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The Palestinian Christians of today are the descendants of the early Christians, yet this is no cause for hubris. With humility that befits their lord. They accept it as a privilege that carries with it a responsibility for service. Palestinian Christians of today are the present generation of that great cloud of witnesses to Jesus who came before them and who will, god willing, come after them until Christ comes again They and their ancestors have maintained a living witness to Jesus and his resurrection from the beginning of the church, and they should see themselves dynamically continuing such a witness in the land, witnesses to the resurrection.
Since 1948, the living stones of the holy land church the Palestinian Christians have dwindled so rapidly that the continued existence of the community is endangered.
These Christians, many of whom trace their ancestry to the first church, have emigrated at increasing rates from the land of Jesus' birth under the pressure of Israeli occupation.
In 1940 45,000 Christians lived in Jerusalem. Today there are less than 10,000. In all of modern Palestine at the beginning of the 20th century, Christians composed over 20 percent of the population. Today they amount less than two percent.
THE EXODUS
A number of factors have contributed to the mass emigration of Palestinian Christians. The war of 1948, after which Israel declared independence in most of historic Palestine, saw the flight, and in some cases, expulsion and massacre, of thousands of Palestinians, Christians and Muslims alike. When Israel occupied Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza strip in 1967, conditions deteriorated further. Israel has maintained military closures in the West Bank that strangled Palestinian economy. The lack of opportunities, combined with the phychologicaldistres
s of living under Israeli military occupation, has prompted many more Christians to leave their homeland.
CHISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS
Despite their minority status in Palestinian society, Christian Palestinians have historically maintained excellent relations with their Muslim neighbours.