Away in a Manger

Jesus was a Palestinian Jew

He was a Jewish Palestinian too

He realised he was a child of God

Same for you, he said, how sweetly odd.

Love your enemies, he also said

Which turned the local culture on his head

He was a light in all the fear and gloom

Some would say he couldn't read the room.

And yet we celebrate his birth by stopping

From work, then drinking beer and shopping

Or seeing in the earth and stars anew

This little baby Palestinian Jew.

Michael Leunig, from The Melbourne Age December 2023.