Editing Palestinian Christians (section)

=== Involvement in Palestinian militancy ===
[[File:Palestinian rebels 1938.jpg|thumb|290x290px|Palestinian rebels during the 1936-1939 revolt carrying a flag with a cross and crescent]]
Palestinian Christians have played a role in the anti-Zionist movement and [[Palestinian political violence|related political violence]], both before and after the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Four out of the 282 Palestinian Arab rebel leaders that participated in the [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|1936-1939 revolt in British Palestine]] were Christians. The rebels bore flags with a [[Christian cross|cross]] and [[Muslim crescent|crescent]], symbolizing Christianity and Islam, respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Hillel |title=Army of shadows: Palestinian collaboration with Zionism, 1917 - 1948 |date=2008 |publisher=Univ. of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-25989-8 |location=Berkeley, Calif.}}</ref>

The [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine|Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)]] was founded in 1967 by [[George Habash]], a Christian.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Palestine Who's Who (C-M) |url=http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/palestine/biogCM.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070421115025/https://al-bab.com/arab/countries/palestine/biogCM.htm |archivedate=21 April 2007 |website=Arab Gateway}}</ref><ref name="Reich1990">{{cite book |last=Reich |first=Bernard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3D5FulN2WqQC&pg=PA528 |title=Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-313-26213-5 |pages=528}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=MacLeod/Cairo |first=Scott |date=2008-01-28 |title=Terrorism's Christian Godfather |url=https://time.com/archive/6942417/terrorisms-christian-godfather/ |access-date=2024-07-09 |magazine=TIME |language=en |archive-date=9 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709033601/https://time.com/archive/6942417/terrorisms-christian-godfather/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Habash once stated that he believed there was perfect harmony between his Christian religion, his Arab nationalism, his Islamic culture, and his Marxist politics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=George Habash |url=https://www.palquest.org/en/biography/6564/george-habash |website=Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question |access-date=9 July 2024 |archive-date=6 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706193347/https://www.palquest.org/en/biography/6564/george-habash |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Wadie Haddad]], the leader of the military wing of the PFLP, was also Christian.<ref name="thrieg">{{cite book |author=Thomas Riegler |title=Handbook of OPEC and the Global Energy Order. Past, Present and Future Challenges |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2020 |isbn=9780429203190 |editor1=Dag Harald Claes |location=London |page=291 |chapter=When modern terrorism began The OPEC hostage taking of 1975 |doi=10.4324/9780429203190 |editor2=Giuliano Garavini |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429203190 |s2cid=211416208|url=https://openresearchlibrary.org/ext/api/media/62aeed95-b191-4ed0-83d6-b0372b5c31fa/assets/external_content.pdf }}</ref><ref name="marke">{{cite book |author=Mark Ensalaco |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhmb0 |title=Middle Eastern Terrorism: From Black September to September 11 |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8122-4046-7 |location=Philadelphia, PA |page=16 |jstor=j.ctt3fhmb0 |access-date=9 July 2024 |archive-date=18 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218180308/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhmb0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Reportedly, Eastern Orthodox priests would bless PFLP [[Hijacking of aircraft|hijacking]] teams before they set out on attacks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Philip |title=Did You Know that the Radicals of the Middle East Used to Be Christians? |url=https://www.hnn.us/article/did-you-know-that-the-radicals-of-the-middle-east- |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=History News Network |date=20 August 2003 |language=en |archive-date=9 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709033601/https://www.hnn.us/article/did-you-know-that-the-radicals-of-the-middle-east- |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Sirhan Sirhan]], who assassinated [[Robert F. Kennedy]] in 1968, came from a Christian family<ref name="Convicted">{{cite news |date=November 26, 2011 |title=Convicted RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan seeks prison release |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/26/justice/california-sirhan-rfk/?hpt=hp_t3 |publisher=CNN |access-date=9 July 2024 |archive-date=12 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312132845/http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/26/justice/california-sirhan-rfk/?hpt=hp_t3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cnnMartinez20110301">{{cite news |last=Martinez |first=Michael |date=March 1, 2011 |title=Sirhan Sirhan, convicted RFK assassin, to face parole board |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/01/california.sirhan.parole.hearing/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206105806/http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-01/justice/california.sirhan.parole.hearing_1_sirhan-sirhan-parole-board-parole-hearing?_s=PM:CRIME |archive-date=December 6, 2011 |access-date=November 4, 2011 |work=CNN}}</ref> and later changed church denominations several times, joining [[Baptists|Baptist]] and [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventist]] churches.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 6, 2019 |title=Sirhan Sirhan: Biography |url=http://www.biography.com/people/sirhan-sirhan |access-date=9 July 2024 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225154009/https://www.biography.com/people/sirhan-sirhan |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in 1966, he joined the [[esoteric]] organization [[Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis|Ancient Mystical Order of the Rose Cross]], one of the [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucian Orders]].<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Mel Ayton |title=The Robert Kennedy Assassination: Unraveling the Conspiracy Theories |url=http://www.crimemagazine.com/05/robertkennedy,0508-5.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103081231/http://www.crimemagazine.com/robert-kennedy-assassination-unraveling-conspiracy-theories |archive-date=January 3, 2010 |magazine=Crime Magazine}}</ref>

[[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.<ref>{{Cite book |author=David Clay Large |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5l5IChZhkQC&q=Luttif+Afif+Christian&pg=PA196 |title=Munich 1972: Tragedy, Terror, and Triumph at the Olympic Games |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2012 |isbn=9780742567399}}<!-- ISSN/ISBN, page(s) needed --></ref><ref name="Spielberg">{{Cite web |title=Indiana Spielberg and His Jewish Problem<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://spectator.org/articles/47620/indiana-spielberg-and-his-jewish-problem |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110631/http://spectator.org/articles/47620/indiana-spielberg-and-his-jewish-problem |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=27 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="haaretz1">{{cite web |author=Fogelman, Shay |date=31 August 2012 |title=תחקיר נרחב חושף פרטים חדשים על טבח מינכן |trans-title=Wide-ranging investigation reveals new details about the Munich Massacre |url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/1.1812103 |accessdate=17 May 2021 |work=[[Haaretz]] |language=he}}</ref> He used the alias "Jesus",<ref name="DavidClayLarge196">{{Cite book |last=Large |first=David Clay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5l5IChZhkQC&dq=Luttif+Afif&pg=PA196 |title=Munich 1972: Tragedy, Terror, and Triumph at the Olympic Games |date=2012 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-6739-9 |language=en |access-date=9 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709033601/https://books.google.com/books?id=H5l5IChZhkQC&dq=Luttif+Afif&pg=PA196 |archive-date=9 July 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> and named the Munich operation "[[Iqrit]] and [[Kafr Bir'im|Biram]]",<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_uzeDwAAQBAJ |title=Germany and Israel: Whitewashing and Statebuilding |date=30 March 2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-754000-8 |page=146}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Black |first1=Ian |title=Israel's secret wars: a history of Israel's intelligence services |last2=Morris |first2=Benny |date=1991 |publisher=Grove Weidenfeld |isbn=978-0-8021-1159-3 |edition= |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sylas |first1=Eluma Ikemefuna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4LAXixXUu5wC&pg=RA1-PA224 |title=Terrorism: A Global Scourge |publisher=AuthorHouse |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4259-0530-9 |access-date=7 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801091237/https://books.google.com/books?id=4LAXixXUu5wC&pg=RA1-PA224 |archive-date=1 August 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> after two Christian villages whose inhabitants were expelled by the IDF during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref>Benveniśtî, Mêrôn (2000). ''Sacred landscape: the buried history of the Holy Land since 1948''. University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-23422-2}}. pp. 325–326.</ref><ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/justice-for-ikrit-and-biram-1.71628 "Justice for Ikrit and Biram"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012101848/https://www.haaretz.com/justice-for-ikrit-and-biram-1.71628|date=12 October 2017}}, ''Haaretz'', 10 October 2001.</ref><ref>Elias Chacour with David Hazard: ''Blood Brothers: A Palestinian Struggles for Reconciliation in the Middle East''. {{ISBN|978-0-8007-9321-0}}. Foreword by Secretary James A. Baker III. 2nd Expanded ed. 2003. pp. 44–61.</ref> Theresa Halaseh, another member of the BSO, was a Christian<ref>{{Cite web |title=اختطفت طائرة على متنها 140 إسرائيلياً.. من هي تيريزا هلسة التي كادت أن تردي نتنياهو قتيلاً؟ |url=https://arabicpost.live/%D8%AB%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A9/%D8%B4%D8%AE%D8%B5%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA/2020/03/29/%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B2%D8%A7-%D9%87%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A9/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=عربي بوست — ArabicPost.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=البرغوثي |first=نسرين نعيم |title=خطفت طائرة في عمر الـ 18.. من هي تيريزا هلسة؟ |url=https://www.aljazeera.net/blogs/2020/3/31/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B2%D8%A7-%D9%87%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A9 |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=الجزيرة نت |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=محمود ■القاهرة |first=خالد |date=2020-04-02 |title=تيريزا هلسا.. فلسطينية أطلقت النار على نتنياهو |url=https://www.emaratalyoum.com/politics/reports-and-translation/2020-04-03-1.1329028 |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=www.emaratalyoum.com |language=ar}}</ref> and also a [[Fatah]] member.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Palestinians Mourn Theresa Halsa, Hijacker of 1972 Flight to Tel Aviv |url=https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2205516/palestinians-mourn-theresa-halsa-hijacker-1972-flight-tel-aviv |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=english.aawsat.com |language=en}}</ref> She participated in the BSO [[Sabena Flight 571|hijacking of Sabena Flight 571]], and was captured but later released in a 1983 prisoner exchange.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-28 |title=وفاة المناضلة تيريزا هلسة إحدى منفذات "عملية اللد" |url=https://felesteen.news/post/62688/%D9%88%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B6%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B2%D8%A7-%D9%87%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%89-%D9%85%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%AF |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=فلسطين أون لاين |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Therese Halasa |url=https://www.facesofpalestine.org/profiles/therese-halasa |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=Faces Of Palestine |language=en}}</ref>

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 was imprisoned by Israel for shooting at Israeli motorists during the [[Second Intifada]],<ref name="Arutz">{{cite news |last=Miskin |first=Maayana |date=5 July 2009 |title=PA Minister: Muslims, Christians Fighting Jews Together |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132202 |accessdate=18 June 2015 |work=[[Arutz Sheva]] |location=Israel |archive-date=25 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231125010702/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132202 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=4 July 2009 |title=PA minister visits family of imprisoned Palestinian Christian |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=211687 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904033453/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=211687 |archive-date=4 September 2014 |accessdate=18 June 2015 |work=[[Ma'an News Agency]] |location=Palestinian Territories}}</ref> and at that time was described as the only Christian in the entire Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2003-02-07 |title=Israel warns of Iraq war 'earthquake' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2736283.stm |access-date=2024-09-04 |work=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel Arrests Suspected Christian Palestinian Terrorist |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=19880 |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=www.catholicculture.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=First Christian in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades |url=https://www.comeandsee.com/view.php?sid=413 |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=www.comeandsee.com |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Arutz" /> Bandak was later released in 2011 as part of an exchange for the release of Israeli soldier [[Gilad Shalit]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ajbaili |first=Mustapha |date=18 October 2011 |title=Palestinian female prisoners resist deportation to Gaza |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011%2F10%2F18%2F172380 |website=Al Arabiya News}}</ref> Daniel Saba George ("Abu Hamama"), who was also a senior [[Tanzim]] operative, was killed by Israel in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 April 2006 |title=Senior Tanzim operative killed during arrest activity in Bethlehem |url=https://embassies.gov.il/MFA/FOREIGNPOLICY/Terrorism/Palestinian/Pages/Senior%20Tanzim%20operative%20killed%20during%20arrest%20activity%20in%20Bethlehem%2023-Apr-2006.aspx |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=embassies.gov.il}}</ref> An image was later taken of George's Christian funeral in Bethlehem,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-21 |title=Palestinian priests and mourners pray over the body of Daniel Abu Hamama... |url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/palestinian-priests-and-mourners-pray-over-the-body-of-news-photo/1679523074 |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=Getty Images |language=en-gb |archive-date=9 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709033601/https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/palestinian-priests-and-mourners-pray-over-the-body-of-news-photo/1679523074 |url-status=live }}</ref> and a poster of him with Christian imagery was seen put up in the city that same year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-01 |title=Fatah Martyr Daniel Saba George |url=https://www.d7.palestineposterproject.org/poster/fatah-martyr-daniel-saba-george |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=The Palestine Poster Project Archives |language=en}}</ref>