- Title: WEST BANK: Christian communities in decline in Holy Land
- Date: 17th October 2010
- Summary: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 12, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ISRAELI'S SEPARATION BARRIER WHICH SURROUNDS THREE SIDES OF BETHLEHEM TOURIST AT MANGER SQUARE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY VARIOUS OF TOURISTS WALKING TOWARD CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY PRIESTS ENTERING CHURCH BEIT SAHOUR, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 12, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BEIT SAHOUR TOWN IN BETHLEHEM DISTRICT VEHICLES DRIVING IN BEIT SAHOUR SIGN READING IN ARABIC AND ENGLISH "BEIT SAHOUR OLD CITY" VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF SHOMALI HOUSE IN BEIT SAHOUR STONE WITH CROSS OUTSIDE HOUSE VARIOUS OF SHOMALI FAMILY SITTING TOGETHER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RAFAT AL-SHOMALI, SAYING: "This country, thank God has good work opportunities. But due to the occupation, it isn't a normal situation, it is hard to live in stability. For example, today not just speaking about Jerusalem, but if I want to go to any Palestinian city, there are checkpoints and obstacles not only for my work but for students and people. These obstacles make our lives hard and not easy under occupation." MAN HOLDING CIGARETTE AND CROSS ON TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AYMAN ABU AL-ZULUF, SAYING: "After 1996 I travelled to Europe. I lived in France for some time. Europe is beautiful and the Europeans are civilized and educated people. But as a Palestinian from Bethlehem; for me being in this country is more important than being in France." CROSS ON NECKLACE WORN BY SANDRA AL-SHOMALI (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SANDRA AL-SHOMALI, SAYING: "I am optimistic about the future of Bethlehem. Whatever you do here is for you, but while you are abroad, nothing is for you. We tried living abroad, we tried Qatar, Nigeria. I'm trying to convince my husband to come back here, to this country. All this migration is enough. For me Bethlehem is my country and that's that." MORE OF SHOMALI FAMILY SITTING TOGETHER BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 12, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RAFAT AL-SHOMALI SHOWING TOURISTS ISRAEL SEPARATION BARRIER VARIOUS OF MONASTERY NEAR ISRAEL'S BARRIER
- Embargoed: 1st November 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Religion
- Reuters ID: LVADJA2TXFADGUT5EX6YXWBRR8I9
- Story Text: Christians living in the land where Jesus was born are concerned that the size of their community is shrinking.
Some Palestinian Christians say it's due to decades of conflict, shifting borders and occupation which are the root causes of a poor economic situation that is forcing Christians, in the Holy Land, to seek better lives abroad.
Rising Muslim fundamentalism, a trend across the Middle East, concerns some. But most cite Israeli occupation as the prime cause of emigration and the decline of their community.
"It is hard to live in stability. For example, today not just speaking about Jerusalem, but if I want to go to any Palestinian city, there are checkpoints and obstacles not only for my work but for students and people. These obstacles make our lives hard and not easy under occupation," said Palestinian Christian Rafat Al-Shomali.
Many members of Rafat's family have left have left the hills and olive groves of their village Beit Sahour near Bethlehem for Sweden, Latin America, and the United States, seeking a better life than that on offer in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Ayman Abu al-Zuluf, 41, moved to France in 1998, but he returned to Beit Sahour, the village where he was born, only a year later.
"Europe is beautiful and the Europeans are civilized and educated people. But as a Palestinian from Bethlehem; for me being in this country is more important than being in France," said Ayman.
Today, Christians are estimated to make up just 1 percent of the mainly Muslim population of the Palestinian territories.
In 1920, they were a tenth of the population of Palestine -- land where today Israel exists alongside the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians remain stateless.
In Bethlehem alone, the Christian population has slumped to 7,500 from 20,000 in 1995. Then, the Middle East peace process had created hope that a Palestinian state would emerge alongside Israel. Though some Christians who had left, came back.
Sandra Al-Shomali, Abu al-Zuluf's sister, and her husband were among those who invested at the time thinking peace was imminent in a new state. But talks collapsed in 2000 and several years of violence ensued.
But Sandra remains positive about her homeland.
"I am optimistic about the future of Bethlehem. Whatever you do here is for you, but while you are abroad, nothing is for you. We tried living abroad, we tried Qatar, Nigeria. I'm trying to convince my husband to come back here, to this country. All this migration is enough. For me Bethlehem is my country and that's that," she said.
Abu al-Zuluf personally knows 50 people who have left Beit Sahour in the last decade, and he holds Israel responsible for the departure of Christians.
Al-Shomali and Abu al-Zuluf run tours in Palestinian refugee camps as well as conventional pilgrimage places, such as the Church of the Nativity, revered as the site of Jesus's birth. Tourists are also shown the Israeli barrier wall, which separates parts of Bethlehem.
The economy has improved since the second Intifada, or uprising, abated. Tourists have returned, but their path to Bethlehem from Jerusalem has been complicated by the West Bank barrier Israel has constructed on the grounds of security. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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