & Reflections

 

Today my morning messages from friends in Gaza were filled with kindness and warmth; supportive, encouraging, and generous words from people to whom I feel everything is owed. This past week, I have been telling local friends who are here in Bellingham, that it isn’t me who is giving support to the families in Gaza–it is they who are giving support to me. They are the ones who have taught me what it means to love, to persist, and to keep searching for light in the darkness. And my heart is overflowing with love and appreciation for them.

As 2025 winds down, I find myself wondering how it can possibly be that this is the third winter holiday season since the intensified, accelerated, genocide against the Palestinian people began? How has another year passed, another year of human-made famine and forced starvation, forced displacement, violence, destruction, loss and suffering– all of which have not yet ended, despite what some in the United States might want you to believe?

I have no answers to these questions, but a lack of answers does not change this harsh reality. Another year has passed. And the genocide has not ended.

There is still no safety, rest, or reprieve for the families in Gaza who are still struggling to survive. There is still no assurance of when or how things will improve. And there is still an overwhelming need for us to do more than what we have been doing. Because everything we have done so far has not been enough to change this.

To those who are somehow able to celebrate the holidays with friends and loved ones, I wish you well, and I hope these times bring you comfort and joy. And I also hope you will keep room in your hearts for the families in Gaza who are still doing everything they can to survive, to be here, to keep going, even in the midst of extreme hardship and suffering, hardship and suffering that is being deliberately inflicted upon them, with the violence also still ongoing, and with the United States bearing the responsibility for this, not just by allowing it to continue, but by actively participating and expanding the scale and the scope of this genocide. Those of us who are living in relative comfort, safety, and security in this country also bear responsibility because of this, even though we did not choose or want this.

The winter weather is intensifying, and another major storm is predicted to hit Gaza this weekend, while shelters, caravans, construction materials and supplies are still being deliberately and actively blocked by the U.S. and Israel from entering into Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel is continuing to destroy, demolish, and bomb the few remaining structures that are still standing, and damaged buildings are also collapsing as conditions worsen.

“The United States’ shielding of Israel has led to exposing civilians in the Gaza Strip to a heightened risk of death under coercive living conditions. In December alone, around 18 civilians died as a result of severe storms, including five children who died from extreme cold. During the same period, wind and rain destroyed more than 27,000 tents and caused the collapse of over 20 homes previously damaged by bombardment, where residents were forced to live due to the absence of alternatives. Israel continues to block the entry of temporary shelter solutions, including caravans, and prohibits the entry of equipment and materials required for reconstruction and rubble removal.

Israel is exploiting the current situation to continue implementing its policies in the Gaza Strip, having directly killed nearly 400 Palestinians since the ceasefire was declared on 10 October. In parallel, the Israeli army is accelerating the systematic destruction of what remains of buildings east of the Yellow Line through bulldozing, demolitions, daily airstrikes, and artillery shelling, intending to consolidate effective military control over around 53 per cent of the Gaza Strip, reshaping its geography and demography in a manner that serves genocide and leads to the physical erasure of Gaza’s population as a protected group.” (from Euro-Med Monitor’s Dec. 22, 2025 article, "United States’ shielding of Israel perpetuates status quo and genocide in Gaza.”)

There is no ceasefire. There is no safety. There is no justice. And the genocide has not ended. So as we look ahead to 2026, I hope it is with the understanding that much much more is required of us. More support for the families who are trying to survive and being forced to endure what no one should ever have to, and much more in terms of our commitments and actions for justice and accountability to prevail.

Thank you to everyone who is reading this, to all who have been giving your support, to everyone who has reached out to me with your kind words, your encouragement, your emails, your messages, your donations for the families, and also with your friendship. I end this year grateful to have met so many amazing people these past 12 months, in Bellingham, in Washington State, in Gaza, and throughout the world. And it is this community of compassionate and caring people who give me the hope and strength to keep going and to never stop trying, to keep doing everything I can, alongside so many of you.

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To make a donation to the families in Gaza who are connected to the Whatcom County, Bellingham, and Washington State local and area communities, you can donate directly via their online Chuffed or GoFundMe campaign pages, or you can send or transfer funds to me (via postal mail, Zelle, or VenMo), which I can then post on your behalf. If you would like more information about how to do this, please email me at clarissjanae@gmail.com