Holy Land Christians Struggle to
Keep Going

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Nakla Qaber, whose Greek Orthodox roots stretch back generations in a Christian enclave on the West Bank, runs a successful restaurant at a time when most Palestinians are struggling.

But when it came time for his son and three daughters to make their own way in the world, they went off to college in the United States and Canada and never came back.

"Every time I go to services, I look around and see the number of worshippers declining, Sunday after Sunday," said Qaber, 63, who lives in Beit Jala, alongside the major Christian city of Bethlehem. "No one wants to leave his country, so this is a miserable thing, but if my sons and daughters stay overseas, someday I will follow them."

The exodus of Christians from the Holy Land troubles the faithful worldwide. With tensions rising in the past five years and economic conditions worsening, some have begun to whisper about a day when the native Christian population disappears entirely.

Now, with yet another war raging between Muslims and Jews, Christians once again find themselves caught in the crossfire. The vast majority are Palestinian Arabs living in the West Bank, who suffer the same frustrations and dangers as their Muslim neighbors.

Many of them blame the United States for failing to bring peace and stability to the region -- thereby allowing a rise in religious fundamentalism that has increased tensions for the descendants of the first Christians.

"Radical Islam does not even like moderate Muslims, so how can it be good for Christians?" said Jack Khazmo, a Syrian Orthodox Christian who edits a pro-Palestinian political magazine called al Bayader Assiyasi. "We Christians belong to this land and to our country, but the rise of radicalism will affect our presence."

Experts say the Christian population in Israel and the Palestinian territories has fallen steeply in recent years and may number only about 50,000. Since 1948, when Christians were estimated at 20 percent of all Palestinians in the region, their numbers have dropped to roughly 2 percent, according to the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, a group based in Bethesda, Md.

"There is a concern about losing the Christian presence in the Holy Land," said Antonios Kireopoulos, associate general secretary for International Affairs and Peace for the New York-based National Council of Churches. "We do not want only to be the caretakers of monuments. But we realize that the tensions and ongoing violence are real."

Local Christian leaders argue it would be disastrous if the native Christian population disappeared -- not just for a people so rooted in the land that they are often referred to as "the living stones," but also for regional stability. Wealthier, better educated and more closely tied to the West than most Palestinian Arabs, these Christians have long been a moderating force in the West Bank.

Still, members of the 15 denominations of Palestinian Christians often complain they feel invisible, even if they are part of much larger churches in the United States and Europe. Conservative Christians in America tend to support Israel, and many pilgrims visit holy sites in Jerusalem without realizing a native Christian population remains.

Even as they struggle, many Christians in the West Bank strive for influence within the Palestinian Authority. A Christian holds one Cabinet post in the Hamas-led government, seven are members of Parliament and others lead cities like Bethlehem and neighboring Beit Jala, which together comprise a historic Christian enclave.

Continued on page 2: What if there were no Christians left at all? »