AMMAN —
His Majesty King Abdullah’s warning last week against the continuous
impediments facing Christians in the Palestinian Territories, especially in
Jerusalem, and the continued pressures that could threaten their presence in
the region, has resonated with pundits in Jordan.
اضافة اعلان
At a meeting in
New York with a number of Christian
leaders in the United States on Monday, His Majesty reaffirmed that Arab
Christians are an integral part of the Middle East’s past and present, and are
vital to its future, stressing the need to work collectively to safeguard the
Christian presence in the region.
The meeting came two days before
Christian-Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead while covering
an Israeli raid in the West Bank town of Jenin. Abu Akleh’s killing last
Wednesday caused an uproar in many corners of the world, sending anti-Israeli
sentiments on the rise in Arab countries.
A sombre memorial service was held for Abu Akleh in
Amman’s Sacred Heart of Jesus church.
According to a
US State Department’s 2019 report on
international religious freedom, about 50,000 Christian Palestinians reside in
the West Bank and Jerusalem. According to media reports and religious
communities, there is nearly 1,000 Christians residing in Gaza.
The report pointed out that according to local
Christian leaders, Palestinian Christian Immigration has continued at rapid
rates.
A majority of Christians are Greek Orthodox; the
remainder are Roman Catholics, Melkite Greek Catholics, Syrian Orthodox,
Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholics, Coptic Orthodox, Maronites, Ethiopian
Orthodox, Syrian Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, other Protestant
denominations, including evangelical Christians, and small numbers from The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Christians are concentrated primarily in Bethlehem,
Ramallah, and Nablus; smaller communities exist elsewhere.
According to various sources, there is a near-consensus
that the number of Christians in Palestine has dropped by nearly 10-fold in the
last 70 years.
Palestinian columnist and commentator Ramzy Baroud
wrote in 2019 that 70 years ago, Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, was
86 percent Christian. The demographics of the city, however, have fundamentally
shifted, especially after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in June 1967
and the construction of the illegal Israeli apartheid wall starting in 2002.
Baroud added that
Palestinian Christians in
Bethlehem have been driven out from their historic city in large numbers.
According to the city’s mayor, Vera Baboun, as of 2016, the Christian
population of Bethlehem has dropped to 12 percent, merely to 11,000 people.
The most optimistic estimates place the overall
number of Palestinian Christians in the whole of occupied Palestine at less
than 2 percent.
According to Baroud, the study concluded that ‘the
pressure of Israeli occupation, ongoing constraints, discriminatory policies,
arbitrary arrests, confiscation of lands added to the general sense of
hopelessness among Palestinian Christians’, who are finding themselves in “a
despairing situation where they can no longer perceive a future for their
offspring or for themselves”.
The
Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted a public opinion poll among Palestinian Christians in the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the period between January 27 and February
23, 2020.
It found that the desire to immigrate is much higher
among Palestinian Christians than Palestinian Muslims.
Indeed, the percentage among Christians in the West
Bank is almost twice as much as that of
Muslims. The poll found that in
addition to economic reasons for the Immigration, some have to do with the
conditions of the Israeli occupation and others with the domestic conditions.
For example, Christians complain about the impact of occupation measures, such
as checkpoints, settlers’ attacks, and land confiscation.
Israel has repeatedly prevented Gaza Christians from
entering the West Bank and Jerusalem to mark Christian religious festivities.
And as recently as last month, Israel put restrictions on the number of
Palestinian Christians, who were allowed to celebrate Easter at the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre.
The director of the Catholic Center for Studies and
Media, Father Rifat Bader, told
Jordan News that the visit demonstrates
the King’s interest in the situation of Christians in Palestine and the region,
and stresses the importance of sanctities in Jerusalem.
He added that the “His Majesty the King stresses in
all his meetings the importance of preserving the constants in Palestine,
including religious pluralism, and that religion cannot, in any way, be linked
to terrorism.”
He indicated that “the Christian presence in the
East was subjected to harassment and displacement, and that is why His Majesty
the King wanted to clarify the religion as a religion of peace and affection,
and that it is the duty of Muslims to defend Christians at all times.”
He stressed that “the main reason for the
displacement of Christians from Palestine is the Israeli occupation, and that
this visit would stop the Immigration, especially since about eight thousand
Christians left East Jerusalem, and this is a huge loss for Jerusalem, especially
that what distinguishes Jerusalem is its religious pluralism.”
He pointed out that “their displacement sounds the
alarm bell of the need to preserve
Christians in Palestine”, stressing that the
decrease in their number is a great loss; “because we do not want Palestine to
become free of its people, whether Christians or Muslims.”
“Certainly, His Majesty the King’s recent visit has
a great role in reminding the world of the importance of religious pluralism
and the preservation of Christians in Palestine. Undoubtedly, concerted efforts
will play a major role in that”, he said.
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem Atallah
Hanna, told
Jordan News that “His Majesty the King is keen, in all his
meetings, to defend Jerusalem and its Christian and Islamic sanctities, and to
reject the violations that Palestine is being subjected to.”
“Wherever His Majesty the King is, he will be an
ambassador for justice and peace”, he said and added “therefore, we salute the
Hashemite leadership, especially regarding the King’s meeting in the United
States of America with Christian leaders for the noble stances and support for
the Palestinian people and their just cause.”
He said that “stopping the displacement, whether
Christian or Islamic, is linked to a just solution to the Palestinian issue;
when the issue is resolved, the occupation is removed and the
Palestinian people enjoy their full rights, only then can the migration flow to Christians
and other citizens stop.”
Hassan Al-Momani, a political writer and analyst,
told
Jordan News that Jordan, represented by the King, is in the
forefront of defending and protecting the Islamic and Christian holy sites in
Palestine.
“His Majesty the King is a person who believes in
interfaith dialogue and peace and has a strong presence and influence among the
whole world, especially that Jordan has a very important historical and
religious role,” Momani said.
Political commentator and journalist Dawoud Kuttab
told
Jordan News that the King’s meeting with US Christian leaders was a
wise and clever move.
He added that “his warning constitute a real
pressure before world opinion to stop the repeated attacks on Palestine.”
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