Understanding Christian Emigration from the Holy Land: Just the Facts…

• Christians were 80 percent of the population in and around Bethlehem when Israel was founded.
• Christians make up just 12 percent of that population today.
• There are between 200,000 and 300,000 Christians in Israel and Palestine.
• About half of Christians in the Holy Land are Greek Orthodox.
• In Latin America, Christian Palestinians make up approximately 85 percent of all Palestinian immigrants.
• 20 to 25% of Christians in Palestine feel discrimination when searching for jobs or when seeking government services.
• Surveys show that the desire to emigrate is much higher among Palestinian Christians than Palestinian Muslims.
• Because of the Nakba, Christians in the Holy Land dropped from 8% to 2.3% of the population.
• 32.6% of Christians cite lack of freedom and security as a reason they emigrate.
• 26.4% cite the worsening economy as the reason for their emigration.
• Christians in other Middle Eastern countries, such as Syria and Egypt, have also faced problems and persecution that are leading to emigration.​

Just the Facts comes from

• Palestinian Christians: Emigration, Displacement and Diaspora by Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb. You can also read his “Palestinian Christians in Modern History: Between Migration and Displacement.” (And watch his Christmas greeting for CMEP.)
• “Why Christians Are Fleeing the Holy Lands” by Klaus Wivel for Forward. 
• “Migration of Palestinian Christians: Drivers and Means of Combating it” from Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR).
• “Holy Land Christians feel abandoned by U.S. evangelicals” from NBC News. ​ 

Learning More 

You might want to start with the short PDF book Faith Under Occupation: The Plight of Indigenous Christians in the Holy Land from EAPPI.  

Then there are:

• “’The last generation’: How occupation is driving Christians out of Palestine” by Peter Oborne for Middle East Eye. 
• “Forbidden Pilgrimage” by Ahmad Damen on Palestine Remix from Al Jazeera. 
  “5 facts about Israeli Christians” by Becka A. Alper for Pew Research Center.
• And the short video, “Are there still Christians in Palestine?” from AJ+. 
   

To learn more about the Christian community in Palestine and how it relates to its neighbors you can read two recent issues of Sabeel’s Cornerstone:Cornerstone #79 on interfaith and interreligious dialogue. Cornerstone #80 on “Living in Community.”