Every Christmas season is full of
articles lamenting the shrinking number of Palestinian Christians. While it is
true that the number of Palestinian Christians once reaching 30 percent of the
Palestinian population has dwindled to 1-2 percent of the population living in
the occupied territories, the problem they face is not due to their religious
faith, but to their nationality.
اضافة اعلان
Most writers may not say it directly,
but there is often a hidden message: that Palestinian Christians are emigrating
because they are discriminated against by fellow Palestinians. Nothing can be
farther from the truth.
Palestinians, whether Muslims or
Christians, face a difficult time. They have to cross checkpoints every day to
go to work, to the hospital, to a mosque or a church. They may not be able to
go to work, hospital or their houses of worship because they happen to live in
Ramallah or Bethlehem or, God forbid, Gaza Strip. If those living in the
occupied territories wish to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, they need
an Israeli army-issued permit. A long procedure is required to obtain the
coveted permit, and if you were once arrested or detained, as more than one
million Palestinians have since 1967, it is unlikely that you will be given
this permit.
Regarding the economic situation,
the minimum wage in Israel is over $1,000. Many Palestinians living in the
occupied territories need three months to make just the minimum wage in Israel.
And the problem is not the making of the Palestinians. In its regular reports, the
World Bank says clearly that the problem of the Palestinian economy is
exclusively caused by Israel and its restrictive occupation. It is so difficult
for people and goods to move that many have no choice but to depend on Israel
for their important goods. This makes the occupied territories a cash cow for
Israel and its businesses.
While small in numbers, Palestinian
Christians are represented in large percentages in all political bodies. The
Palestinian Legislative Council has a quota four times larger than the actual
size of the Palestinian Christian community. A Palestinian municipal law
stipulated that traditionally, Palestinian Christian cities like Bethlehem,
Beit Jala, Beit Sahour and Ramallah must have a Palestinian Christian mayor.
Palestinian Christians run major universities, such as Bir Zeit, Bethlehem, Dar
al Kalima, and other institutions.
The presence of Palestinian
Christians in charitable societies and organizations is also remarkable.
Hospitals such as Augusta Victoria, Holy Family Hospital, Al Ahli hospital in
Nablus and Gaza, the French Hospital in Jerusalem, and others are among the
many health intuitions that are run and managed by Palestinian Christians.
Palestinian Christians are also
at the forefront of the fight to debunk Christian Zionism and its distorted
interpretations of the Bible that justify occupation and Israeli rule over
Palestinians. Important efforts such as Christ at the Checkpoint, organized by
the Bethlehem Bible College, Kairos Palestine, and As Sabeel Christian
Liberation Theology center are but a few think tanks that are actively
providing well-thought arguments and publications refuting those distortions
and properly explaining the Bible’s call for peace and justice.
The current situation in
Palestine is unacceptable. Occupation and colonial settlements cannot and
should not be tolerated in this 21st century. The absence of a
political horizon for all Palestinians drives them to emigrate and leads to frustration.
The world community must not allow the Israeli government to continue to ignore
the calls for an end to occupation and illegal settlements.
Palestinian Christians, like
their Muslim brothers, are clinging to their land even though their numbers are
dwindling. The way to stem emigration, anger and frustration is to address the
root cause of the problem, which is the occupation.
In the season of peace and
goodwill, we need to support all Palestinians to stay on their land and
simultaneously press Israel to end its occupation and colonial designs for
Palestinian territories. It is not just Palestinian Christians who face
problems in Palestine; all Palestinians do, and only putting an end to the
Israeli occupation will solve them.
Peace on Earth and goodwill to
all require justice and human rights for all.
The writer is an award-winning
Palestinian journalist and director-general of Community Media Network in Amman.
Follow him on twitter
@daoudkuttab
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