It’s a bitter-sweet paradox, but often it’s the case that people who have suffered the most are the ones who truly know the joy of peace when it eventually comes.

Take the people of Syria. After nearly eight years of horrific war, the nation is this year rejoicing the arrival of Christmas and the opportunity to show goodwill to their compatriots. Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7, but the festivities are underway. It's wonderful to see how Syrians of all religions, or none, share in this holiday season. Their smiles are their gifts.

As in this classic John Lennon Christmas song from 1971, the people of Syria can surely show heartfelt thanks that "war is over" — or at least largely over, enough to allow them to congregate on the streets of their major cities and towns to celebrate in peace. How fantastic is that!

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This year, videos from the Syrian capital Damascus show more people than ever sharing the joy of Christmas. Children dressed in red Santa Claus outfits, marching bands of drummers and trumpeters, people of all ages, of all religious faiths, Christians, Muslims, or simply just believers in humanity — all singing and expressing friendship. The radiant street decorations and lights speak of a common divine quality of humanity.

Equally joyous scenes are present in Syria's second city, Aleppo. It was two years ago, on this date, that the city was completely liberated by the Syrian army and allied Russian forces, from assorted jihadist gangs which had held parts of the city under a reign of terror for over four years.

Yet none of these current joyous occasions in Syria are reported by Western news media. US media seem obsessed to report on President Donald Trump's awkward phone call with a seven-year-old American girl in which he wondered if she still believes in Santa. Meanwhile, Britain's BBC aired supposedly feel-good reports about two brown bears relocated from Japan to a zoo in England, and the birth of a giraffe.

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But what about a truly uplifting story about human solidarity and courage in overcoming horrors of war? A story which is manifest by thousands of Syrian people sharing the joy and peace of Christmas.

On this beautiful vindication of human goodness, the Western media have nothing to report.

One "slip-up" came from France 24 which did broadcast scenes of the celebrations from Damascus — but with the misleading spin that "Syrians are fearful of ISIS [Daesh* in Arabic] terrorists returning because of Trump withdrawing US forces from Syria."

Of course, the absence of Christmas joy and peace from Syria in Western news media is because these media are caught out on their own obscene lies about that country and the war.

People celebrating peace in Syria simply cannot be reported by Western media because they have been trying to tell the world for years that the "Syrian people are oppressed by their own government".

Recall during the liberation of Aleppo in December 2016, Western politicians, pundits and media were hysterical in their claims about the Syrian army and Russia committing "war crimes". Now that the people of Aleppo and other parts of Syria are celebrating liberation and a return to peace, the Western media are compelled to ignore that — otherwise their barefaced lies and propaganda will be exposed.

Not only that, but the truth would also come out that it was the Western governments, their media and military intelligence agencies that were the sponsors of the murderous terrorist gangs that had held civilians under siege.

An important part of the West's vile charade was exposed on December 20 when a United Nations conference heard from a range of speakers on the crimes committed by the so-called White Helmets against civilians. Expert testimony was given by investigative British journalist Vanessa Beeley as well as Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzia, among others.

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As Canadian journalist Eva Bartlett points out, not one Western media news outlet reported on the irrefutable, comprehensive evidence presented at the conference, showing how the White Helmets were complicit in committing violations against civilians with the support of Western governments in premeditated propaganda stunts. The Western lionized "rescue group" were fully integrated with the terrorist militants, participating in atrocities, yet spreading their fabricated videos with the help of Western news media.

Their violations included gassing kidnapped children, executing civilians and trafficking bodily organs.

Again, when those Western news media are caught out on their grotesque lies, the response is to ignore — by necessity. They are compelled to ignore otherwise they would self-indict for their criminal conduct in disseminating lies on behalf of terrorists and governments for illegal regime change.

The spirit of Christmas is alive and well in this world, despite the man-made wars, horrors and deceptions. For those wearied by cynicism and nihilism, the scenes of joy and peace from Syria are a tribune of good news.

As John Lennon sang it, "A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, let's hope it's a good one, without any fear… War is over, if we want it."

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia

The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.