Dr. Victor Batarseh Mayor of Bethlehem

 
Ladies & Gentlemen,

On behalf of Bethlehem Municipal Council, allow me to thank you most sincerely for your kind invitation for me to participate in this conference.
I would like first to extend my deep appreciation to the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation for their initiative to organize this important conference that brings us all together around an essential topic concerning Christians in the Holy Land.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Today, Bethlehem is one of the most celebrated cities in the world due to its eminence as the cradle of Christianity. The 608 km2(364.8 mile2) of the Bethlehem Governorate (district) encompass 72 towns and villages with a population of more than 169 thousand Christian and Muslim Palestinian inhabitants (According to The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) 2003). The city of Bethlehem was and still is the main economic, social and cultural center of its neighboring predominately Christian towns of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala.
The three towns comprise the Christian Triangle of Bethlehem where 38,629 Christian’s live (22% of the district population).  These Christians make up the majority of the population in this area. The town of Bethlehem has a total population of 28,138 residents, Beit Sahour 14,465 residents and Beit Jala 15,688 residents.

Over the last century, life in the Holy Land for Christian Palestinians has been filled with hardship and adversity.  In the later part of the century, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank not only has intensified and increased the suffering but also led to a dramatic wave of emigration among Christian Palestinians.  Today, the number of Christian Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank is no more than 2% of the total population; compared to 20% Christian Palestinians in the total population of 1948. The Christian populations were concentrated in Bethlehem area and Ramallah and counted for 90% of the population at one time in these areas. Today, the number has dramatically dropped to just about 20% in Bethlehem area (almost exclusively in Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour) and much less in Ramallah. In fact, the number of Christian Palestinians originating from the Bethlehem area, living in Chile in South America exceeds the total number of Christians living in Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour. The same dispersal is true for Christian Palestinians originating from Ramallah; there are more of them living in Detroit, Michigan in the United States than living in Ramallah.

Figures and data from both the Jordanian Census of 1961 and the Israeli Census of 1967 following the June War of 1967 give a view of Christians Palestinian numbers in specific years that can be compared with the latest estimates.

 

The Arab Christian population in the Holy Land was 9.7 percent in 1917 and reduced to 2.8 percent in 1995.  It should be noted that from 1948 to 1967 Israel occupied Palestine, excluding Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza Strip, and that the statistics from this period are from Jordan.  From 1967 till 1995 was occupation time and the statistics are from Israel.  Also it should be noted that after 1995 statistics have been kept by the Palestinian Authority. (ppt. Slide 1)

Year	Total Number of Inhabitants	Christian Inhabitants	Christian to Total Percent
1917 1931 1944 1948* 1961* 1967* 1983** 1985** 1995**	642,850 966,761 1,673,071 438,000 - 596,000 772,000 895,000 1,400,000	62,550 88,907 135,547 35,000 46,000 38,000 39,000 40,000 38,000	9.7 9.2 8.1 8.0 - 6.0 5.0 4.5 2.8

 
* The Arab Christian population, including Jerusalem
** Not including the Arab Christian population of Jerusalem

Today, there are 50,000 Christian Palestinians living in the Palestinian West Bank & Gaza Strip. During the current uprising, the number of Christian Palestinian residents of the occupied territories has steadily been dropping, and this reduction is forecast to continue into the future. Given the current rate of emigration, the number of Christian Palestinians is expected to be diminished to the point of extinction in the next two decades, ending more than 2000 years of Christian habitation in the Holy Land.    
Christian Palestinian emigration from the Holy Land can be attributed to numerous factors over the decades. Political instability, economic hardship, substandard housing, constant threat to personal security, lack of educational opportunities and challenges to religious identity all contribute to individual decisions to emigrate Although statistics are limited, community leaders have verified the increase of Christian Palestinian emigration, especially in those areas of Christian concentration in Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Ramallah, and Jerusalem.

Emigration therefore has become a way of life for many families for the following reasons:

    * Bad social and economical conditions in the Holy Land without any hope of positive change.
    * Arab Christians are educated people who find life outside the country not too difficult because of their ability to speak different languages, and their being able to adapt, in a shorter time, to western traditions.
    * Arab Christians in the Diaspora are in need of their own community. This has made them encourage others to come in big numbers to have their own society in the west with their own traditions.
    * Israeli occupation has made life very difficult, and impossible to have a good life that includes justice, peace, and equality.
    * Arab Christians are not self-sufficient; they rely on partners to survive. One part of it has to do with the Israeli Occupation, and the other part is that salaries are not very high when compared to the education level of the Arab Christians. (ppt. Slide)

According to the Custody of the Holy Land, an order of Franciscans responsible for the Latin holy places in Israel and Palestine, more than 450 families have emigrated from the Bethlehem area since last year. In Beit Sahour, one of the few towns in the Holy Land remaining primarily Christian, a recent survey found that 51.2% of the Christian population is considering emigration due to the unbearable political and economical conditions.
The Christian Triangle is encircled by Israeli colonial settlements that were constructed on the agricultural lands of the Palestinian towns. The Israeli expropriation of Christian Palestinian land to build these colonies has greatly contributed to the current wave of emigration.  The confiscation of agricultural land for Israeli settlements and military bases has permanently destroyed the major source of income for many Christian Palestinians. These conditions are the direct result of Israel’s occupation policies in the West Bank. Colonial settlements, bypass roads, military installations and above all the Separation Wall, result in the suffocation and constriction of the Christian Triangle.
The Israeli checkpoints also constitute a major restriction on the lives of all Palestinians including the Christians in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala.  The checkpoints are manned by Israeli soldiers and any Palestinian who wants to leave the Bethlehem area needs to receive special permit from the Israeli army.  This permit is virtually impossible to receive for average Palestinians. In addition to the checkpoints the Israelis have created road blocks of rubble and dirt along routes used by Palestinians to avoid the checkpoints.  The result of these actions is a near complete isolation of the Christian Triangle from the rest of the occupied West Bank.  The consequences of these actions for the economy of Christian Palestinians have been devastating; businesses have been forced to close and unemployment has increased to reach 60%. The harm caused to Palestinians by checkpoints and closures is not restricted to the economy, but restrict the movement of every Palestinian, causing wide spread frustration and collective humiliation.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

I believe there is a lot to be done to the Palestinian Christians to keep them steadfast in their homeland and to contribute to their common growth.

    * The church in the Holy Land, and the world, should be the voice of the voiceless.  The Palestinian church is to call on all people of faith in the world to remember their brothers and sisters in the Holy Land.
    * To address the important issue of emigration, the churches of the world should take the responsibility to help Palestinian Christians survive with dignity in the Holy Land.
    * Providing work opportunities and housing should be a priority, enabling people to stay in the Holy Land.
    * Apartments for the new generation should be built, for the majority of the emigrants are new generation.
    * The churches in Palestine and in the world pressure an end to Palestinian/Israeli conflict and Israeli occupation, encouraging USA and the world to stand against Israeli injustice and stand for the right of the Palestinians.
    * With the help of partner churches and the government, fund projects that will teach and preach against emigration, making it possible for people to live a decent life that will encourage Arab Christians to stay in the Holy Land.
    * Provide health and life insurance through the church to encourage Arab Christians to stay in the Holy land, enabling them to take care of themselves.
    * Teach the Christians of the world about emigration and the danger that Palestinian Christians are facing as a minority in their own country.
    * Use media to inform the world concerning Arab Christian emigration, its danger and its negative influence on church development in the Holy Land.
    * Promote holistic ministry by churches influencing the presidents and rulers of the world to spread peace in the Holy Land. (ppt. Slide)

Ladies & Gentlemen,

The political crisis in our region has severely decimated incoming tourism and pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We consider tourism, besides being a major component of our economy, an invaluable tool for interconnection between the Palestinian Christians and their western brethren. We call upon all western churches to encourage tourism and pilgrimage to our Holy places despite the hardships and the difficulties. Christians are always entitled to reach their Holy places, to pray and to gain spiritual fulfillment.
Therefore, Israel should be exposed in front of the whole world about its allegations of freedom of worship. I regret to say that a considerable number of Bethlehem's Christian youths do not even know the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem which is less than 7 miles away because Israel simply closes Jerusalem in front of the Palestinians.
The western church is asked to interfere in the crisis from a religious and human point of view to defend a basic right of worship that is guaranteed by all traditions, laws and conventions, to defend the lands of the indigenous Palestinian Christians that is confiscated by Israel, to stop the construction of the wall that is strangling their towns and villages, to work towards keeping Jerusalem an opened city and a jewel for believers.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

It is true that the Christians of Palestine need financial support to empower the viability of their communities in the Holy Land. But above all, they need justice and peace. They need advocacy for their legitimate rights and lobbying for their national just cause, for their yearned statehood.

Thank you & God bless you all.