Editing Palestinian Christians (section)

===Persecutions===
{{see also|List of Israeli price tag attacks}}
Majority of Palestinian Christians are leaving the territories due to the Arab-Israeli conflict.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/02/persecution-driving-christians-out-of-middle-east-report | title=Persecution of Christians 'coming close to genocide' in Middle East – report | newspaper=The Guardian | date=2 May 2019 | last1=Wintour | first1=Patrick | access-date=17 October 2023 | archive-date=21 September 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921092828/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/02/persecution-driving-christians-out-of-middle-east-report | url-status=live }}</ref> There have been reports of attacks on Palestinian Christians in Gaza from Muslim extremist groups. Gaza Pastor [[Manuel Musallam]] has voiced doubts that those attacks were religiously motivated.<ref>Musallam, Manuel (27 November 2007). "Christians And Muslims Coexist in Gaza". IPS news. [http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40241 ipsnews.net] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611055104/http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40241|date=11 June 2011}}</ref>

Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Custodian of the Holy Land, a senior Catholic spokesman, has stated that police inaction and an educational culture that encourages Jewish children to treat Christians with "contempt" has made life increasingly "intolerable" for many Christians. Fr Pizzaballa's statement came after pro-settler extremists attacked a Trappist monastery in the town of Latroun, setting fire to its door, and covering walls with anti-Christian graffiti. The incident followed a series of acts of arson and vandalism, in 2012, targeting places of Christian worship, including Jerusalem's 11th century Monastery of the Cross, where slogans such as "Death to Christians" and other offensive graffiti were daubed on its walls. According to an article in the Telegraph, Christian leaders feel that the most important issue that Israel has failed to address is the practice of some ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools to teach children that it is a religious obligation to abuse anyone in Holy Orders they encounter in public, such that Ultra-Orthodox Jews, including children as young as eight, spit at members of the clergy on a daily basis.<ref>{{cite news|last=Blomfield|first=Adrian|date=7 September 2012|title=Vatican official says Israel fostering intolerance of Christianity|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9529123/Vatican-official-says-Israel-fostering-intolerance-of-Christianity.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9529123/Vatican-official-says-Israel-fostering-intolerance-of-Christianity.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

After [[Regensburg lecture|Pope Benedict XVI's comments on Islam]] in September 2006, five churches of various denominations were firebombed and shot at in the West Bank and Gaza. A Muslim extremist group called "[[Islamist anti-Hamas groups in the Gaza Strip#Lions of Monotheism|Lions of Monotheism]]" claimed responsibility.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/763199.html "Report: Rome tightens pope's security after fury over Islam remarks"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201182506/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/763199.html |date=1 December 2008 }}, ''[[Haaretz]]'', 16 September 2006</ref> Former Palestinian Prime Minister and [[Hamas]] leader [[Ismail Haniyeh]] condemned the attacks, and police presence was elevated in [[Bethlehem]], which has a sizable Christian community.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fisher|first=Ian|date=17 September 2006|title=Pope Apologizes for Remarks About Islam|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/world/europe/17cnd-pope.html?ex=1316145600&en=bd45a56d2f9e575a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|access-date=2010-05-21|archive-date=8 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208140509/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/world/europe/17cnd-pope.html?ex=1316145600&en=bd45a56d2f9e575a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|url-status=live}}</ref>

Armenians in Jerusalem, identified as Palestinian Christians or [[Armenians in Israel|Israeli-Armenians]], have also been attacked and received threats from Jewish extremists; Christians and clergy have been spat at, and one Armenian Archbishop was beaten and his centuries-old cross broken. In September 2009, two Armenian Christian clergy were expelled after a brawl erupted with a Jewish extremist for spitting on holy Christian objects.<ref>Hagopian, Arthur (9 September 2009). "Armenian Patriarchate protests deportation of seminarians". [http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=57786&s2=10 uruknet.de] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719112245/http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=57786&s2=10 |date=19 July 2011 }}</ref>

In February 2009, a group of Christian activists within the [[West Bank]] wrote an [[open letter]] asking [[Pope Benedict XVI]] to postpone his scheduled trip to Israel unless the government changed its treatment.<ref name="visit">[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29332232/ Holy Land Christians urge pope to call off visit]{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. [[MSNBC.com]]. Published 22 February 2009.</ref> They highlighted improved access to places of worship and ending the taxation of church properties as key concerns.<ref name="visit" /> The Pope began his five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Sunday, 10 May, planning to express support for the region's Christians.<ref name="ReutersFactbox" /> In response to Palestinian public statements, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor criticized the political polarization of the papal visit, remarking that "[i]t will serve the cause of peace much better if this visit is taken for what it is, a pilgrimage, a visit for the cause of peace and unity".<ref>{{cite news|date=8 May 2009|title=Palestinians seek papal pressure on Israel|work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/8496494|access-date=10 May 2009|archive-date=4 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204033433/http://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/8496494|url-status=live}}</ref>

;Bethlehem
Christian families are the largest landowners in Bethlehem and have often been subject to theft of property. Bethlehem's core of traditional Christian and Muslim families speak of the rise of a 'foreign', more conservative, Islamic Hebronite class as changing the traditional regional identity of the town, as are the villages dominated by the Ta'amre Bedouin clans close to Bethlehem. Rising Muslim land purchase, said at times to be Saudi-financed, and incidents of land theft with forged documents, except in Beit Sahour where Christian and Muslims share a strong sense of local identity, are seen by Christians as making their demographic presence vulnerable. Christians are often described as of Yamani descent (as are some Muslim clans), vs the al-Qaysi Muslim clans, respectively from southern and northern Arabia. Christians are wary of the international media and of discussing these issues publicly, which involve criticism of fellow Palestinians, since there is a risk that their remarks may be manipulated by outsiders to undermine Palestinian claims to nationhood, distract attention from the crippling impact of Israel's occupation, and conjure up an image of a Muslim drive to oust Christians from Bethlehem.<ref>Bård Kårtveit, 'Land, Law and Family Protection in the West Bank,' in Anh Nga Longva, Anne Sofie Roald (eds.),[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ab0yAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA116  ''Religious Minorities in the Middle East: Domination, Self-Empowerment, Accommodation,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101174806/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ab0yAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 |date=1 November 2022 }} Brill, 2011 pp. 97–121, esp. pp. 116f.</ref>

The [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] (an American Protestant organization) claimed that Palestinian Christians suffer systematic discrimination and persecution at the hands of the predominantly Muslim population and Palestinian government aimed at driving their population out of their homeland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbn.com/tv/1627252503001?mobile=false|title=Why Are Christians Really Leaving Bethlehem?|publisher=CBN|access-date=2 June 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141201/http://www.cbn.com/tv/1627252503001?mobile=false|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem and Beit Jala have claimed otherwise that it is the loss of agricultural land and expropriation from the Israeli military, the persecution of 1948 and violence from the military occupation that has led to a flight and major exodus of Christians.<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/MAGAZINE-a-glimpse-into-the-life-of-the-west-bank-s-last-christians-1.5629510 Lonely This Christmas A Glimpse Into the Life of the West Bank's Last Christians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822145640/https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/MAGAZINE-a-glimpse-into-the-life-of-the-west-bank-s-last-christians-1.5629510 |date=22 August 2019 }}, Dina Kraft, 26 Dec 2017, [[Haaretz]]</ref>

On 26 September 2015, the Mar Charbel monastery in Bethlehem was set on fire, resulting in the burning of many rooms and damaging various parts of the building.<ref name=lpj>{{cite web|url=http://en.lpj.org/2015/09/30/bethlehem-mar-charbel-monastery-set-on-fire/|title=Bethlehem: Mar Charbel Monastery set on fire|work=Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem|access-date=21 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008020801/http://en.lpj.org/2015/09/30/bethlehem-mar-charbel-monastery-set-on-fire/|archive-date=8 October 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In September 2016, the [[Jerusalem]]-based [[Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation]] (CJCUC) established [[Blessing Bethlehem]], a charity [[fundraising]] initiative with the purpose of helping the persecuted [[Christians]] living in the city of [[Bethlehem]] and its surrounding areas.<ref name="jpost-september-2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Media-Comment-The-positive-side-568222|title=MEDIA COMMENT: THE POSITIVE SIDE|first=YISRAEL MEDAD|last=ELI POLLAK|work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=28 September 2018|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707080515/https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Media-Comment-The-positive-side-568222|url-status=live}}</ref>