Monday, September 14, 2009

Burning Crosses in the Middle East

BY CARMIA


Cross burning in Haifa


If you were in Haifa last night, you may have seen the burning crosses. Although burning crosses has different connotations in the United States, here it is done by Christian Arabs to mark the eve of عيد الصليب (Eid el-Salib), or the Feast of the Cross. The sight is pretty similar to the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba-Omer, with lots of children out until late, making fires. Along with that, there is the non-stop sound of fireworks going off. Today, the actual day of the holiday, it is quieter and there are special ceremonies at the churches. Hebrew readers can find out more about the holiday and its local customs here, under "חג הצלב".



Cross burning in Sakhnin

1 comment:

Nobody said...

Some would argue that the Middle East's most favorite pastime is burning bridges. Burning crosses comes only distant second.