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115-579: Since the 1949 agreements , the neighborhood had been divided by the Green Line. Until 1967, the East Jerusalem part remained under Jordanian rule while the northern parts came under Israeli rule. Beit Safafa covers an area of 1,577 dunams . In 2010, Beit Safafa had a population of 5,463. During the Crusader era, the village was known as Bethafava or Bethsaphase . Baldwin I granted

230-620: A Christian population. The totals by denomination for all of Mandatory Palestine were: Greek Orthodox 33,369, Syriac Orthodox (Jacobite) 813, Latin Catholic 14,245, Greek Catholic (Melkite) 11,191, Syriac Catholic 323, Armenian Catholic 271, Maronite 2,382, Armenian Orthodox (Gregorian) 2,939, Coptic Church 297, Abyssinian Church 85, Church of England 4,553, Presbyterian Church 361, Protestants 826, Lutheran Church 437, Templars Community 724, others 208. The census also listed 10,707 Palestinian Christians living abroad, making up

345-765: A child before the Virgin Mary". It was even not uncommon for a Muslim to have his child baptized in a Christian church, in the name of Khaḍr . In 2009, there were an estimated 50,000 Christians in the Palestinian territories, mostly in the West Bank, with about 3,000 in the Gaza Strip. In 2022, about 1,100 Christians lived in the Gaza Strip – down from over 1300 in 2014. About 80% of the Christian Palestinians live in an urban environment. In

460-631: A house in Kfar Hess, killing a woman and seriously wounding her husband. Jordan was again condemned by the Mixed Armistice Commission for these attacks. Both governments were greatly concerned over the happenings during this fortnight, and a great effort was made to stop the work of these groups, which seemed bent on creating tension along the border. 11 August 1953, Israel military forces using demolition mines, bangalore torpedoes, 2-inch mortars, machine-guns and small arms attacked

575-713: A legal challenge by his predecessor Irenaios. Archbishop Theodosios (Hanna) of Sebastia the highest ranking Palestinian clergyman in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the leader of the Latin Catholics in Jerusalem , Palestine , Jordan , Israel and Cyprus . The office has been held by Pierbattista Pizzaballa since his appointment by Pope Francis on 6 November 2020. George Bacouni , of

690-439: A length of about 4 kilometres. It lasted two hours, until the cease-fire arranged by United Nations observers came into effect. On the following day, there were isolated shots in the early morning and in the afternoon. There were twenty Jordanian casualties—ten killed and ten wounded. Six Israelis were wounded. The Jerusalem incident was investigated by United Nations observers. After studying the evidence collected, General Riley, in

805-529: A mixed investigation. United Nations observers accompanied the representatives to the demarcation line to establish the facts. Despite the cease-fire which had been previously arranged, heavy firing broke out during the investigation. Israel troops had fired across the demarcation line at Jordanians in Jordan territory in response to illegal border trespassing by Jordanian farmers and Israeli soldiers were suspected to have burned crops in Jordan territory. The origin of

920-566: A number of Christian denominations , including Eastern Orthodoxy , Oriental Orthodoxy , Catholicism (both the Latin Church and the Eastern-Rite Churches ), and Protestantism ( Anglicanism , Lutheranism , etc.), among others. In the 1990s, an estimate by Professor Bernard Sabella of Bethlehem University postulated that approximately 6.5% of the global Palestinian population was Christian, and that 56% of this figure

1035-415: A peace treaty between Israel and Egypt , and it took another 15 years after that to achieve a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan . To this day, no peace treaty has been signed between Israel and Lebanon nor between Israel and Syria. The armistice agreements were clear (at Arab insistence) that they were not creating permanent borders. The Egyptian-Israeli agreement stated "The Armistice Demarcation Line

1150-580: A political dimension in the 19th century as international interest grew and foreign institutions were developed there. The urban elite began to undertake the construction of a modern multi-religious Arab civil society. When the British received from the League of Nations a mandate to administer Palestine after World War I , many British dignitaries in London were surprised to discover so many Christian leaders in

1265-646: A religious minority within the State of Palestine and within Israel , as well as within the Palestinian diaspora . Applying the broader definition, which groups together individuals with full or partial Palestinian Christian ancestry, the term was applied to an estimated 500,000 people globally in the year 2000. As most Palestinians are Arabs , the overwhelming majority of Palestinian Christians also identify as Arab Christians . Palestinian Christians belong to one of

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1380-620: A report to the Security Council on the violation of the cease-fire [S/3607], stated that it appeared impossible to determine who fired the first shot. On 25, 26, and 27 May, the two parties submitted complaints alleging violation of the General Armistice Agreement by civilians and military personnel in the Al-Dawayima area. In an emergency meeting of the Mixed Armistice Commission, both parties agreed to

1495-990: A school for special needs children. Beit Safafa schools follow both the Israeli Bagrut curriculum and the Palestinian Tawjihi curriculum. In 1997, the Hand in Hand School for Bilingual Education was founded in Beit Safafa. The school, supported by the Israeli Ministry of Education and the Jerusalem Municipality , offers a bilingual curriculum in Hebrew and Arabic , with joint classes for Israelis and Palestinians. In 2012, 530 Palestinian and Israeli children were enrolled in

1610-521: A well to the north". In 1896 the population of Bet Safafa was estimated to be about 180 persons. At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine , Beit Safafa had a population of 716, all Muslim, which increased to 997 Muslims and 24 Christians in the 1931 census . In the 1945 statistics the population was 1,410; 1,370 Muslims and 40 Christians, and the land area was 3,314 dunams , according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 2,814 dunams were Arab owned, 391 were Jewish owned, and 109

1725-1057: Is Suheil Dawani , who replaced Bishop Riah Abou Al Assal . Bishop Dr. Munib Younan is the president of the Lutheran World Federation and the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). Various international Christian organisations provide services in Palestine to Palestinians of all religious backgrounds. A study showed $ 416 million annual spending of Christian institutions on Palestinian society, in sectors such as health care, education, social services, vocational training and development assistance interventions in all Palestinian governorates. The first Christian communities in Roman Judea originated from

1840-696: Is a Christian. The former Palestinian representative to the United States, Afif Saffieh , is a Christian, as is the ambassador of the Palestinian Authority in France, Hind Khoury. The Palestinian women's football team has a majority of Muslim girls, but the captain, Honey Thaljieh, is a Christian from Bethlehem. Many of the Palestinian officials such as ministers, advisers, ambassadors, consulates, heads of missions, PLC, PNA, PLO, Fateh leaders and others are Christians. Some Christians were part of

1955-463: Is not to be construed in any sense as a political or territorial boundary, and is delineated without prejudice to rights, claims and positions of either Party to the Armistice as regards ultimate settlement of the Palestine question." The Jordanian-Israeli agreement stated: "... no provision of this Agreement shall in any way prejudice the rights, claims, and positions of either Party hereto in

2070-574: The tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 41 Muslim households who paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives, grapes or fruit trees, and goats or beehives; a total of 11,800 akçe . 1/4 of the revenue went to a waqf . In 1838 Robinson noted Beit Sufafa as a Muslim village in the Beni Hasan district, west of Jerusalem. Victor Guérin visited

2185-817: The Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip ), the Palestinian Christian population has increased as a whole, but has decreased as a percentage of the total Palestinian population. Many individuals of the Palestinian diaspora who identify as Christians are descendants of the post-1948 Palestinian Christian refugees who fled from the Arab–Israeli conflict and settled in Christian-majority countries . Most Palestinian Christians nowadays see themselves as culturally and linguistically Arab Christians with ancestors dating back to

2300-611: The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem , the church overseeing Orthodox communities in Palestine, Israel and Jordan; to which the majority of the Christian population there belongs to. Within the context of rising Arab nationalism in the 19th century, the movement was inspired by the successful precedent of the Arabization of Syria and Lebanon's Antioch Patriarchate in 1899 . The movement seeks

2415-855: The Holy Land was Palestinian Sally Azar of the Lutheran church in 2023. Since the start of the ongoing Israel–Hamas war in October 2023, there have been several incidents involving Palestinian Christians in the Gaza Strip, most notably the Church of Saint Porphyrius airstrike and the killing of two Catholic women by an Israeli sniper in the Holy Family Parish in northern Gaza . The mayors of Ramallah, Birzeit, Bethlehem, Zababdeh, Jifna, Ein 'Arik, Aboud, Taybeh, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour are Christians. The Governor of Tubas , Marwan Tubassi,

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2530-722: The Iron Age . In a salvage dig in Beit Safafa, archaeologists discovered fifty graves dated first century BC-first century CE, of which 41 were excavated. In 2013, an archaeological survey-excavation was conducted on the site by Alex Wiegmann on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). 31°44′38″N 35°12′20″E  /  31.74389°N 35.20556°E  / 31.74389; 35.20556 1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt , Lebanon , Jordan , and Syria . They formally ended

2645-717: The Melkite Greek Catholic Church , is Archbishop of Akka , with jurisdiction over Haifa , Acre and the Galilee , and replaced Elias Chacour , a Palestinian refugee, in 2014. Moussa El-Hage , of the Maronite Church , is since 2012 simultaneously Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land and Patriarchal Exarch of Jerusalem and Palestine . The Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem

2760-1230: The Syrian Christian community in Aboud. During the Ottoman Empire , foreign powers enjoyed positions of guardianship towards minorities, including the French for the Christians of Syria , Lebanon and Palestine . Orthodox Christians more specifically came under the protections of the Russian Empire . This placed Palestinian Christians with protection privileges, and access to missionary schools, which enabled them to engage in commerce with European traders. In addition, Christian merchants had lower rates of duty to pay than their Muslim counterparts, and thus they established themselves as bankers and moneylenders for Muslim landowners, artisans and peasants. This growing middle class produced several newspaper owners and editors and played leading roles in Palestinian political life. The category of 'Palestinian Arab Christian' came to assume

2875-1082: The United Kingdom , 1,352 in the United States , and 158 whose locations were unknown. Around 50% of Palestinian Christians belong to the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem , one of the 15 churches of Eastern Orthodoxy . This community has also been known as the Arab Orthodox Christians. There are also Maronites , Melkites , Jacobites , Chaldeans , Latin Catholics , Syriac Catholics , Orthodox Copts , Coptic Catholics , Armenian Orthodox , Armenian Catholics , Quakers (Society of Friends), Methodists , Presbyterians , Anglicans (Episcopal), Lutherans , Evangelicals , Pentecostals , Nazarene , Assemblies of God , Baptists and other Protestants ; in addition to small groups of Jehovah's Witnesses , members of

2990-706: The esoteric organization Ancient Mystical Order of the Rose Cross , one of the Rosicrucian Orders . Luttif Afif , the commander of the Black September Organization (BSO) unit that carried out the 1972 Munich massacre , was reported to have at least a partial Christian background. He used the alias "Jesus", and named the Munich operation " Iqrit and Biram ", after two Christian villages whose inhabitants were expelled by

3105-534: The monastery of Seridus ), second only to the cluster of monasteries in the Judaean desert (which include the Mar Saba monastery ). Following Muslim conquests , non-Arabic speaking Christians underwent a gradual process of Arabization in which they abandoned Aramaic and Greek in favor of Arabic . The Melkites began abandoning Greek for Arabic , a process which made them the most Arabicised Christians in

3220-876: The 1967 war in the aftermath of Israel's takeover of the West Bank and Gaza. Christians within the Palestinian Authority constituted around one in seventy-five residents. In 2009, Reuters reported that 47,000–50,000 Christians remained in the West Bank, with around 17,000 following the various Catholic traditions and most of the rest following the Orthodox church and other eastern denominations. Both Bethlehem and Nazareth , which were once overwhelmingly Christian, now have Muslim majorities. Today about three-quarters of all Bethlehem Christians live abroad, and more Jerusalem Christians live in Sydney , Australia , than in Jerusalem. Christians now comprise 2.5 percent of

3335-448: The 1967 war, Palestinian Christians with Israeli citizenship from Nazareth , Jaffa , and Jerusalem moved to Beit Safafa, expanding the small community, and several Jewish families moved in as well. According to ARIJ , Israel has expropriated land from Sharafat and Beit Safafa for the construction of three Israeli settlements : Beit Safafa has three schools: Beit Safafa Elementary School, Beit Safafa High School and al-Salam School,

3450-649: The 282 Palestinian Arab rebel leaders that participated in the 1936-1939 revolt in British Palestine were Christians. The rebels bore flags with a cross and crescent , symbolizing Christianity and Islam, respectively. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was founded in 1967 by George Habash , a Christian. Habash once stated that he believed there was perfect harmony between his Christian religion, his Arab nationalism, his Islamic culture, and his Marxist politics. Wadie Haddad ,

3565-771: The Armistice Demarcation Lines were technically not borders, the Arabs considered that Israel was restricted in its rights to develop the DMZ and exploitation of the water resources. Further that as a state of war still existed with the Arab nations, the Arab League was not hindered in their right to deny Israel the freedom of navigation through the Arab League waters. Also it was argued that the Palestinians had

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3680-696: The Bedouin camp, shooting aimlessly, confiscating arms and burning tents. The Bedouins run away, leaving many wounded behind. For a few days Unit 101 pursuits the Bedouins until they are out of the Negev. 2 October 1953: The explosion of a land mine on the Israel railway north of Eyal derailed an Israel freight train. The Mixed Armistice Commission has held Jordan responsible for this act of violence which fortunately caused no loss of life and relatively little damage, as

3795-697: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others. Patriarch Theophilos III is the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem since 2005. He replaced Irenaios (in office from 2001), who was deposed by the church synod after a term surrounded by controversy and scandal over a sale of property owned by the Greek Orthodox Church to Jewish investors. The Israel government initially refused to recognize Theophilos's appointment but finally granted full recognition in December 2007, despite

3910-399: The General Armistice Agreement. The Green Line was then redrawn in blue ink on the southern map to give the impression that a shift of the Green Line had been made. The events that led to a change in the Green Line was an exchange of fertile land in the Bethlehem area to Israeli control and the village of Wadi Fukin being given to Jordanian control. On 15 July when the Israeli Army expelled

4025-403: The Greek-dominated patriarchate's early support to Zionism . The Orthodox laity, which is mostly Arab, maintains that the patriarchate was forcibly Hellenized in 1543, while the Greek clergy says that the patriarchate was historically Greek. Opposition to the Greek clergy turned violent in the late 19th century, when they came under physical attack by the Arab laity in the streets. The movement

4140-428: The IDF during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . Theresa Halaseh, another member of the BSO, was a Christian and also a Fatah member. She participated in the BSO hijacking of Sabena Flight 571 , and was captured but later released in a 1983 prisoner exchange. There have been at least two known Christian militants from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades , Chris Bandak and Daniel Saba George, both from Bethlehem. Bandak

4255-490: The IDF ordered Christians to evacuate for a brief spell, an order that was then confirmed as a permanent expulsion. Sometimes in a mixed Druze-Christian village like al-Rama, only the Christians were initially expelled towards Lebanon, but, thanks to the intervention of the local Druze, they were permitted to return. Important Christian figures were sometimes allowed to return, on condition they help Israel among their communities. Archbishop Hakim , with many hundreds of Christians,

4370-419: The IDF. Christian Arabs are one of the most educated groups in Israel. Statistically, Christian Arabs in Israel have the highest rates of educational attainment among all religious communities, according to a data by Israel Central Bureau of Statistics in 2010, 63% of Israeli Christian Arabs have had college or postgraduate education , the highest of any religious and ethno-religious group. Despite

4485-427: The Iraqi forces withdrew from Palestine and handed over their positions to the smaller Jordanian legion, 3 Israeli brigades maneuvered into positions of advantage in Operation Shin-Tav-Shin and Operation Uvda . The operations allowed Israel to renegotiate the cease fire line in the southern Negev (giving access to the Red Sea ) and the Wadi Ara area in a secret agreement reached on 23 March 1949 and incorporated into

4600-441: The Israel delegation complained that on 18 February four armed infiltrators crossed the demarcation line into Israel and that when challenged by an Israel patrol at M.R. 1023–1123 they started to escape while firing on the patrol. During the exchange of fire one of the infiltrators was killed. 19 February: the Egyptian delegation complained that on 18 February, at M.R. 1087–1050, a patrol of two Egyptian soldiers in Egyptian territory

4715-403: The Israeli draft resolution condemning Jordan. 17 February 1954: the Israel delegation complained that five armed persons dressed in khaki crossed the demarcation line during the night and, on the morning of 16 February, stole a flock of 260 sheep belonging to an Israeli kibbutz. According to the complaint, the Israeli shepherd and his flock were taken into caves and kept there till 5.30 p.m. when

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4830-444: The Jordanian census showed a population of 1,025 in Beit Safafa. After the Six-Day War in 1967, the whole of Beit Safafa has been under Israeli occupation , and the fence between the east and the west part was taken down. Residents of the Israeli side had Israeli citizenship while those on the south side were given, like East Jerusalem residents, Jerusalem ID cards and residency, while retaining Jordanian citizenship. Also following

4945-412: The Levant. Most Arab Ghassanids remained Christian and joined Melkite and Syriac communities within what is now Jordan , Israel , Palestine , Syria , and Lebanon . The eleventh century Melkite bishop of Gaza Sulayman al-Ghazzi holds a unique place in the history of Arab Christian literature as author of the first diwan of Christian religious poetry in Arabic. His poems give insights into

5060-430: The Mixed Armistice Commission condemned Jordan for this incident. 18 December 1953, a car was ambushed on the Hebron road (approximate M.R. 1658–1221) inside Jordan and an Arab Legion medical officer was killed. Israel was condemned by the Mixed Armistice Commission for this incident (21 December). 21 December 1953, an armed group attacked a Bedouin camp near Tarqumyia (approximate M.R. 1512–1092) wounding one man. Israel

5175-414: The Palestinian Arab political movements. The British authorities in the Mandate of Palestine had difficulty understanding the commitment of the Palestinian Christians to Palestinian nationalism . Palestinian Christian-owned Falastin was founded in 1911 in the then Arab-majority city of Jaffa . The newspaper is often described as one of the most influential newspapers in historic Palestine, and probably

5290-421: The Supreme Court ruled that the 1-mile stretch of highway crossing Beit Safafa would cause unacceptable damage to the residents' quality of life. Beit Safafa's lawyers say the construction of an acoustically insulated tunnel that puts the road underground and protects the area's geographic integrity might be an acceptable solution. Several winepresses have been found at Beit Safafa, which have been dated back to

5405-595: The West Bank, they are concentrated mostly in Jerusalem and its vicinity: Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Ramallah, Bir Zayt, Jifna, Ein Arik, Taybeh. Of the total Christian population of 185,000 in Israel , about 80% are designated as Arabs, many of whom self-identify as Palestinian. The majority (56%) of Palestinian Christians live in the Palestinian diaspora. In the 1922 census of Palestine there were approximately 73,000 Christian Palestinians: 46% Orthodox, 40% Catholic (20% Roman Catholic, and 20% Eastern Catholic ). The census recorded over 200 localities with

5520-417: The affluent segments of Palestinian society that left the country during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . In West Jerusalem , over 50% of Christian Palestinians lost their homes to the Israelis, according to the historian Sami Hadawi . Palestinian Christians have played a role in the anti-Zionist movement and related political violence , both before and after the establishment of Israel in 1948. Four out of

5635-419: The appointment of an Arab patriarch, Arab laity control over Jerusalem patriarchate's properties for social and educational purposes, and the use of Arabic as a liturgical language . Initially a church movement among Palestine and Transjordan 's Orthodox Arab Christians in the late 19th century, it was later supported as a Palestinian and Arab nationalist cause and championed by some Arab Muslims, owing to

5750-561: The auspices of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization , (UNTSO) which investigated complaints by all parties and made regular reports to the UN Security Council . As part of its dispute with Syria over use of the Demilitarized Zone created by the Israel-Syria Armistice Agreement, Israel from 1951 refused to attend meetings of the Israel/Syria Mixed Armistice Commission . The U.N. Security Council, in its resolution of 18 May 1951, criticized Israel's refusal to participate in Mixed Armistice Commission meetings as being "inconsistent with

5865-456: The basis of permanent political frontiers at the Lausanne Conference of 1949 . After the 1967 Six-Day War several Israeli leaders argued against turning the Armistice Demarcation Lines into permanent borders on the grounds of Israeli security: The internationally recognized border between Egypt and Israel was eventually demarcated as part of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty . The border between Israel and Jordan (except for Jordan's border with

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5980-401: The beginning of the 2015 academic year in protest at budget cuts aimed at them. The strike affected 33,000 pupils, 40 percent of them Muslim. In 2013, Israel covered 65% of the budget of Palestinian Christian schools in Israel, a figure cut that year to 34%. Christians say they now received a third of what Jewish schools receive, with a shortfall of $ 53 million. The rate of students studying in

6095-415: The ceasefire's enforcement led to the signing of the separate Tripartite Declaration of 1950 , in which the United States , the United Kingdom , and France pledged to take action within and outside of the UN in order to prevent violations of the frontiers. It also outlined their commitment to peace and stability in the area, their opposition to the use or threat of force, and reiterated their opposition to

6210-402: The complaint, they started to escape when challenged by Israeli guards, and fire having been opened on them, one was hit and was dragged over the demarcation line by the second. 18 February, the Mixed Armistice Commission condemned Israel and Jordan for firing across the demarcation line on 14 February near Deir el Ghusun (approximate M. R. 1575–1955) in the northern area. This firing resulted in

6325-450: The course of the 1947–1949 Palestine war between the Palestinian Arabs and the Palestinian Jews , a large number of these Christians—as part of the Arab community— fled or were expelled by Jewish militias from what would become recognized as Israeli territory following the 1949 Armistice Agreements . Since the 1967 Arab–Israeli War , which resulted in Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories (the Jordanian-annexed West Bank and

6440-403: The demarcation line and attacked the Arab villages of Falameh (Falāma, Falamya) and Rantis . At Falameh the mukhtar was killed, seven other villagers were wounded, and three houses were demolished. The attack lasted four and a half hours. Israel was condemned for this act by the Mixed Armistice Commission. 22 April 1953, firing broke out at sunset within Jerusalem along the demarcation line on

6555-501: The demarcation line by unauthorized persons, ten resulting in acts of violence and requests the Government of Jordan to continue and strengthen the measures which they are already taking to prevent such crossing." The Security Council condemned Israel for the operation in Qibya. December 1953: The Jordanian authorities carried out the following measures:- 16 December 1953, two Israeli soldiers were killed while on patrol inside Israel territory (approximate M. R. 1433–1097). On 21 December,

6670-401: The development of an arms race between Arab countries and Israel. On 6 January 1949, Ralph Bunche announced that Egypt had finally consented to start talks with Israel on an armistice. The talks began on the Greek island of Rhodes on 12 January. Shortly after their commencement, Israel agreed to the release of a besieged Egyptian brigade in Faluja , but soon rescinded their agreement. At

6785-433: The dwindling Christian community". In November 2009, Berlanty Azzam, a Palestinian Christian student from Gaza, was expelled from Bethlehem and was not allowed to continue her studying. She had two months left for the completion of her degree. Berlanty Azzam said the Israeli military handcuffed her, blindfolded her, and left her waiting for hours at a checkpoint on her way back from a job interview in Ramallah. She described

6900-436: The end of the month, the talks floundered. Israel demanded that Egypt withdraw all its forces from the former area of Mandate Palestine. Egypt insisted that Arab forces withdraw to the positions which they held on 14 October 1948, as per the Security Council Resolution S/1070 of 4 November 1948, and that the Israeli forces withdraw to positions north of the Majdal – Hebron road. The deadlock culminated on 12 February 1949 with

7015-410: The fact that Arab Christians only represent 2.1% of the total Israeli population, in 2014 they accounted for 17.0% of the country's university students, and for 14.4% of its college students. Christians are proportionally more likely to have attained a bachelor's or higher academic degrees than the Israeli national average. Christian Arabs additionally have one of the highest rates of success in

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7130-494: The field of medicine was also higher among the Christian Arab students, compared with all the students from other sectors. The percentage of Arab Christian women who are higher education students is higher than other sectors. In September 2014, Israel's interior minister signed an order that the self-identified ''Aramean Christian'' minority in Israel could register as Arameans rather than Arabs. The order will affect about 200 families. The first local woman cleric ordained in

7245-493: The first followers of Christ. They claim descent from Romans, Ghassanid Arabs, Byzantines , and Crusaders . That Christian Arabs in Palestine see themselves as Arab nationalistically reflects also the fact that, as of the beginning of the twentieth century, they shared many of the same customs as their Muslim neighbors. In some respects, this was a consequence of Christians adopting what were essentially Islamic practices, many of which were derived of sharî'ah . In others, it

7360-457: The followers of Jesus of Nazareth , who was put to death and crucified by order of Prefect Pontius Pilate in 30–33; they were Aramaic speaking Jewish Christian and, later, Latin and Greek -speaking Romans and Greeks , who were in part descendants from previous settlers of the regions, such as Syro-Phoenicians , Arameans , Greeks , Persians , and Arabs such as Nabataeans . Contrary to other groups of oriental Christians such as

7475-399: The following centuries, abandoning their distinct Western Aramaic languages in favour of Greek . By the 7th century, Jerusalem , Gaza and Byzantine Palestine became the epicentre of Greek culture in the Orient. In the fourth century, the monk Hilarion introduced monasticism in the area around Gaza which became a flourishing monastic center (including the Saint Hilarion Monastery and

7590-426: The hostilities of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and also demarcated the Green Line , which separated Arab-controlled territory (i.e., the Jordanian-annexed West Bank and the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip ) from Israel until the latter's victory in the 1967 Arab–Israeli War . To monitor the agreed-upon de facto border, the United Nations (UN) established supervising and reporting agencies; discussions related to

7705-405: The incident as "frightening" and claimed Israeli official treated her like a criminal and denied her an education because she is a Palestinian Christian from Gaza. In July 2014, during operation Protective Edge an Israeli-Arab Christian demonstration was held in Haifa in a protest against Muslim extremism in the Middle East (concerning the rise of the Islamic State ) and in support of Israel and

7820-429: The incident was the illegal cultivation by Jordanians of land in Israel territory. Armed Jordanians had penetrated Israel territory to harvest crops, and other Jordanians had fired across the demarcation line to protect the harvesters. The Jordanian government took no action to encourage or prevent the actions taken, though later considerations were made. During the latter part of May 1953, incidents took place which cost

7935-458: The insistence by Ralph Bunche that in all four talks, the ceasefire be strictly observed, while negotiating with Jordan Israel engaged in military operations to occupy extensive swathes of territory in both the central and southern Negev desert. It also managed to secure further land by using the threat of military intervention unless some claims were accepted. The agreement with Jordan was signed on 3 April 1949. The main points: In March 1949 as

8050-435: The killing, of one Jordanian. 18 February: the Israel delegation complained that on 18 February at 1 p.m. two armed Egyptian soldiers crossed the demarcation line at M.R. 10884–10486. According to the complaint, the Egyptian soldiers refused to stop, when challenged by an Israeli patrol; two warning shots were fired; one of the Egyptian soldieries escaped, and the other was killed 15 meters inside Israel territory 18 February:

8165-432: The largely Assyrian Nestorians , the vast majority of Palestinian Christians went under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Roman emperors after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD (which would be part of the Eastern Orthodox Church after the Great Schism ), and were known by other Syrian Christians as Melkites (followers of the king). The Melkites were heavily Hellenised in

8280-1940: The largest portion of the Palestinians living abroad at the time: 32 in Australia , 17 in Africa , 1 in Austria , 1 in Belgium , 1 in Bulgaria , 2 in Canada , 242 in Egypt , 34 in France , 59 in Germany , 1 in Greece , 7 in Italy , 4 in Morocco , 1 in Mesopotamia , 1 in Paraguay , 5 in Persia , 4 in Russia , 1 in South Africa , 11 in East Africa , 7 in Sudan , 6 in Sweden , 1 in Switzerland , 2 in Spain , 122 in Syria , 95 in Transjordan , 8,517 in South and Central American republics, 17 in Turkey , 6 in

8395-457: The leader of the military wing of the PFLP, was also Christian. Reportedly, Eastern Orthodox priests would bless PFLP hijacking teams before they set out on attacks. Sirhan Sirhan , who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, came from a Christian family and later changed church denominations several times, joining Baptist and Seventh-day Adventist churches. However, in 1966, he joined

8510-719: The life of Palestinian Christians and the persecution they suffered under Fatimid caliph al-Hakim . In the late sixteenth century, Christianity in southern Bilad ash-Sham was primarily rural, with a significant portion of the population living in villages and tribes. Christians were dispersed among numerous towns and villages in the vicinity of Jerusalem, some had been inhabited by Christians since Byzantine and Frankish rule. Villages with Christian population included Taybeh , Beit Rima , Jifna an-Nasara , Ramallah , Yabrud , Aboud , Suba , Tuqu , Nahalin , and Artas . The Christians living in these villages were mainly of Greek Orthodox denomination, although exceptions existed, such as

8625-662: The lives of three persons and in which six others were wounded. On the night of 25–26 May, an armed group from Jordan attacked two homes in Beit Arif, wounding two women. The same night, armed Jordanians attacked a home in Beit Nabala, killing a woman and wounding her husband and two children. Jordan was condemned for all three of these attacks. On the night of 9 June, armed Jordanians blew up a house in Tirat Yehuda, killing one man, and two nights later an armed band struck at

8740-586: The matriculation examinations, (73.9%) in 2017 both in comparison to the Muslims and the Druze and in comparison to all students in the Jewish education system as a group. Arab Christians were also the vanguard in terms of eligibility for higher education , and they have attained a bachelor's degree and academic degree more than the median Israeli population. Christians schools in Israel went on strike in 2015 at

8855-703: The murder of Hassan al-Banna , leader of the Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood . Israel threatened to abandon the talks, whereupon the United States appealed to the parties to bring them to a successful conclusion. On 24 February the Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement was signed in Rhodes . The main points of the armistice agreement were: The agreement with Lebanon was signed on 23 March 1949. The main points were: These armistice talks began on 4 March, and were conducted on Jordanian territory. Despite

8970-601: The nation's fiercest and most consistent critic of the Zionist movement. It helped shape Palestinian identity and nationalism and was shut down several times by the Ottoman and British authorities, most of the time due to complaints made by Zionists. Following the British takeover of Palestine in 1918 during the final stages of the First World War , groups called " Muslim-Christian Associations " were formed across

9085-551: The new Mandatory Palestine in order to oppose the Zionist movement and implementation of the Balfour Declaration. In the 1920s, it was noted that the inhabitants of Beit Kahil , Dayr Aban and Taffuh were originally Christian. The Nakba left the multi-denominational Christian Arab communities in disarray. They had little background in theology, their work being predominantly pastoral, and their immediate task

9200-709: The objectives and intent of the Armistice Agreement". The discussion of complaints by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan/Israel Mixed Armistice Commission during the year 1952 resulted in: Statistics Taken from The Official Records of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan/Israel Mixed Armistice Commission Period from 1 January 1953 Through 15 October 1953: On 28–29 January 1953 Israeli military forces estimated at 120 to 150 men, using 2-inch (51 mm) mortars, 3-inch mortars, PIAT weapons, bangalore torpedoes , machine-guns, grenades and small arms, crossed

9315-454: The peaceful settlement of the Palestine questions, the provisions of this Agreement being dictated exclusively by military considerations" (Art. II.2), "The Armistice Demarcation Lines defined in articles V and VI of this Agreement are agreed upon by the Parties without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto." (Art. VI.9) As

9430-508: The plan was adopted without public scrutiny and would harm the character of the neighborhood. The residents claimed that the plan was illegal and construction commenced without warning. After petitioning the local courts and the Israeli Supreme Court , the residents succeeded in halting the project. Naomi Tzur, deputy mayor of Jerusalem and holder of the urban planning portfolio, said that the residents were "taking advantage of

9545-457: The political situation to turn a local concern into an international story. When the residents of Beit Hakerem conducted their fight over their part of Begin Highway, the international media wasn't interested. This is simply a residents' fight against its municipality for better compensations and better infrastructure, and it's a perfectly justifiable fight and part of democracy." In June 2013,

9660-487: The population of Jerusalem. Those remaining include a few born in the Old City when Christians there constituted a majority. In a 2007 letter from Congressman Henry Hyde to President George W. Bush , Hyde stated that "the Christian community is being crushed in the mill of the bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and that expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, were "irreversibly damaging

9775-580: The population of Wadi Fukin after the village had been transferred to the Israeli-occupied area under the terms of the Armistice Agreement concluded between Israel and the Jordan Kingdom the Mixed Armistice Commission decided on 31 August, by a majority vote, that Israel had violated the Armistice Agreement by expelling villagers across the demarcation line and decided that the villagers should be allowed to return to their homes. However, when

9890-588: The post-1967 West Bank) was demarcated as part of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty . This occurred after Jordan had recognized Palestine , which had not declared its borders at the time. In its application for membership to the United Nations, Palestine declared its territory to consist of the West Bank and Gaza, implying that some of Jordan's previous border with Israel is now with Palestine. In each case Mixed Armistice Commissions (MACs) were formed under

10005-528: The release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit . Daniel Saba George ("Abu Hamama"), who was also a senior Tanzim operative, was killed by Israel in 2006. An image was later taken of George's Christian funeral in Bethlehem, and a poster of him with Christian imagery was seen put up in the city that same year. The Arab Orthodox Movement is a political and social movement aiming for the Arabization of

10120-573: The right of return and that the Israeli use of abandoned property was therefore not legitimate. In the Knesset then Foreign Minister and future Prime Minister Moshe Sharett called the armistice lines "provisional boundaries" and the old international borders which the armistice lines, except with Jordan, were based on, "natural boundaries". Israel did not lay claim to territory beyond them and proposed them, with minor modifications except at Gaza, as

10235-497: The same saints, even if they referred to them by different names. "Shrines dedicated to St. George, for instance, were transformed into shrines honoring Khidr-Ilyas, a conflation of the Prophet Elijah and the mythical sprite Khidr". Added to this, many Muslims viewed local Christian churches as saints' shrines. Thus, for instance, a "Muslim women having difficulties conceiving, for instance, might travel to Bethlehem to pray for

10350-418: The same time, the crossing of a part of the same group into Shuqba village, breaching article III, paragraph 2 of the General Armistice Agreement. A number of unexploded hand grenades, marked with Hebrew letters and three bags of TNT were found in and about the village. 24 November 1953: Resolution 101 the Security Council is passed which "took note of the fact that there is substantial evidence of crossing of

10465-590: The school. In 2012, Bakehila, an organization founded by Erel Margalit of Jerusalem Venture Partners to aid children from underprivileged neighborhoods, opened an educational enrichment center in Beit Safafa. In 2012, an urban development plan approved by the Jerusalem Municipality announced a project to build four new roads in Beit Safafa. In early 2013, the Jerusalem Municipality began construction of an eight-lane highway that would bisect Beit Safafa. Israeli author David Grossman wrote that

10580-513: The shepherd was released and the marauders returned to the Gaza Strip with the flock crossing the demarcation line at M.R. 1067–1024. The Israel delegation considered that "the above was a carefully planned action ordered by the Egyptian authorities and carried out by a well-trained military unit." 17 February 1954: the Israel delegation complained that two Arabs crossed the demarcation line into Israel at M.R. 1018–0992, on 16 February. According to

10695-404: The train was made up of empty tank cars. 14 October 1953: Qibya massacre – 130 Israeli troops crossed the demarcation line into Qibya village, attacking the inhabitants by firing from automatic weapons and explosives. Forty-one dwelling houses and a school building were destroyed. Resulting in the murder of forty-two lives and the wounding of fifteen persons and the damage of a police car, and at

10810-402: The two Israeli soldiers on 16 December. Two Arabs responsible for this crime were arrested by the Jordan police a few days later. 14 February 1954, an Israeli villager on guard duty at Mahasyia, near Deiraban, (approximate M. R. 1510–1282) in the central area, was killed. No evidence was introduced to indicate that Jordanians were guilty of this crime and on 18 February the chairman voted against

10925-659: The village as a fief to the Knights Hospitallers sometime before September 1110. A tower in the village is dated to the Crusader period. In the 1360–1370, part of the revenue from Beit Safafa went to the Madrasa Al-Manjakiyya ( com. ) on the Haram esh-Sharif in Jerusalem. The village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in

11040-489: The village in 1863, and described it as having some thirty houses, some solidly built and very old. An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Beit Safafa had a population of 169, with a total of 41 houses, though the population count included men, only. In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund 's "Survey of Western Palestine", described it as "a small village in flat open ground, with

11155-610: The villagers returned to Wadi Fukin under the supervision of the United Nations observers on September 6, they found most of their houses destroyed and were again compelled by the Israeli Army to return to Jordanian controlled territory. The United Nations Chairman of the Mixed Commission, Colonel Garrison B. Coverdale (US), pressed for a solution of this issue to be found in the Mixed Armistice Commission, in an amicable and UN spirit. After some hesitation, this procedure

11270-489: The villages of Idna, Surif and Wadi Fukin, inflicting casualties among the inhabitants and destroying dwellings. The body of an Israel soldier in full uniform with identification tag was found in the village of Idna after the attack. The Mixed Armistice Commission condemned Israel for these attacks. 2 September 1953: Arabs, infiltrated from Jordan, reached the neighbourhood of Katamon, in the heart of Jerusalem where they threw hand grenades in all directions. Miraculously, no one

11385-637: Was accepted and finally an agreement was reached whereby the Armistice Demarcation Line was changed to place Wadi Fukin under Jordanian authority who, in turn, agreed to transfer of some uninhabited, but fertile territory south of Bethlehem to Israel control. Armistice talks with Syria started at Gesher B'not Yaacov , on the River Jordan , in April 1949, after the other armistice agreements had been concluded. The agreement with Syria

11500-477: Was allowed reentry on expressing a willingness to campaign against Communists in Israel and among his flock. After the war of 1948, the Christian population in the West Bank, under Jordanian control, dropped slightly, largely due to economic problems. This contrasts with the process occurring in Israel where Christians left en masse after 1948. Constituting 21% of Israel's Arab population in 1950, they now make up just 9% of that group. These trends accelerated after

11615-445: Was attacked by armed Israelis hiding in ambush. One of the Egyptian soldiers was kidnapped and killed inside Israel-controlled territory, close to the demarcation line (Cf. sub-paragraph (c) above summarizing an Israeli complaint dated 18 February). 19 February: the Egyptian delegation complained that on 19 February armed Israelis opened automatic fire across the demarcation line at an Arab working in his field at M.R. 0952–0931. The Arab

11730-406: Was condemned by the Mixed Armistice Commission for this incident (23 December). 21 December, an armed group, using explosives and automatic weapons, attacked a house near Hebron (approximate M.R. 1591–1066) killing one pregnant woman and two men, and wounding another man. Israel was condemned for this incident (24 December). The last three incidents were apparently reprisal attacks for the killing of

11845-465: Was emphasised that the armistice line was "not to be interpreted as having any relation whatsoever to ultimate territorial arrangements." (Article V) Iraq, whose forces took an active part in the war (although it has no common border with Israel), withdrew its forces from the region in March 1949. The front occupied by Iraqi forces was covered by the armistice agreement between Israel and Jordan, and there

11960-647: Was hurt. 3 September 1953: Sovereignty over the DMZ (Demarcation Zone) between Syria Israel is questioned when Israel start a creeping border attempt by using a water diversion in DMZ; USA threatens to end aid channelled to Israel by the Foreign Operations Administration. Israel moves intake out of DMZ. In September 1953 the General Headquarters orders Unit 101 to drive Bedouins out from the Negev and push them southward to Sinai. Unit 101 soldiers act aggressively: they raid

12075-483: Was imprisoned by Israel for shooting at Israeli motorists during the Second Intifada , and at that time was described as the only Christian in the entire Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. However, during a meeting with Bandak's family in 2009, Palestinian Authority official Issa Qaraqe hinted that there were other imprisoned Christian militants as well. Bandak was later released in 2011 as part of an exchange for

12190-465: Was later unilaterally annexed to Jerusalem by Israel. After the war, a section of the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway remained under Jordanian control. Following the 1949 Armistice Agreements, it was agreed that Jordan would transfer control of this section of the track to Israel, in order to enable Israel Railways to restart rail service to Jerusalem. As a result, the area south of the railway line

12305-525: Was living outside of Palestine and Israel. As of 2015 , Palestinian Christians comprise between 1% and 2.5% of the population of the West Bank , and about 3,000 (0.13%) of the population of the Gaza Strip . According to official British Mandate statistics, Christians accounted for 9.5% of the total population (and 10.8% of Palestine's Arabs ) in 1922 and 7.9% of the total population in 1946. Over

12420-399: Was more the case that the customs shared by both Muslims and Christians derived from neither faith, but rather were a result of a process of syncretization, whereby what had once been pagan practices were later redefined as Christian and subsequently adopted by Muslims. This was especially evident in the fact that Palestine's Muslims and Christians shared many of the same feast days, in honor of

12535-639: Was no separate agreement with Iraq. The new military frontiers for Israel, as set by the agreements, encompassed about 78% of mandatory Palestine as it stood after the independence of Transjordan (now Jordan ) in 1946. The Arab populated areas not controlled by Israel prior to 1967 were the Jordanian ruled West Bank and the Egyptian occupied Gaza Strip . The armistice agreements were intended to serve only as interim agreements until replaced by permanent peace treaties. However, it took three decades to achieve

12650-493: Was part of the Jordanian-controlled West Bank and the railway line itself and the area to the north, was part of Israeli-controlled Jerusalem . Service on the line resumed on August 7, 1949. During the period when the neighborhood was divided, a two-foot high barbed wire fence was erected down the middle of the main street with Arab Legionnaires and Israeli soldiers guarding on each side. In 1961,

12765-495: Was public property. Of this, 1,030 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 1,149 for cereals, while 71 dunams were built-up areas. In the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War , the village was divided in two. The southern part was in the Jordanian-annexed West Bank, while the northern part, originally in no man's land , was transferred to Israel with the signing of 1949 Armistice Agreements , and

12880-513: Was seriously injured. 24 February One Arab was reported killed and another wounded by the Egyptian delegation. Palestinian Christians [REDACTED]   Israel (~148,000) Palestinian Christians ( Arabic : مَسِيحِيُّون فِلَسْطِينِيُّون Masīḥiyyūn Filasṭīniyyūn ) are a religious community of the Palestinian people consisting of those who identify as Christians , including those who are cultural Christians in addition to those who actively adhere to Christianity . They are

12995-650: Was signed on 20 July 1949. Syria withdrew its forces from most of the territories it controlled west of the international border, which became demilitarized zones . The territory retained by Syria that lay west of the 1923 Palestinian Mandate border and which had been allocated to the Jewish state under the UN partition plan comprised 66 square kilometers in the Jordan Valley. These territories were designated demilitarized zones (DMZs) and remained under Syrian control. It

13110-570: Was subsequently focused on holding Arab Orthodox conferences, the first of which was held in Jaffa in 1923, and most recently in Amman in 2014. One outcome of the 1923 conference was the laity's establishment of tens of Orthodox churches, clubs and schools in Palestine and Jordan over the decades. There were historically also several interventions to solve the conflict by the Ottoman , British (1920–1948), and Jordanian (1948–1967) authorities, owing to

13225-507: Was to assist the thousands of homeless refugees. But it also sowed the seeds for the development of a Liberation Theology among Palestinian Arab Christians. There was a differential policy of expulsion. More lenience was applied to the Christians of the Galilee where expulsion mostly affected Muslims: at Tarshiha , Me'eliya, Dayr al-Qassi , and Salaban , Christians were allowed to remain while Muslims were driven out. At Iqrit and Bir'im

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