Who is responsible for the emigration of Palestinian Christians? By Dr. Hanna Issa , translated from Arabic by Ibrahim El Farr Yafawi.
By Dr. Hanna Issa , translated from Arabic by Ibrahim El Farr Yafawi
Who is responsible for the emigration of Palestinian Christians?
By Dr. Hanna Issa , translated from Arabic by Ibrahim El Farr Yafawi.
(The tasks entrusted to the official and civil society institutions in Palestine are to prevent this migration, consolidate the survival of this group, and find effective means to reverse migration if possible.)
The Secretary-General of the Muslim-Christian Organization for the Support of Jerusalem and Holy Places, Dr. Hanna Issa, said, “The Christian presence in the Palestinian society at the present time constitutes less than 1% of the population of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, because most of the Christians of Palestine have gone to live in other countries for various reasons, including the presence of the Israeli occupation in these territories, and the bad economic situation, and recent statistics indicate that the number of Christians is 40,000 people in the West Bank, and less than 5,000. in Jerusalem, and 733 in the Gaza Strip.”
Issa added, “Christians today within the Palestinian society constitute about 20% of the size of the Palestinian population, which amounts to 12,930,608 people, according to the statistics of 15/5/2017.
Issa pointed out, “One of the direct reasons for the low percentage of Christians in Palestine is due to the low birth rate among Christians due to their high economic and social level, the failure of development and renaissance projects in most countries of the region, and the feeling of Christians and other social groups useless to survive due to the low economic and political conditions in them, and despite the living difficulties, Christians along with their Muslim brothers are still struggling for the development and prosperity of this country.”
With the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, approximately 750,000 Palestinians were displaced from their land. They became refugees overnight, and among the population who suffered the refugee experience, between 40,000 and 50,000 Arab Christians, who were more than a third of the Christian population in Palestine in 1948.
”In Jerusalem, the total Christian population in 1944 exceeded 30,000, and it is now less than 5,000 at the end of 2017. As a result of the occupation, many Christians emigrated in 1967 to Jordan and live in the capital, Amman, because there were many more opportunities than in Jerusalem. It is not surprising to say that the number of Christians in Australia is greater than in the city of East Jerusalem, and that the number of Palestinian Christians in the United States of America from the city of Ramallah is much more than what is now in the city of Ramallah.
”From the beginning of the occupation in 1967 until the end of 1993, the rate of emigration of Palestinian Christians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip was approximately 13,000 of them (8,000 in the West Bank and 5,000 from Gaza). The political factor represented by the Israeli occupation, with the accompanying poor economic conditions and a difficult social climate, played a key role in pushing people to leave the occupied Palestinian territories.
He noted, “Families living in cities and belonging to the middle class are more likely to migrate than families in rural areas or in refugee camps, and the majority of families indicated that the direct reason that prompted them to migrate is the bad economic situation and unstable political conditions, and to reduce migration must be preceded by improving political and economic conditions and creating job opportunities to reduce unemployment, and convince the citizen of the national culture.”
Issa stressed, “The challenges of survival for the Palestinians are to work for justice and peace and to get out of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with a just and lasting solution by establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. And work to provide societal values that strengthen relations in these difficult days between the various sons of the country, especially in the religious field. And facing the stifling economic conditions with serious economic support, which generates confidence in the hearts of those who see migration as salvation.”
”Political and economic factors are behind the migration of citizens, and those with religious discourse should pay attention to the common national project, which includes all of us without difference of religion or sect,” Issa said. Although the will to survive is still strong among the majority of our people, the conclusion leads us to conclude that migration is increasing at a time characterized by political instability, which results in social and economic instability, especially in relations between different classes and groups of people, including religious groups.”
Issa stressed that the tasks entrusted to official and civil society institutions in Palestine are to prevent this migration and consolidate the survival of this group, and to aspire to find effective means to mitigate adverse migration, if possible.
He stressed, “There is an urgent common need to find an integrated view of the issues of the homeland and serious work by Muslims and Christians together to face various challenges. Knowing that in our various Christian denominations, the churches interact as much as possible with the needs of society in a spirit of openness, love, and respect for human life without regard to any religious or other characteristic or subtlety. In addition, our churches in Palestine emphasize the importance of citizens, regardless of their religion, bearing the burdens and responsibilities of public life, as they view this as a testament to their belonging and loyalty to the homeland.
