Last week, His Beatitude Theophilos III, Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem, led the annual interfaith lighting of a Christmas tree inside Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate. The lighting this year took place at the Imperial Hotel, a Greek Orthodox property that Israeli settlers sought to occupy earlier this year.

“This simple ceremony of the lighting of a tree shows us the way and shines as a sign of hope in the darkness,” he said. For Palestinians, the celebration of Christmas—on town squares, in churches, and in homes—is itself a creative act of nonviolent resistance.

Despite hearing a stirring call to protect the Palestinian Christian community while in Bethlehem, U.S. church leaders lament Biden’s visit “did little to advance the cause of peace.”

“The seizure of the Little Petra Hotel by the radical extremist group Ateret Cohanim is a threat to the continued existence of a Christian Quarter in Jerusalem,” says Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III.

Patriarch Theophilos III charges that a rising number of assaults against Christians and church buildings are an attempt to drive the Christian community out of Jerusalem’s Old City.