Christian Communities in Jerusalem and the West Bank Since 1948: An Historical, Social and Political Study.

Reviewed by Andrej Kreutz

While the conflicts in the Middle East and some other general problems of the area have attracted a great deal of attention from English language scholars, and even from the public at large, the situation of the Christian communities in the countries of the region, with the possible single exception of Lebanon, has received very little attention. There are several causes for this, such as the comparatively small number of indigenous Christians in the region, the still lingering positivist underestimation of the religious factors on the one hand, and the fascination with Islam which has captivated the Western mind since the late 1970s, on the other, and last but not least the tremendous political sensitivity of the issues involved. These have frightened many otherwise interested people, with largely negative results both for our understanding of the region and for chances of a more efficient policy in the area.

The long history and complex socio-political problems of the indigenous Christian communities in the Holy Land of Israel/Palestine have been particularly neglected in Western scholarship, and their existence has usually barely been noticed.

The heirs of the oldest Christian churches have for centuries been almost unseen or have been perceived as mere appendices to the historical site and religious monuments. Both the book by the Israeli scholar Daphne Tsimhoni and the one edited by M. Prior and W. Taylor, which is the collective effort of many Palestinian-Christian scholars and clergymen and their sympathizers, are thus very timely and both make substantial contributions to these generally little known aspects of Middle Eastern politics and history. Although obviously written from widely different academic and political standpoints, they are nevertheless in some ways complementary to each other and reading both of them seems necessary in order to gain a better grasp of the complex and volatile topics.

Tsimhoni's work, with the exceptions of the first two chapters, which are relatively short and focus on legal and demographic problems, and the last one which focuses on the Christians' reactions towards the Intifada, concentrates on an historical and institutional analysis of the more than fifteen local Christian communities which are perceived as separate and relatively closed entities, distinct from the larger socio-economic and political context and life of the country. Although Tsimhoni admits that "The indigenous Christians have been treated by the Israeli authorities as an integral part of the Arab Muslim population" (p. 11), and that "the indigenous Arabic speakers make up 91.6 percent of the Christians in Jerusalem and the West Bank" (p. 25), she is nevertheless still reluctant to analyze their socio-economic and political problems as part of the broader picture of the Palestinian situation, and occasionally expresses her discontent because of what she considers their improper and misguided national involvement (pp. 170-176). Her presentation of the issue of Christian emigration out of the Holy Land is also somewhat biased and distorted. On the other hand, she perceives a variety of causes for this, including the "ongoing Israeli-Arab conflict and the lack of a foreseeable long-term political solution for East-Jerusalem and the West Bank" and "the deterioration of the economic position of the urban middle class to which the majority of Christians belong" (pp. 23-24). However, she does not seem to perceive the links between the exodus and the Israeli occupation of the country. Instead, she prefers to blame "resurgent Islam" as being the most important cause of the catastrophic decline of the number of local Christians, disregarding the fact that among the Palestinians them has always been conspicuously little Muslim-Christian friction and hostility. Despite all these and some other political shortcomings and historical omissions, Tsimhoni's book still remains an excellent encyclopedic presentation for the local Christian communal life with its remote traditions and complex internal structures. Further studies, especially in view of the present sudden demographic and social transformations, would be highly commendable and one can only hope that Tsimhoni will find a number of interested followers among the scholars in Israel/Palestine and other countries.

As a necessary complement to Tsimhoni's work, the book edited by M. Prior and W. Taylor contains materials from the seminar on the present situation of the Christian communities which was held at the Cumberland Lodge (England) at Pentecost in 1993. The papers included present a wide variety of subjects and approaches, ranging from scholarly studies in history and sociology of the Palestinian Christians, including an especially masterly work by Professor Bernard Sabella from Bethlehem University on "Socio-Economic Characteristics and the Challenges to Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land" (pp. 31-55), to theological considerations, religious reflections and even quite emotional and personal writings. The common feature of all of them, however, is their stress on the Palestinian Christians sharing "the aspirations of the Palestinian people for an end to occupation and for national independence and on their awareness of"living in a broadly Arab and Muslim culture" in the region (p. 226). As an Anglican priest from Nazareth, Rev. Riah El Assal stressed that the Arab Christians "have no civilization, no history, no culture nor heritage other than the Arab civilization, culture, history and heritage" (p. 135). According to El Assal, colonialism "has had the greater effect, deliberately or otherwise, in shaking the confidence of Arab Christians in their own Arab identity" (p. 137) and weakening their social coherence. Another cause of that was and still remains an apparent lack of sympathy and interest shown to them by pilgrims from the West, most of whom do not seem to realize that "these 'dangerous' Arabs they see are their brothers and sisters in Christ" (p. 138). Christian emigration which is caused by several interrelated political and economic factors but also facilitated by the Christians' links with the West and their subsequent partial alienation from their natural social environment "robs the churches of their vitality, and restricts their communal and social activities, . . . at a time of great personal and communal stress" (p. 42). In the words of Sabella, the "Palestinian Christian Community fits well the definition of a migrant community as a community with a high educational achievement and a relatively good standard of living but with no real prospects for economic security or advancement (p. 41). Consequently, in the case of the Palestinian Christians, their demography "is the essence of politics" (p. 44) and at least from a Christian point of view, it also has a unique religions importance. If there were peace, their emigration would slow down dramatically and, under the subsequently more propitious circumstances, they would be able to find for themselves the necessary preconditions for economic and social development and continuity of their religious witness. Christian Arabs represent the oldest and very richest Christian traditions and their historical contribution to Church history is of primary importance. During the golden era of Arab Christianity from the Fourth to the Seventh Centuries, there were thirty-six bishops in Hawran in Syria and as many as sixty-three in Palestine (p. 135). According to the prominent scholar Kenneth Bailey of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, "next to Latin and Greek there is more Christian literature in Arabic than in all the other language" (p. 163). Even now their continuous presence "encompasses different Christian traditions, and . . . Jerusalem in particular and the Holy Land in general, is a microcosm of the world Church" (p. 165). Their call for justice as a fundamental part of Christian and, indeed, all Biblical messages acquires additional importance now, when the "majority of Christians are not to be found any more in the so-called Christian West, but in Africa, in Asia, and in Latin America" (pp. 161-162) and when this change in Christian demography affords them "a new opportunity to relate to the poor and the oppressed in other parts of the world" (p. 162).

At present the future of the Arab Christian communities in Israel/Palestine is far from clear. They are beleaguered by numerous problems and really efficient help from outside is not yet in the offing. Their lot is an indivisible part of that of the rest of the Palestinian. Certainly no less than their Muslim compatriots, they urgently need peace and security in their ancestral homeland. However, they are also a uniquely important minority and their special predicaments and necessities cannot be overlooked. Their voices should be heard and more studies and research on their present institutions and future prospects need to be undertaken soon.

Andrej Kreutz is a visiting professor at the Centre for Eastern Research and Studies, University of Lodz, Poland.