Palestinian Christians

1
Palestinian Christians

• An Overview of the Decline of the Palestinian
  Christian Community

2
Palestinian Population Decline

• Jerusalem
• 1922 51 Christian (British Census)
• 1978 10
• 1990 4.
• In Jerusalem, Christians have 1 church for every
  177 people.
• In 1948 Christians 18 of the Palestinian
  population
• In 2003 2.

3
Palestinian Christians

• There are 15 different Christian denominations
  represented among the Palestinians
• The largest group is the Greek Orthodox (51)
• Next are the Catholics (32)
• Some groups (e.g. Copts) are only a few families.

4
1947 and After

• After the UN partition vote of 1947
• gt 50 of Jerusalems Christians were expelled
  from their homes.
• 37 of the Palestinian Christians became
  refugees
• 17 of the Palestinian Muslims became refugees
• Why? Mainly because the Christians lived in
  wealthier districts seized by Israel in 1948-49,
  so more were expelled.
• About 34 of the land seized by Israel was owned
  by Palestinian Christian Churches and no
  compensation was ever given.

5
The Situation Today

• Bethlehem once 90 Christian but is now less
  than 25 (of 35,000 inhabitants, about 6,500 are
  Christian). There are more Christians from
  Bethlehem living in Chile and Brazil than in
  Bethlehem.
• Ramallah was once a dominant Christian town but
  now there are more Christians from there living
  in Detroit and Jacksonville Fl. than in
  Ramallah.
• Age profile the median age of Christians is 32,
  but in the rest of the Palestinian population it
  is 16.
• West Bank population 2.3m.
• There are c. 50,000 Christians (c. 2.2)
• There are about 400,000 Palestinian Christians
  worldwide

6
Did You Know?

• US direct aid (i.e. cash) to Israel approx. 3
  billion / year.
• 60 of this must be spent in the US (weapons
  mostly).
• Another 3 billion in indirect aid (military
  assistance, grants, etc)
• Together this one-third of the official US
  foreign aid budget

7
Tamer Monir, Christ in Palestinian Context