Editing Palestinian Christians (section)

==History==

===Background and early history===
[[File:Jerusalem Cross.svg|thumb|left|The Jerusalem Cross]]
[[File:Interior of the House of a Christian Family in Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Interior of the house of a Christian family in Jerusalem. By [[William Henry Bartlett|W. H. Bartlett]], {{Circa|1850}}]]
The first Christian communities in [[Judaea (Roman province)|Roman Judea]] originated from the followers of [[Jesus of Nazareth]], who was put to death and [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucified]] by order of Prefect [[Pontius Pilate]] in 30–33; they were [[Aramaic]] speaking [[Jewish Christian]] and, later, [[Roman Empire|Latin]] and [[Koine Greek|Greek]]-speaking [[ancient Rome|Romans]] and [[Greeks]], who were in part descendants from previous settlers of the regions, such as [[Canaan|Syro-Phoenicians]], [[Arameans]], [[Greeks]], [[Persian people|Persians]], and [[Arab people|Arabs]] such as [[Nabataeans]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Theissen|first=G|title=Sociology of early Palestinian Christianity|year=1978|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-0-8006-1330-3|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NovYAAAAMAAJ|access-date=19 March 2016|archive-date=19 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119051344/https://books.google.com/books?id=NovYAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{verify source|date=November 2013}}

Contrary to other groups of oriental Christians such as the largely [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] [[Nestorians]], the vast majority of Palestinian Christians went under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]] and [[Eastern Roman Empire|Roman emperors]] after the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451&nbsp;AD (which would be part of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] after the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]]), and were known by other [[Syriac Christianity|Syrian Christians]] as [[Melkite]]s (followers of the king).<ref name=Thomas16>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=D. R.|title=Syrian Christians under Islam: The First Thousand Years|year=2001|publisher=Brill|publication-place=Leiden|isbn=978-90-04-12055-6|pages=16–18}}</ref> The Melkites were heavily [[Hellenization|Hellenised]] in the following centuries, abandoning their distinct [[Western Aramaic languages]] in favour of [[Greek language|Greek]]. By the 7th century, [[Jerusalem]], [[Gaza City|Gaza]] and Byzantine Palestine became the epicentre of Greek culture in the Orient.<ref name=Thomas16 />

In the fourth century, the monk [[Hilarion]] introduced monasticism in the area around Gaza which became a flourishing monastic center (including the [[Saint Hilarion Monastery]] and the [[monastery of Seridus]]), second only to the cluster of monasteries in the Judaean desert (which include the [[Mar Saba monastery]]).<ref name=YH04>{{cite book |author= [[Yizhar Hirschfeld|Hirschfeld, Yizhar]] |chapter= The monasteries of Gaza: An archaeological review |pages= 61–62, 87 |editor1= Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony |editor2= Aryeh Kofsky |title= Christian Gaza in Late Antiquity |year= 2004 |publisher= Brill |isbn= 9789004138681 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lA9VwVwoyiAC&pg=PA67 |access-date= 12 November 2023 |archive-date= 9 January 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240109013450/https://books.google.com/books?id=lA9VwVwoyiAC&pg=PA67 |url-status= live }}</ref>

Following [[Muslim conquest of Syria#Conquest of Palestine|Muslim conquests]], non-Arabic speaking Christians underwent a gradual process of [[Arabization]] in which they abandoned [[Aramaic]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] in favor of [[Arabic language|Arabic]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Masalha |first=Nur |date=2016 |title=The Concept of Palestine: The Conception Of Palestine from the Late Bronze Age to the Modern Period |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/hlps.2016.0140 |journal=Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies |language=en |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=143–202 |doi=10.3366/hlps.2016.0140 |issn=2054-1988 |quote=In the mid-7th century the population of Palestine was predominantly Christian, mostly Palestinian Aramaic-speaking Christian peasants who continued to speak the language of Jesus under Islam. |access-date=9 July 2024 |archive-date=4 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104124136/https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/hlps.2016.0140 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Thomas16"/> The Melkites began abandoning Greek for [[Arabic language|Arabic]], a process which made them the most Arabicised Christians in the Levant.<ref name=Thomas16/> Most Arab [[Ghassanids]] remained Christian and joined [[Melkite]] and [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac]] communities within what is now [[Jordan]], [[Israel]], [[Palestine]], [[Syria]], and [[Lebanon]].<ref name="Bowersock">{{cite book |last1=Bowersock |first1=G. W. |url=https://archive.org/details/lateantiquity00brow |title=Late Antiquity: A guide to the Postclassical World |last2=Brown |first2=Peter |last3=Grabar |first3=Oleg |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1998 |isbn=9780674511705 |quote=Late Antiquity - Bowersock/Brown/Grabar. |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The eleventh century Melkite [[bishop of Gaza]] [[Sulayman al-Ghazzi]] holds a unique place in the history of Arab Christian literature as author of the first [[Diwan (poetry)|diwan]] of Christian religious poetry in Arabic. His poems give insights into the life of Palestinian Christians and the persecution they suffered under [[Fatimid caliph]] [[Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah|al-Hakim]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Noble |first1=Samuel |last2=Treiger |first2=Alexander |title=The Orthodox Church in the Arab World, 700–1700: An Anthology of Sources |date=15 March 2014 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-5017-5130-1 |pages=160–162 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6rMDwAAQBAJ |access-date=15 January 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

In the late sixteenth century, Christianity in southern [[Bilad al-Sham|Bilad ash-Sham]] was primarily rural, with a significant portion of the population living in villages and tribes. Christians were dispersed among numerous towns and villages in the vicinity of Jerusalem, some had been inhabited by Christians since Byzantine and Frankish rule. Villages with Christian population included [[Taybeh, Ramallah|Taybeh]], [[Beit Rima]], [[Jifna|Jifna an-Nasara]], [[Ramallah]], [[Yabrud, Ramallah|Yabrud]], [[Aboud]], [[Suba, Jerusalem|Suba]], [[Teqoa|Tuqu]], [[Nahalin]], and [[Artas, Bethlehem|Artas]]. The Christians living in these villages were mainly of [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek Orthodox]] denomination, although exceptions existed, such as the [[Syriac Christianity|Syrian Christian]] community in Aboud.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Tramontana |first=Felicita |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvc16s06 |title=Passages of Faith: Conversion in Palestinian villages (17th century) |date=2014 |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-10135-6 |edition=1 |pages=24–25 |chapter=Chapter I "Christians in Seventeenth-century Palestine" |doi=10.2307/j.ctvc16s06.6 |jstor=j.ctvc16s06 |access-date=15 May 2024 |archive-date=15 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515111016/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvc16s06 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Modern history===
{{See also|Bethlehem#Christian population}}
[[File:Palestinian Christian Scouts Nativity Church in Bethlehem Christmas Eve 2006.jpg|thumb|left|Palestinian Christian Scouts on Christmas Eve in front of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem (2006)]]

During the [[Ottoman Empire]], foreign powers enjoyed positions of guardianship towards minorities, including the French for the Christians of [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]] and [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]. [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem|Orthodox Christians]] more specifically came under the protections of the [[Russian Empire]]. This placed Palestinian Christians with protection privileges, and access to missionary schools, which enabled them to engage in commerce with European traders. In addition, Christian merchants had lower rates of duty to pay than their Muslim counterparts, and thus they established themselves as bankers and moneylenders for Muslim landowners, artisans and peasants. This growing middle class produced several newspaper owners and editors and played leading roles in Palestinian political life.<ref>{{cite book|url=|title=The Balfour Declaration: Empire, the Mandate and Resistance in Palestine|author=Bernard Regan|publisher=Verso Books|date=30 October 2018|page=57}}</ref>

The category of 'Palestinian Arab Christian' came to assume a political dimension in the 19th century as international interest grew and foreign institutions were developed there. The urban elite began to undertake the construction of a modern multi-religious Arab civil society. When the British received from the [[League of Nations]] a mandate to administer Palestine after [[World War I]], many British dignitaries in London were surprised to discover so many Christian leaders in the Palestinian Arab political movements. The British authorities in the Mandate of Palestine had difficulty understanding the commitment of the Palestinian Christians to [[Palestinian nationalism]].<ref>Laura Robson, ''Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine,'' University of Texas Press, 2011 p. 159</ref>[[File:55.Bethlehem.jpg|thumb|upright|Four Bethlehemi Christian women, 1911]]Palestinian Christian-owned ''[[Falastin (newspaper)|Falastin]]'' was founded in 1911 in the then Arab-majority city of [[Jaffa]]. The newspaper is often described as one of the most influential newspapers in historic Palestine, and probably the nation's fiercest and most consistent critic of the [[Zionism|Zionist]] movement. It helped shape Palestinian identity and [[Palestinian Nationalism|nationalism]] and was shut down several times by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] and [[Mandatory Palestine|British]] authorities, most of the time due to complaints made by Zionists.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/ironcagestoryofp00khal|url-access=registration|quote=rashid khalidi the iron cage.|title=The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood|author=Rashid Khalidi|access-date=2016-01-25|publisher=Beacon Press|date=2006-01-09| isbn=9780807003084 }}</ref> Following the British takeover of Palestine in 1918 during the final stages of the [[World War I|First World War]], groups called "[[Muslim-Christian Associations]]" were formed across the new [[Mandatory Palestine]] in order to oppose the Zionist movement and implementation of the Balfour Declaration.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kayyali |first=Abdul-Wahhab Said |title=Palestine: A Modern History |date=1981 |publisher=Croom Helm |isbn=086199-007-2}}</ref> In the 1920s, it was noted that the inhabitants of [[Beit Kahil]], [[Dayr Aban]] and [[Taffuh]] were originally Christian.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Ben-Zvi |first=Itzhak |author-link=Yitzhak Ben-Zvi |title=שאר ישוב: מאמרים ופרקים בדברי ימי הישוב העברי בא"י ובחקר המולדת |publisher=none |year=1967 |location=תל אביב תרפ"ז |pages=409–410 |language=Hebrew |trans-title=She'ar Yeshuv}}</ref>
The [[Nakba]] left the multi-denominational Christian Arab communities in disarray. They had little background in theology, their work being predominantly pastoral, and their immediate task was to assist the thousands of homeless refugees. But it also sowed the seeds for the development of a [[Liberation Theology]] among Palestinian Arab Christians.<ref>Nur Masalha, Lisa Isherwood, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wKVbBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22  ''Theologies of Liberation in Palestine-Israel: Indigenous, Contextual, and Postcolonial Perspectives,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101174807/https://books.google.it/books?id=wKVbBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22 |date=1 November 2022 }} The Lutterworth Press, 2014 pp. 21–22</ref> There was a differential policy of expulsion. More lenience was applied to the Christians of the Galilee where expulsion mostly affected Muslims: at [[Ma'alot-Tarshiha|Tarshiha]], Me'eliya, [[Dayr al-Qassi]], and [[Sabalan, Safad|Salaban]], Christians were allowed to remain while Muslims were driven out.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} At [[Iqrit]] and [[Kafr Bir'im|Bir'im]] the IDF ordered Christians to evacuate for a brief spell, an order that was then confirmed as a permanent expulsion. Sometimes in a mixed Druze-Christian village like al-Rama, only the Christians were initially expelled towards Lebanon, but, thanks to the intervention of the local Druze, they were permitted to return. Important Christian figures were sometimes allowed to return, on condition they help Israel among their communities. [[Maximos V Hakim|Archbishop Hakim]], with many hundreds of Christians, was allowed reentry on expressing a willingness to campaign against Communists in Israel and among his flock.<ref>Motti Golani, Adel Manna, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bmu_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA130 ''Two Sides of the Coin: Independence and Nakba 1948,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112425/https://books.google.it/books?id=Bmu_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA130 |date=4 March 2016 }} Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, 2011 pp. 120, 130</ref>

After the war of 1948, the Christian population in the West Bank, under Jordanian control, dropped slightly, largely due to economic problems. This contrasts with the process occurring in Israel where Christians left ''en masse'' after 1948. Constituting 21% of Israel's Arab population in 1950, they now make up just 9% of that group. These trends accelerated after the 1967 war in the aftermath of Israel's takeover of the West Bank and Gaza.<ref>Laura Robson, ''Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine'', p. 162</ref>

===In the Palestinian Authority (from 1994)===
[[File:Orthodox priest family.jpg|thumb|[[Clerical marriage|Married Eastern Orthodox priest]] from [[Jerusalem]] with his family (three generations), c.&nbsp;1893]]
Christians within the [[Palestinian Authority]] constituted around one in seventy-five residents.<ref name=larry/> In 2009, [[Reuters]] reported that 47,000–50,000 Christians remained in the West Bank, with around 17,000 following the various Catholic traditions and most of the rest following the Orthodox church and other eastern denominations.<ref name="ReutersFactbox"/> Both Bethlehem and [[Nazareth]], which were once overwhelmingly Christian, now have Muslim majorities. Today about three-quarters of all Bethlehem Christians live abroad, and more Jerusalem Christians live in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]], than in Jerusalem. Christians now comprise 2.5 percent of the population of Jerusalem. Those remaining include a few born in the Old City when Christians there constituted a majority.<ref name=fdd>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenddemocracy.org/usr_doc/Christian_Exodus_final_2.pdf |title=The Christian Exodus from the Middle East|publisher=[[Foundation for the Defense of Democracies]]|access-date=17 August 2009|author=Jonathan Adelman and Agota Kuperman|date=24 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524055344/http://www.defenddemocracy.org/usr_doc/Christian_Exodus_final_2.pdf |archive-date=24 May 2006}}</ref>

In a 2007 letter from Congressman [[Henry Hyde]] to President [[George W. Bush]], Hyde stated that "the Christian community is being crushed in the mill of the bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and that expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, were "irreversibly damaging the dwindling Christian community".<ref>{{cite news|title=Jesus and the Separation Fence|first=Ofer|last=Shelah|publisher=[[Ynet]]|date=29 May 2006|access-date=7 May 2007|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3256347,00.html|archive-date=2 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202180115/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3256347,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Plea for Palestinian Christians|author=Robert Novak|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=25 May 2006|access-date=7 May 2007|url=http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2006May25.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407181632/http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2006May25.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive -->|archive-date=7 April 2007|author-link=Robert Novak|url-status=dead}} Reprinted at 'Churches for Middle East'.</ref>

In November 2009, Berlanty Azzam, a Palestinian Christian student from Gaza, was expelled from Bethlehem and was not allowed to continue her studying. She had two months left for the completion of her degree. Berlanty Azzam said the Israeli military handcuffed her, blindfolded her, and left her waiting for hours at a checkpoint on her way back from a job interview in Ramallah. She described the incident as "frightening" and claimed Israeli official treated her like a criminal and denied her an education because she is a Palestinian Christian from Gaza.<ref>{{cite news |last=Flower |first=Kevin |date=9 December 2009 |title=Israel court: Deported Palestinian student can't return |publisher=[[CNN News]] |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/12/09/gaza.student/index.html |access-date=1 January 2010 |archive-date=24 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924221921/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/12/09/gaza.student/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===In Israel===

In July 2014, during operation [[Protective Edge]] an Israeli-Arab Christian demonstration was held in Haifa in a protest against Muslim extremism in the Middle East (concerning the rise of the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]]) and in support of Israel and the IDF.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tlv1.fm/news/so-much-to-say/2014/07/28/israeli-arab-christians-take-streets-haifa-unusual-protest-2/ |title=Israeli-Arab Christians take to the streets of Haifa for an unusual protest |author=TLV1 |date=21 January 2016 |work=TLV1 RADIO |access-date=21 January 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009214720/http://tlv1.fm/news/so-much-to-say/2014/07/28/israeli-arab-christians-take-streets-haifa-unusual-protest-2/ |archive-date=9 October 2014 }}</ref>

[[Christian Arabs]] are one of the most educated groups in Israel.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303849604579278722657163880 |title= Christians in Israel: A minority within a minority |agency= Jewish Telegraphic Agency |access-date= 4 May 2009 |archive-date= 21 February 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170221013334/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303849604579278722657163880 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303849604579278722657163880 |title= Israel's Christian Awakening |website= The Wall Street Journal |access-date= 27 December 2013 |archive-date= 21 February 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170221013334/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303849604579278722657163880 |url-status= live }}</ref> Statistically, Christian Arabs in Israel have the highest rates of [[educational attainment]] among all religious communities, according to a data by [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]] in 2010, 63% of Israeli [[Christian Arabs]] have had college or [[postgraduate education]], the highest of any religious and [[ethno-religious]] group.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bokra.net/Article-1155836 |title=المسيحيون العرب يتفوقون على يهود إسرائيل في التعليم |website=Bokra |access-date=28 December 2011 |archive-date=13 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313022451/http://www.bokra.net/Article-1155836 |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite the fact that Arab Christians only represent 2.1% of the total Israeli population, in 2014 they accounted for 17.0% of the country's [[university]] students, and for 14.4% of its [[college]] students.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.walla.co.il/|title=וואלה! חדשות|website=וואלה! חדשות|access-date=28 September 2019|archive-date=15 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315175212/http://news.walla.co.il/item/384730|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Christians]] are proportionally more likely to have attained a [[bachelor's degree|bachelor's]] or higher [[academic degree]]s than the Israeli national average. Christian Arabs additionally have one of the highest rates of success in the matriculation examinations, (73.9%) in 2017<ref name="Aruz7">{{cite web |title=An inside look at Israel's Christian minority |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/239745 |website=Arutz Sheva |date=24 December 2017 |language=en |access-date=7 January 2019 |archive-date=6 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806014250/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/239745 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="TOI2013">{{cite web |url= http://www.timesofisrael.com/christian-arabs-top-countrys-matriculation-charts/ |title= Christian Arabs top country's matriculation charts |website= The Times of Israel |access-date= 24 December 2013 |archive-date= 21 January 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190121032857/http://www.timesofisrael.com/christian-arabs-top-countrys-matriculation-charts/ |url-status= live }}</ref> both in comparison to the [[Muslims]] and the [[Druze]] and in comparison to all students in the [[Jewish]] education system as a group.<ref name="Christians in Israel: Strong in education">{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4323529,00.html |title=Christians in Israel: Strong in education – Israel News, Ynetnews |newspaper=Ynetnews |publisher=Ynet |date=1995-06-20 |access-date=2015-02-24 |last1=Druckman |first1=Yaron |archive-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001161803/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4323529,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Arab Christians were also the vanguard in terms of eligibility for [[higher education]],<ref name="Christians in Israel: Strong in education" /> and they have attained a bachelor's degree and academic degree more than the median Israeli population.<ref name="Christians in Israel: Strong in education" /> Christians schools in Israel went on strike in 2015 at the beginning of the 2015 academic year in protest at budget cuts aimed at them. The strike affected 33,000 pupils, 40 percent of them Muslim. In 2013, Israel covered 65% of the budget of Palestinian Christian schools in Israel, a figure cut that year to 34%. Christians say they now received a third of what Jewish schools receive, with a shortfall of $53 million.<ref>[http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767496 'Israel's Palestinian schools strike in support of Christians,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911025028/http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767496 |date=11 September 2015 }} [[Ma'an News Agency]] 7 September 2015.</ref>

The rate of students studying in the field of [[medicine]] was also higher among the Christian Arab students, compared with all the students from other sectors. The percentage of Arab Christian [[women]] who are higher education students is higher than other sectors.<ref name="המגזר הערבי נוצרי הכי מצליח במערכת החינוך">{{cite web |url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/319/566.html |title=חדשות – בארץ nrg – ...המגזר הערבי נוצרי הכי מצליח במערכת |publisher=Nrg.co.il |date=2011-12-25 |access-date=2015-02-24 |archive-date=3 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203194137/http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/319/566.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In September 2014, Israel's interior minister signed an order that the self-identified <nowiki>''</nowiki>Aramean Christian<nowiki>''</nowiki> minority in Israel could register as Arameans rather than Arabs.<ref name=Aramean>{{cite news |title=Israel recognizes Aramean minority in Israel as separate nationality |author=Jonathan Lis |date=17 September 2014 |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.616299 |access-date=12 October 2014 |archive-date=17 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917165653/http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.616299 |url-status=live }}</ref> The order will affect about 200 families.<ref name=Aramean/>

The first local woman cleric ordained in the [[Holy Land]] was Palestinian Sally Azar of the Lutheran church in 2023.<ref name="azar">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64364143 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB |date=2023-01-22 |accessdate=2023-01-22 |title=First woman pastor in Holy Land ordained |last=Knell |first=Yolande |archive-date=22 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122235131/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64364143 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Israel-Gaza War ===
Since the start of the ongoing [[Gaza war]] in October 2023, there have been several incidents involving Palestinian Christians in the Gaza Strip, most notably the [[Church of Saint Porphyrius airstrike]] and [[Killing of Nahida and Samar Anton|the killing of two Catholic women]] by an Israeli [[sniper]] in the Holy Family Parish in northern [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-18 |title=Two Christian women killed by IDF sniper fire, says Latin Patriarchate |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-778505 |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en-US |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628160138/https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-778505 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-16 |title=Two women killed in Israeli attack on Holy Family parish in Gaza - Vatican News |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2023-12/in-gaza-israelis-attack-holy-family-parish-two-women-killed.html |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=www.vaticannews.va |language=en |archive-date=24 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224234548/https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2023-12/in-gaza-israelis-attack-holy-family-parish-two-women-killed.html |url-status=live }}</ref>