Christian Presence in Israel and Palestine

CHRISTIAN PRESENCE IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE Beginnings The Christian community has maintained an unbroken presence and witness in Jerusalem since Pentecost, gradually spreading throughout Palestine, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean world. N Following the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century C.E., the number of Christians in Palestine increased. Churches were built in the places where people believed that events mentioned in the gospels occurred. N Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula conquered Palestine in 638 C.E. N During the first several hundred years of the rule of Islam, the Christian community gradually became a minority community. N Eastern Orthodox churches have existed in Palestine since the dawn of Christianity. N During and after the Crusades, Roman Catholic orders and other Christian churches sent missions to the Holy Land. N renaissance took place in the Christian community during the second half of the nineteenth century. An Anglican bishopric was established in Jerusalem in 1843, and the Latin Patriarchate was re-established in 1846. N At about the same time, the German Mission, consisting of the German Reformed and the German Lutheran churches, established a presence in Jerusalem and the region. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and Palestine is the successor to this mission. N At the beginning of the twentieth century, the main Christian center was in Jerusalem. Other Christian communities were located in Nazareth in the Galilee and in the coastal towns of Acre, Haifa, Jaffa, and Gaza. Bethlehem and Ramallah, together with their neighboring Christian villages, were other traditional Christian enclaves. N The end of the Palestine Mandate and the 1948 War caused many Christians to flee to the neighboring Arab states. Those who remained within the boundaries of the former mandate came under the rule of three political entities: Israel, Jordan (which included the West Bank), and Egypt (which controlled the Gaza Strip). NA Photo by David P. Young Christians have maintained an unbroken presence and witness in Jerusalem since Pentecost, gradually spreading throughout the Middle East. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) • 100 Witherspoon Street • Louisville, KY 40202-1396 • (800) 872-3283 Resource Sheet 5 of 27: Developed February 2005, updated March 2006 www.pcusa.org/worldwide/israelpalestine/resources.htm CHRISTIAN PRESENCE IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE Christians and Muslims N Christians Jerusalem every Christian denomination represented in Israel and the Occupied Territories has a presence in Jerusalem. N The Ottoman Empire granted Jerusalem a special position as an independent district because of its Christian holy sites. N The 1948 War divided Jerusalem into two cities. Many Christians left due to the violence and to expulsion by the Israelis. East Jerusalem stagnated economically throughout the 1950s, resulting in further emigration by Christians. N The 1967 War led to additional Christian emigration, often among people seeking to reunite with family members who had already established themselves in other places. N Under Israeli rule, Jerusalem’s Christian population has decreased both absolutely and proportionately due to the smaller Christian birthrate and the higher rate of emigration among Christians. N Nearly in Palestine have lived within the predominant Muslim society. Relations between Christians and their Muslim neighbors have traditionally been positive. These relations have evolved through centuries of interdependence and interaction. N Islam has long recognized the centrality of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth to Christianity. Caliph Omar demonstrated this when he guaranteed the safety of Christians and the sanctity of their holy places after the Islamic conquest. N The Ottoman Empire granted Christian communities autonomy to manage their own internal affairs, especially those dealing with religious and civil matters. N Relations between Christians and Muslims have deteriorated somewhat since the 1980s. The rise of a Muslim middle class has increased economic competition. The emergence of fundamentalist Muslim movements in Israel and the Occupied Territories during the mid-1990s has created concerns among the Christian community. Christians Today have deep roots in the land. The great majority of Christians are of indigenous stock. Their native language is Arabic. Many trace their history to the early church in Palestine. N Of the fifteen or more different Christian denominations that exist within Israel and the Occupied Territories, the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic are the largest. Many denominations operate educational institutions and other ministries. They are often financially dependent on churches and other governments or organizations outside Israel and the Occupied Territories. N The Christian community can generally be described as well-educated and engaged in white-collar professional work and as having above-average income and property. Ninety-seven percent of Christians live in urban localities. N The Declaration of the State of Israel guarantees freedom of religion for all. N The Israeli government has not treated the Christian community as a distinct group as it has the Druze. N Many Christians live in towns with populations that include both Jews and Muslims. N Christians experience social rejection by Jewish neighbors. They endure the same discrimination at the hands of the Israeli government as do their Muslim neighbors. N Christians “The decline of Palestinian Christians since 1948 is a striking matter of concern and the data indicates that the community has dropped from approximately 18 percent of the overall population to roughly 1.5 percent at the end of 2000.” —Donald E. Wagner Dying in the Land of Promise Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) • 100 Witherspoon Street • Louisville, KY 40202-1396 • (800) 872-3283 Resource Sheet 5 of 27: Developed February 2005, updated March 2006 www.pcusa.org/worldwide/israelpalestine/resources.htm CHRISTIAN PRESENCE IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE Bethlehem N Bethlehem’s Emigration by Christians began emigrating from Palestine late in the nineteenth century to seek better economic opportunities and to escape from harsh Ottoman treatment and the possibility of conscription on the eve of World War I. N The proportion of Christians in the Palestinian population has steadily declined since World War I as the result of Christian emigration and a higher Muslim birthrate. N This decline in the number of Christians living in Israel and the Occupied Territories has been particularly dramatic since 1948. N Many Christians became refugees following the 1948 War and the 1967 War. Refugees who fled are not allowed to return to their homelands. N Christians emigrate from Israel and the Occupied Territories for a number of reasons, including: O ongoing tensions and violence between Israelis and Palestinians O growing inflation, a lack of affordable housing, and a grim economic future O deterioration in social conditions resulting from the occupation N The more people emigrate, the more attractive and easier emigration becomes for others. One family member emigrates and becomes established in another place. Other family members then join that person. N Many Palestinian Christians fear that the Christian community may die within a generation unless a just and lasting peace is achieved that will reverse the rate of emigration. N Christians Christian population is deeply attached to Jerusalem culturally and economically since it houses many church headquarters and educational and cultural institutions. N A majority of Bethlehem’s Christian population is engaged in the pilgrim and tourist industry, which depends on free movement between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. N Periodic road closures and other restrictions on movement in the West Bank have cut Bethlehem off from Jerusalem and made life difficult for Christians in Bethlehem. Like all West Bank residents who are not Israelis, Christians of Bethlehem need hard-to-obtain Israeli permits to enter Jerusalem. N The security barrier is enclosing Bethlehem, increasing its isolation from Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank. N Bethlehem has suffered when the Israeli military has made incursions into the West Bank. Such incursions cause the death of Palestinians, the destruction of property, and the disruption of daily living. In April 2002, the Israeli military laid siege to the Church of the Nativity. Individuals involved in armed resistance were among those who were in the church, as were civilians seeking refuge and priests and nuns. “This problem could make the Holy Land a so-called Christian Disneyland, with nice, old churches where groups can come and wander, but without any real, living community. The Holy Land will lose its sense of significance if there are no Christians there.” —Mitri Raheb Christianity Today October 2, 1995 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) • 100 Witherspoon Street • Louisville, KY 40202-1396 • (800) 872-3283 Resource Sheet 5 of 27: Developed February 2005, updated March 2006 www.pcusa.org/worldwide/israelpalestine/resources.htm CHRISTIAN PRESENCE IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE PC(USA) Partners in Israel and Palestine and the Middle East N By N The what was called the Comity Agreement, made among American, British, and Continental European Protestant mission agencies, the predecessors of the PC(USA) chose not to establish a Presbyterian presence in Palestine. It was understood that a Reformed, Evangelical witness was to be expressed through the German Mission (succeeded by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and Palestine) and the Anglican Mission (succeeded by the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East). The PC(USA) and its predecessors have supported these two churches, which consist entirely of independent Palestinian leadership, for nearly fifty years. N The PC(USA) also works with other Christian denominations and participates in the ecumenical witness of the Middle East Council of Churches, the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, the International Center of Bethlehem, Bethlehem Bible College, and a number of indigenous and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) involved in ministries of social justice, human rights advocacy, service to refugees, economic and educational development, and interfaith cooperation. N Beyond Israel and Palestine, Presbyterians have been involved for over 175 years in mission and in a variety of Presbyterian, Reformed and ecumenical mission partnerships in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, North Africa, and the Gulf. N There are nearly 15 million Christians in the Middle East whose presence and witness have continued without interruption, and often under extremely difficult circumstances, since the early beginnings of the Christian church. The PC(USA) acknowledges, with gratitude to God, the faithful witness of those churches and, to the extent possible, joins with them in various programs and projects. N Peoples of the region acknowledge the pioneering role of the Presbyterians and the PC(USA) in such areas as theological education and leadership development, the education of girls and women, evangelism, and social witness. PC(USA)’s consistent positions of commitment to justice, solidarity, peace, and reconciliation in the Middle East are reported frequently in Middle Eastern media, and are monitored closely by Christian and interfaith partners and observers in the region. Partners expect the PC(USA) to remain steady in its commitments, to be fair in its stance, and to be proactive in the pursuit of a just and durable peace in the entire region. N The Israeli occupation is of central concern to people in the entire region. Christian partners throughout the Middle East who work for peace feel their efforts are thwarted by the injustice of the occupation. Moreover, the pressures on their own survival in the region are magnified by the intensity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. SOURCES Donald E. Wagner, Dying in the Land of Promise, 2nd Revised Edition (London: Melisende), 2003 Daphne Tsimhoni, Israel and the Territories — Disappearance, The Middle East Forum, www.meforum.org/article/15 Bassam J. Abdallah, The Christian Presence in the Land of the Bible, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, www.elca.org/countrypackets/palestine/presence.html Maroun Lahham, The Continuity of the Christian Presence in Jerusalem, www.al-bushra.org/latpatra/lahham.htm Bernard Sabella, Palestinians and Christians: Challenges and Hopes, www.al-bushra.org/holyland/sabella.htm Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) • 100 Witherspoon Street • Louisville, KY 40202-1396 • (800) 872-3283 Resource Sheet 5 of 27: Developed February 2005, updated March 2006 www.pcusa.org/worldwide/israelpalestine/resources.htm