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Motto:  “A strong Palestinian church is the best chance for future reconciliation between Palestinian & Israeli people“ – Palestinian Prime Minister, Dr. Salaam Fayyad

The Arab Palestinian Christians have deep roots in the Holy Land. The great majority, estimated at 400,000 worldwide or roughly 6.5 % of all Palestinians, are of indigenous stock, whose mother tongue is Arabic and whose history takes them back, or at least some of them, to the early church.

Of the 750,000 Palestinians that were forced from their homes in 1948, some 60,000 were Christians, 7% of the total number of refugees and 35 % of the total number of Christians living in Palestine at the time. A further estimated 180,000 have subsequently departed.

Unfortunately at present the 50,000 Christians remaining in the West Bank and Gaza Strip make up only 1.4 % of the total population.

They belong to fifteen different denominations, the largest of which are the Greek Orthodox (41%), and the Roman Catholics (36%). Yet each denomination or community maintains a rich tradition of rites and rituals, beside educational and other institutions that speaks of its long presence and attachment to the Holy Land. The local community reaffirmed perpetually the rites, rituals and traditions of Palestinian Christians are factors which still pull the community together and reinforce its raison desire. They are also a strong signal of identification with Palestinian society, its ordeals and expectations.

About 40% of Palestinian Christians live in Bethlehem. Others live in Ramallah and Jerusalem. Christians are an overly urban community as 97% of them live in the urban localities of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Only 3% report living in villages and refugee camps.

Palestinian Christians have experienced a relatively long tradition of emigration since late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Early emigration was motivated by worsening political and economic conditions in the Ottoman Empire.

Palestinian Christians in 1900: 25% of the population; 1948: 7.6%; NOW: 1.7%. Palestinian Christian in Jerusalem in 1948: 32.000; NOW: 9000

Why is this a migrant community? Because of the bad socio-economic and political conditions imposed by the occupation, and because it is a community with high educational achievement and a relatively good standard of living but with no real prospects for economic security or advancement will most probably become a migrant community.

* Conditions that will help stop or discourage emigration are primarily the improvement of the political situation.

A difficult daily life: Bethlehem residents for example, cannot go to Jerusalem to attend Church or family weddings, baptisms and funerals without permits from Israeli authorities. These are nearly impossible to obtain. Sick people need a permit as well to receive medical care in an Israeli hospital just three or four miles away.

Challenges: The restrictions of movement due to the separation wall, barriers, check points…, the unemployment, the impeded freedom of worship, the dependency on aid. In spite of properties, buildings and real estate which the various churches have in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Christian communities have not been able to become self-sufficient. Dependency on partner churches elsewhere is a characteristic that is almost universal among the Holy Land churches. If this partnership weakens, there is doubt that local churches can make it on their own.

Muslim Christian dialogue: The Palestinian Christians see themselves, and are seen by their Muslim compatriots, as an integral part of the Palestinian people, and they have long been a vital part of the Palestinian struggle. As the Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, the Reverend Riah Abu al-Assal has explained, “The Arab Palestinian Christians are part and parcel of the Arab Palestinian nation. We have the same history, the same culture, the same habits and the same hopes.” Historically, Christian-Muslim relations in Palestine have been based on what we call “the dialogue of life” as we work together, our children go to school together and we share the same bitter and sweet conditions of life.

Unfortunately, things are changing. The bad socio political situation leads to despair and extremism, and each community are coagulating and moving away from the other. This causes the isolation of the Palestinian Christians in their churches, areas and homes.

Palestinian Christians and the political situation: Palestinians Christians support the political developments now taking place in the region. These developments provide hope that an era of peace and prosperity is finally beginning to take shape in our troubled land and region. The peace process is particularly important for Christians since there are indications that with the coming of peace, lower numbers of Christians will think of emigration.

Concerning the political issue, in last December Palestinian Christians have launched the KAIROS PALESTINE document (www.kairospalestine.ps). It is the “word” of the Palestinian Christians to the international community about what is happening on the ground.

Some key points of the Kairos Document: …We also declare that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is a sin against God and humanity because it deprives the Palestinians of their basic human rights, bestowed by God. It distorts the image of God in the Israeli who has become an occupier just as it distorts this image in the Palestinian living under occupation… Despite the lack of even a glimmer of positive expectation, our hope remains strong. The Church in our land, her leaders and her faithful, despite her weakness and her divisions, does show certain signs of hope…

The Issue of Jerusalem: Jerusalem is a city of conflict between the two peoples who live in it (Jews and Arabs). The Christians of Jerusalem are concerned over daily preoccupations and constraints which the present political environment places on them. On the other hand, the Church leadership, while sensitive to the preoccupations and constraints felt by its faithful, is conscious of the need to highlight the Christian presence in the Holy City irrespective of the restraints and pretensions of temporal governing arrangements. But this highlighting, as will be illustrated later, is done with due respect to other religions and their faithful who equally view Jerusalem as their Holy City.

Role of the Palestinian Christians: Bridge & link between East and West, between Jews, Muslims, & Christians.

NOTE: This text was written by my World Vision colleague Dr. Charlie Abu Saada, who is in in charge of my sector, Faith & Development, for the World Vision office in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza. I have deleted the last part of this text, which is relevant only in World Vision context.

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