BAGHDAD — As young people in Tahrir Square were getting ready to erect a giant tree to celebrate their revolution in parallel with Christmas and New Year's Day, Christians in Iraq announced that they won’t be celebrating the two holidays this year out of respect for those who died during the demonstrators that broke out over the past two months in the country.

Two years after the defeat of the Islamic State (IS), which committed war crimes and genocide against members of religious minorities, namely the Yazidis and Christians, representatives of religious minorities are showing solidarity with the demands of the protesters in Tahrir Square and across Iraq.

Despite the escalation of violence, the rising number of dead and wounded among the protesters and the uncertainty about the course of events, leaders of religious minorities announced their solidarity with the popular movement and said they would call off religious celebrations this year.

Cardinal Luis Rafael Saco, the Chaldean patriarch of Iraq, decided to call off the Christmas and New Year celebrations out of respect for the blood of those who died and for the wounded and in solidarity with the pain of their families.