Dear all,
As Christmas approaches, may we prepare not only our homes, but our hearts. May our streets not only shine with lights, but may our faith be rekindled, our courage renewed, and our commitment to justice deepened.
May love be reborn within us, agape rooted in our hearts, forgiveness given intentional space, and transformation dwelling in our spirits, so that hope may rise again in our minds and souls.
Christ is coming—peace to every heart, especially to those most burdened, grieving, or under siege.
Let us dare to hope that 2026 brings a peace grounded in justice, where rights are rendered, dignity is protected, and a culture of acceptance and solidarity grows. Let us be people who care for one another and who care tenderly for the environment, the land, and all living beings.
In this spirit, we say thank you—for all that you are doing, and all that is being done, to build a more peaceful, sustainable, equitable, and just world for us all.
Christmas is here, knocking at your door, whispering gratitude for your willingness to walk alongside us again this year, despite all challenges, difficulties, and obstacles. Your steadfast commitment to building bridges between people, strengthening peace, and spreading the messages of nonviolence and reconciliation is one of the essential lights that keep us moving along this less-travelled road. It is what allows us to keep celebrating life, and to enter this season with moments of joy, courage, and serenity.
We thank you again for walking with us, and we look forward to continuing our peacebuilding journey together.
A Christmas Wish for Peace: Global Conflicts and the Work of Hope
As the world marks the Christmas season—a time of hope, justice-seeking, goodwill, empathy, and compassion—it is necessary to pause and reflect on the state of our world. So many conflicts and wars continue to scar the lives of tens of millions of people. In a season that proclaims “peace on earth,” it can feel overwhelming to hold the weight of ongoing wars and struggles across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. We must not forget, especially, the ongoing Palestinian struggle for liberation and the suffering in Gaza and the West Bank.
Yet just as Christmas speaks of new beginnings, it also invites us to ask how we can take part in healing, become agents of change, and embody peace in action, not only in words.
Wars Around the World: Reality and Pain
There remain numerous active conflicts around the globe, from the war in Ukraine to the civil wars in Yemen and Sudan, and the intensifying violence in the Middle East, particularly the war on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. These conflicts are fueled by political, religious, and economic interests; struggles for power and resources; and histories marked by colonialism, dispossession, and unresolved injustice.
All wars inflict unimaginable hardship on civilians and innocent people—lives lost, communities uprooted, ethnic cleansing, collective trauma, and deep, long-term social and economic wounds. The cost is borne most heavily by those with the least power: children, women, the poor, the displaced, and the marginalized.
Paths to Peace: Steps Toward Just Solutions
Building peace is complex, but not impossible. Here are some concrete steps that can move us closer to a just and lasting peace:
- Activate and uphold UN Security Council resolutions, international law, international humanitarian law, and the Fourth Geneva Convention, and apply them consistently, not selectively.
- Promote genuine diplomacy and sustained dialogue, centering the voices of those most affected and ensuring that negotiations are authentic, and grounded in human rights and equity.
- Address the root causes of conflict—occupation, disenfranchisement, dispossession, poverty, racism, and structural injustice—and transform these oppressive systems on the basis of rights and dignity.
- Strengthen international cooperation to alleviate suffering, end poverty, cancel unjust debts, and bring all forms of oppression, including occupation and colonialism to an end.
- Support humanitarian efforts to halt starvation and famine, create dignified jobs, provide medical care, and confront preventable diseases and ailments.
- Promote a culture of acceptance, understanding, and pluralism—honoring diversity while nurturing unity in our shared humanity and rights to life.
- Work actively against hate speech, extremism, and fundamentalism in all their forms. Advocate for nonviolence, restorative justice, and reconciliation rooted in inclusion and accountability.
Christmas as Invitation: Reflection, Commitment, and Change
Christmas, with its quiet yet radical message of peace and hope, calls us back to the values of kindness, courage, and compassion. But it also asks more of us: to examine our own lives, our societies, and our institutions, and to ask how we can participate in changing unjust realities.
As individuals and as a global community, we can:
- Refuse indifference and bear witness to suffering, telling the truth about injustice wherever it appears.
- Educate, advocate, and organise for policies that protect human rights, end occupation and oppression, and promote fair, life-giving structures locally, nationally, and internationally.
- Practice nonviolence in our relationships, our communities, and our political engagement, becoming living signs of the peace we long to see.
This Christmas, may our prayers become commitments, and our words continue to become growing embodied actions. May we hold one another in love, stand with the oppressed, and continue to walk together on this less-travelled road toward a lasting solution.
Zoughbi Zoughbi
IFOR President
