A hope for Christmas

This morning as I cycled to work through the freezing fog, I was thinking about the homeless people who I pass every day on my way to work.

This time of year is miserable: the freezing weather is a sever health hazard for many homeless people, and a couple of years ago a homeless man in my parents home town froze to death in a park, after sleeping there all night. Death is a daily reality for many of them during this time of year. When working at Leamington Christian Mission, a soup kitchen for the homeless, I heard about how some would commit crimes over the winter in the hope of being caught: so they could get a hot meal and roof over the head; even if it was just for one night.

When I arrived at work after making myself a hot drink and starting to defrost from my ride, I sat down to read my emails and came across the Women’s Organisation for Political Prisoners, about many (mostly) Palestinian women who are being held in Israeli jail and the treatment they receive, which by all accounts is horrendous.

Over the last few weeks I have also been hearing about the plight of the Shministim, young Israelis who are refusing to serve in the Israeli Defence Forces, many of whom have been sent to prison because of their conscientious objection. These teenagers – yes, teenagers – are showing immense courage against a huge amount of opposition, including much from their friends and family, as well as the authorities. One of the Shministim, Yuval Oron-Ofir, yesterday was sentenced to this third term for refusing to serve.

This takes me back to a conversation we had while staying at Dheisheh Refugee Camp where our guide, who will remain anonymous as it is illegal for him to talk to us, described how the community there worked together to look after its members. He mentioned how there were no homeless people in the camp, as people would always provide for them to make sure they had a roof over their head. In a place like Palestine where people have so little but give so much, it shames me to think of the huge number of homeless people that we fail to provide for across Oxford, and the UK.

I hope this Christmas we can all keep those who are not as fortunate as us in our hearts and minds: whether they are in England or elsewhere in the world.