Many Iraqi Christians have decided not to celebrate Christmas or the new year, fearing an attack from al-Qā‘idah. 

Churches across Iraq canceled their celebrations or restricted them to a more toned-back religious mass as a result of continued mourning over the Sayyidat al-Najāh Church massacre in October.

At Sayyidat al-Najāh Church, the facility is going without its usual Christmas tree.

The article quotes an Iraqi woman, who says that it is impossible for a woman who so brutally lost her child to celebrate a holiday so soon thereafter.