Bethlehem (PNN) – September 28, 2025
The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of distorting the reality of Christian life in the Holy Land, saying his remarks at the UN General Assembly ignored decades of displacement and restrictions that have decimated the community.
Before the 1948 war, Christians made up about 12.5% of the population of historic Palestine. Today, Palestinians say, they represent just 1.2% across historic Palestine and 1% in the territories Israel occupied in 1967.
The decline, they argue, stems from expulsions, land seizures and systematic pressure on churches. Records show that during the 1948 Nakba, 90,000 Christians were displaced, 30 churches closed, and communities in villages such as Iqrit and Kafr Bir’im were uprooted despite later Israeli court rulings affirming their right to return.
Palestinian Christians also point to more recent incidents, including Israeli airstrikes that hit Gaza’s St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church and the Holy Family Catholic Church, killing civilians who had sought shelter inside. Since October 2023, at least 44 Christians in Gaza have died either in bombings or due to shortages of medicine and food.
Church leaders and residents report growing harassment: clergy assaulted, cemeteries vandalized, and worshippers blocked from reaching Jerusalem’s holy sites, particularly during Easter. In Bethlehem, Christian families have lost land to settlement expansion and say the city is hemmed in by checkpoints and Israel’s separation barrier.
The Orthodox Patriarchate and the Armenian Church have also faced financial and legal pressures, including frozen accounts and foreclosure orders. Palestinian officials describe these as part of a deliberate strategy to weaken Christian institutions.
“Netanyahu’s speech cannot erase the reality we live,” one church representative said, calling on the international community and Christian leaders worldwide to push back against what they described as Israel’s systematic effort to diminish their presence.
The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine urged the UN to ensure freedom of worship and to safeguard the Christian community in the Holy Land, saying their survival is a global responsibility, not just a local one.
