Palestinian Christian

The Palestinian Christians are Palestinians who follow Christianity. They make up 6% population of Palestine, according to Bernard Sabella http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/pubs/20020312ib.html. Most Palestinian Christians see themselves as Arab Christians, although some, in a similar way to the Lebanese Maronites, reject this label and claim to be descended from people who were present before the coming of the Arabs. The region called Palestine is considered the Holy Land by Christians, and major Christian holy cities like Bethlehem and Nazareth are located in Palestine.

Related Topics:
Palestinian - Christianity - Palestine - Arab Christians - Lebanese - Maronites - Arab - Holy Land - Bethlehem - Nazareth

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Prior to the establishment of the state of Israel, approximately 10% of Palestine's population was Christian. This is reflected in the large number of prominent Palestinians that are Christian, including Hanan Ashrawi, Edward Said, George Habash, and activist Raymonda Tawil, who is also the mother of Yassir Arafat's wife Suha. However, the Christians were also often found in the more affluent segments of Palestinian society which generally fled or were expelled from the country in conjunction with the 1948 Arab-Israeli War; in West Jerusalem, over 50% of Christians lost their homes to the advancing Israeli army, according to the historian Sami Haddadhttp://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/pubs/20020312ib.html. Thus while Christian voices are often heard from the Palestinian diaspora, the Christian presence in Palestine is dwindling.

Related Topics:
Israel - Christian - Palestinian - Hanan Ashrawi - Edward Said - George Habash - Raymonda Tawil - Yassir Arafat - 1948 Arab-Israeli War - Jerusalem - Sami Haddad

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Christians emigrated mainly to Latin America, the United States, and Canada.

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Some explain the difference between Christians' and Muslims' rate of emigration not by personal preference but by the idea that Christian emigrants are usually more successful in being accepted in historically Christian Western countries than Muslim ones; others suggest that the increasing influence of Islamism in Palestinian politics and society is perceived as uncomfortable for some Palestinian Christians.

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The majority of Palestinian Christians belong to the Greek-rite Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, one of the 16 churches of Eastern Orthodoxy. There are also Maronites, Melkites, Jacobites, Roman Catholics, Syrian Catholics, Copts and Protestants among them. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabah is the leader of the Palestinian Roman Catholics. The Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem is Riah Abu Assal. The Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem and Jordan is Dr. Munib A. Younan.

Related Topics:
Orthodox Church of Jerusalem - Eastern Orthodoxy - Maronite - Melkite - Jacobites - Roman Catholic - Syrian Catholic - Copts - Protestant - Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem - Michel Sabah - Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem - Riah Abu Assal - Evangelical Lutheran Church - Munib A. Younan

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There have been some anti-Christian incidents carried out in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Some observers claim that this represents a pattern of deliberate mistreatment by the Palestinian Authority; others hold that these are isolated incidents that reflect the beliefs of the individuals involved, but not the society in general. Two American courts, one in Illinois and the other in North Carolina, accepted the threat of "religious persecution" as grounds for granting asylum to two Evangelical converts from Islam fleeing PA territory http://israelvisit.co.il/BehindTheNews/Mar-30.htm, although it is not clear if their reason for fleeing was solely due to the fact that they are converts. Converting from Islam is viewed very unfavorably in Islamic tradition and contains social stigmas. Under Sharia law, the punishment for apostasy is death.

Related Topics:
Anti-Christian incidents - West Bank - Gaza Strip - Palestinian Authority - American - Illinois - North Carolina - Persecution - Asylum - Evangelical - Converts - Islam - Islamic tradition - Stigma - Sharia - Apostasy

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