Palestinian Christians are Christians descended from the peoples of the geographical area of Palestine, the birthplace of Christianity. Within modern Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan, there are churches and believers from many Christian denominations, including Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglican, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholic (Eastern and Western rites), Protestant, and others. In both the local dialect of Palestinian Arabic and in classical or modern standard Arabic, Christians are called Nasrani (a derivative of the Arabic word for Nazareth, al-Nasira) or Masihi (a derivative of Arabic word Masih, meaning "Messiah"). In Hebrew, they are called Notzri (also spelt Notsri), which means "Nazarene".
Christians comprise less than 4% of Palestinians living within the borders of former Mandate Palestine today. They are approximately 4% of the West Bank population, less than 1% in Gaza, and nearly 10% of Israel's Arab population. According to official British Mandate estimates, Mandate Palestine’s Christian population varied between 9.5% (1922) and 7.9% (1946) of the total population. Today, the majority of Palestinian Christians live outside of the former Mandate Palestine because of emigration in response to the 1948 War, and the Six-Day War in 1967, occupation by Jordan, Egypt, and most recently Israel, with 78% of Christians blaming the ongoing exodus of Christians from Bethlehem on the Israeli occupation and travel restrictions on the area. However, many Christians still live in Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories.
Read more about Palestinian Christians: Demographics and Denominations, Historic Denominations, Political and Ecumenical Issues, Notable Palestinian Christians
Famous quotes containing the words palestinian and/or christians:
“I have told my husband that if he denies women equality, I will be in the vanguard of women on the streets, protesting outside his office in the new Palestinian state.”
—Suha Tawil (b. 1963)
“Why need Christians be still intolerant and superstitious? The simple-minded sailors were unwilling to cast overboard Jonah at his own request.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)