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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jerusalem. Bethlehem. Nazareth. The Galilee. These are the places where Christianity began. They're where the story of Jesus took place.
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Slideshows: Click on these images to view a series of audio slideshows by Martha Rial focusing on issues facing the Arab Christian community in the Holy Land.
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Once as much as 8 percent of the population of what is now Israel and the Palestinian-administered territories, Arab Christians now make up 2 percent or less of the population, and the number is growing steadily smaller.
What's happened is a familiar tale. Tens of thousands of Palestinian Christians -- along with many more thousands of Muslims -- left their homes in 1948 when Israel became a state.
Thousands more left after the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, which put the West Bank and Gaza under Israeli control.
The two Palestinian uprisings of the last 10 years and the violence and economic disruption that followed have led to even more emigration.
The result is that towns like Bethlehem, long a Christian stronghold with a strong tourist business, are now battle-scarred and economically bereft.
Anton Hanna, a widowed 78-year-old former nurse who lives in the tiny, Christian village of Taybeh, near Ramallah, is one of those who doesn't want to leave. Four of his six children are gone -- to Jordan, Sweden, Finland, and the United States,
"I am against them going out," Mr. Hanna told Pittsburgh Post-Gazette photographer Martha Rial. "I want them to be here, [but] there is nothing for them here." It was a sentiment that Ms. Rial heard often as she traveled through the West Bank and Israel last month.
What's unsettling -- though clearly not surprising given the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict -- is that there's so little agreement on just what is driving the exodus. Every side -- and that includes religious groups of all kinds as well as Israelis and Palestinians -- colors its accounts with how it would like things to be, not with how they really are.
Because there's been no census, an accurate count of Palestinian Christians is nonexistent.
For Palestinians, the bigger the number the better their claim on world sympathy. For hard-line Israelis, the opposite is true.
Among Palestinians, the Israelis are to blame for the rising emigration numbers. Among some Israelis, the blame should be put on Palestinian Muslims and the rising tide of Islamism in the Palestinian territories as well as through the Islamic world.
The only thing that's not disputed is that they are leaving about as fast as they can.
Voices
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Marie Selassie, 18, participates in a social studies class at De La Salle High School in Bethlehem. Click photo for larger image. |
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He strives to teach his 600 students -- and the greater community -- the value of openness, tolerance and acceptance of others' differences and to be more open to others. He hopes that both Muslims and Christians will become less fanatic and more able to live in peace with a neighbor who shares different religious faith.
"We create a more moderate Muslim than other schools," he says.
One of the main obstacles he faces is the continuing economic misfortune of the local community. Toruism is declining. Unemployment is rising.
"The situation is becoming alarming," he says.
Dr. Mansour discusses the goals of the school and its fiscal challenges.
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Representing the Pope: Maher Turjman is the Regional Director for the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, a papal agency for Middle East relief and development.
The agency provides both emergency assistance and long-term education and development to the region, without distinction of the recipient's nationality or religion.
Mr. Turjman describes the mission's goals.
