The Effect of Israeli Politics on Christians in the Holy Land

Since the beginning of Christianity 2000 years ago, political changes have had an impact, both negative and positive, on the presence of Christians in the Holy Land. In the present time they face new challenges and problems that are partly due to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Historically, this conflict began during, and after, World War I when the Ottoman Empire was fragmented and then divided up between the victors. At that time, Britain made promises regarding historic Palestine through the Balfour Declaration. It documented Britain’s support of a Jewish national home in Palestine, provided it did not prejudice the situation of the non-Jewish population there. The Balfour Declaration is a key foundation of the establishment of the State of Israel and the political situation that shaped Israeli-Palestinian enmity in Palestine and continues to negatively affect the Middle East and the entire world. The implementing of the Balfour Declaration led to massive migration of Jews from all parts of the world to Palestine and has played a role in decreasing the Christian population from the Holy Land. The first part of the Balfour Declaration, concerning a “homeland for the Jews” was implemented but the second part relating to the protection of the existing people in the Holy Land was largely ignored. The situation between increasing numbers of Jews coming to settle and the rise in nationalism of the Palestinian Arabs and their indignation at the unfulfilled promises made by the British government led to much political conflict, including a General Strike, under the British Mandate.

In 1948, when the British Labour government felt they could no longer fulfil the obligations of the Mandate they handed matters over to the United Nations. The United Nations proposed dividing Palestine between the Jews and Arabs, declaring that the Jewish population, although owning only 5.9% of the land in Palestine would be given a substantial portion of Palestine, on which they could establish their state. Understandably the Palestinians were reluctant to settle for a part of the whole of historic Palestine, all of which they considered as theirs. This situation led to fighting between Jewish forces and armies from the surrounding Arab countries who came to support their Palestinian brothers and sisters. The resulting upheaval led to massacres, on both sides, and much internal migration and deportation of Palestinians. Because of a combination of fear of such massacres as that at Deir Yasin and calls from other Arab countries to leave, huge numbers of Palestinian refugees fled to Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Egypt. By the end of the Arab-Israeli War in 1948, Israel had seized control of 78% of the country and approximately 750,000 of the Palestinian refugees left areas of conflict or fled to other countries to avoid the results of the war. Among these refugees were 60,000 Christians who subsequently were displaced outside the country. Many others became internal refugees with Christian towns such as Nazareth, Ramle and Jaffa trying to absorb the Christian refugees who were driven from villages and towns on the borders with Lebanon and Jordan.

Between 1948 and 1967 the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) came under the control of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Gaza Strip under the control of the Democratic State of Egypt. Those who stayed in what became the State of Israel lived in uneasy and precarious times without political rights and deprived of basic amenities.

In June 1967, Israel launched a war against Egypt, Syria and Jordan in which it seized all of the rest of historic Palestine which consisted of the West Bank including East Jerusalem from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt. In addition, Israel seized the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria. Large numbers of Palestinians, some living in cities, towns, and villages, and some in refugee camps in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, now came under Israeli control. This event meant that half of the Palestinian population ended up living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories within the confines of refugee camps.

The responsibility for Christians in Israel, including the Old City of Jerusalem, during its formative years as a country was in the Department of Christian Communities at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The Israeli government continues to maintain good relationships with the global Christian Church as an entity, in order to maintain a good reputation in the Christian world. In contrast, on a local level, the Israeli government considers the Palestinian Christians as part of the Palestinian people and deals with them in the same way that they do with Palestinian Muslims. Unfortunately, this treatment is based on injustice that limits religion, social, cultural, political and economic freedom, for all Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian.