Charity Christmas cards show war-torn Mideast
Fundraiser by Doctors of the World highlights conflicts of the region, juxtaposing nativity scenes with missiles and drones
A new fundraising campaign by the UK branch of a medical charity aimed to highlight conflict in the Middle East by launching a new series of holiday cards showing traditional nativity scenes juxtaposed with modern-day photographs of conflict zones across the region.
The set of four cards, with names like “Not So Silent Night” and “The Star of Bedlam,” was made available by Doctors of the World UK, a charity that provides emergency and long-term medical care to vulnerable people in Britain and around the world.
The cards, the charity said, were meant to draw attention to the reality of the humanitarian disasters in the region.
“Every Christmas a romanticized picture is presented of the Holy Land of the past, featuring peaceful pastoral images that are shared in homes, churches and high streets across the country,” said Leigh Daynes, executive director of Doctors of the World. “This is completely at odds with the humanitarian crisis that the region faces today.”
According to The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) more than 65 million people were displaced from their homes in 2016, and over half of them from just three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.
The cards were designed by advertising agency McCann London and feature photos by the Press Association taken over the last year.
Mike Oughton, Creative Director at McCann London said: “We saw a huge irony in the war-torn imagery of the Middle East today, when compared to the imagery of the nativity, and its message of ‘peace on earth’ and ‘goodwill to all men.'”
