(24 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saydnaya, Damascus, Syria – 24 December 2024
1. Various drone shots of Saydnaya Monastery ++MUTE++
2. Fireworks
3. Tilt down from monastery to Scouts
4. Mid of scouts holding flags
5. Families at the monastery celebrating Christmas
6. Various of scouts playing music
7. Muslim clergymen among onlookers
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Houssam Saadeh, Syrian citizen:
“We are very, happy, it is different from all other years, it has the joy, victory, the new birth of Syria and the birth of Jesus Christ who is the light, the peace and love for the entire world and entire earth”
9. Various of families on the stairs at the monastery
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), Joseph Khabbaz, Syrian citizen:
“We hope this feast will be endless, within the Christian existence, from here we say Merry Christmas and from Saydnaya for 2025, we hope for peace to all people.”
11. Families celebrating
12. Men shaking hands
STORYLINE:
A large crowd gathered near a historic monastery in Saydnaya on Christmas Eve to witness the lighting of a towering tree adorned with glowing green lights.
The celebration offered a rare moment of joy in a city scarred by over a decade of war and its infamous prison, where tens of thousands were held. Families and friends stood beneath the illuminated tree—some wearing Santa hats, others watching from rooftops—while a band played festive music.
“This year is different—there’s happiness, victory and a new birth for Syria and a new birth for Christ,” said Houssam Saadeh, one attendee. Another, Joseph Khabbaz, expressed hope for unity across all sects and religions in Syria, dismissing recent Christmas tree vandalism as “isolated incidents.”
Earlier, pilgrims visited the historic Our Lady of Saydnaya Monastery, one of the world’s oldest Christian sanctuaries, believed to be built in the sixth century and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
AP video shot by Abdulrahman Shaheen & Hussein Malla
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