Middle East - Anthony Ham [275]
Land Day (30 March) A Palestinian day of protest against the Israeli government’s takeover of Palestinian lands.
Pesah (The Feast of Passover) Celebrates the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, led by Moses. On the first and last days of this week-long festival, most businesses (including shops and markets) are closed and public transport shuts down; on other days of the festival, businesses may open for limited hours. Passover dinner, or Seder, consists of several prescribed dishes, each commemorating a different event, and during the entire period, bread is replaced with matzo, an unleavened wafer up to 1m in diameter.
Omer (Pesah to Shevuot) This is a Lent-like period solemnly commemorating the various trials of the Jewish people.
Soldiers Memorial Day This day commemorates fallen soldiers in various Israeli conflicts.
Armenian Holocaust Memorial Day 24 April
Mimouna North African Jewish festival.
Eastern Orthodox & Armenian Good Friday Takes place two weeks after the Protestant and Catholic Good Friday.
Eastern Orthodox & Armenian Easter This falls two weeks after the Protestant and Catholic Easter.
May
Yom HaSho’ah On Holocaust Day (22nd day of Omer) Sirens sound periodically throughout the day signalling two minutes of silence in memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust.
Labor Day (1 May) Day for Palestinian workers to celebrate their achievements.
Lag B’Omer Picnics Sports matches and bonfires and a permissible feast on the 33rd day of Omer commemorate the 2nd-century break in the plague that killed Rabbi Akiva’s students (in some years, it may fall in late April).
Yom HaAtzma’ut This day commemorates 14 May 1948, when Israel became an independent state. The day before, Yom Hazikaron, is a memorial day dedicated to soldiers lost in Israel’s various conflicts. For Palestinians, this day is called Al-Naqba, the Great Catastrophe.
June & August
Liberation of Jerusalem Day (4 June) This is a commemoration of the reunification of Jerusalem in June 1967.
Shevuot (Pentecost) Seven weeks after Pesah, this day celebrates the delivery of the Torah to Moses on Mt Sinai.
Tish’a BeAv This is a commemoration of the Destruction of the Temples.
September & October
Rosh HaShanah This is the ‘head of the Year’ (Jewish New Year) and prayer services begin on the eve of the holiday.
Independence Day (15 November) Marks the signing of the Palestine Declaration of Independence (signed in 1988).
Yom Kippur The Day of Atonement ends the 10 days of penitence that begin on Rosh HaShanah. The observant spend 25 hours in prayer and contemplation, confessing sins and abstaining from food, drink, sex, cosmetics (including soap and toothpaste) and animal products.
Sukkot On Sukkot (Tabernacles Festival) people erect homemade sukkotim (shelters) in commemoration of the 40 years which the ancient Israelites spent in the wilderness after the Exodus. The sukkotim walls are constructed of plywood with a roof of loose branches (so the sky is visible from inside); these sit on apartment balconies, gardens and even in hotels and restaurants.
Simhat Torah This falls seven days after Sukkot.
Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Day This day honours the assassinated prime minister, Yitzak Rabin (sometimes held in November).
December
Hanukkah Also called the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah celebrates the re-dedication of the Temple after the triumphant Maccabean revolt against the Seleucids. Each night for a week, families light a candle on a menorah (an eight-branched candelabrum) and exchange gifts.
Christmas Commemorating the humble birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Christmas is celebrated by Catholics and Protestants on 25 December, while the Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate it on 7 January and the Armenians on 19 January. When things are calm on the West Bank, the event to attend is the Christmas Eve (24 December) midnight mass on Bethlehem’s Manger Sq outside the Church of the Nativity. Note that space inside the church is reserved for observant Catholics who hold tickets (distributed free