ASIA/HOLY LAND - Ecumenical group refutes Netanyahu's speech at the UN: occupation, not the Palestinian Authority, is harming Christians in Palestine

Bethlehem (Agenzia Fides) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "cannot be allowed to twist the truth" regarding the situation of Christians in the Holy Land and the problems and suffering that have caused their exodus for decades. The joint statement by the ecumenical think tank "A Jerusalem Voice for Justice" is clear, immediate, and full of arguments. It seeks to deny and refute Netanyahu's recent statements regarding the causes that have long led to the decline of the Christian presence in the land of Jesus. These causes, according to the signatories of the statement, are related to the consequences of the Israeli occupation and not to the role of the Palestinian Authority. With this statement, members of the ecumenical group specifically intend to rebut a section of the speech delivered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 26 to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The Israeli Prime Minister's speech to the UN, according to the signatories of the statement, was formulated with "many blatant distortions, traded in Islamophobia, and deliberately confused antisemitism with legitimate critique of Zionism and Israel."
Netanyahu also reserved a crucial passage in his speech for the Christian presence in the Holy Land. "Christians," said the Prime Minister of the Jewish state, "don’t fare much better. When Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, was under Israeli control, 80 percent of its residents were Christians. But since the PA (Palestinian Authority) took control, that number has dwindled to under 20 percent. A claim refuted by members of the ecumenical group with figures and historical references. "Bethlehem," their document states, "was a Christian-majority city until 1948: more than 80% of the population was Christian. With the expulsion of about 750,000 Palestinian refugees from their homeland in historic Palestine during the 1948 Nakba, three refugee camps were established in Bethlehem, changing the demographic make-up of the city. When Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, Bethlehem had a population composed of a majority of Muslims."

"Decades of Israeli occupation, causing harsh living conditions, provoked many Christians and Muslims to emigrate and this reality continues until today."

Bethlehem, a city dependent on tourism, "has also suffered particularly in the past two years of Israel's war on Gaza," with the almost complete stop of tourism and pilgrimage. "Hundreds of people," report members of 'A Jerusalem Voice for Justice', "have left Bethlehem in the past months because of the ongoing ravages of Israeli occupation and military violence." Therefore, "The reason Christians and many others too are leaving Bethlehem is Israeli occupation and its policies of closures, permits, exclusionary residency rights, and not the policies of the Palestinian Authority." Faced with the tragedy of the present time, once again, "Christians and Muslims in Bethlehem and throughout Palestine continue to live together as one people, sharing the same struggles under occupation."
The ecumenical group "A Jerusalem Voice for Justice," which came together spontaneously, was recently formed in response to the new outbreak of violence and terror in the Holy Land, to share and offer insights into the facts and processes that affect and torment the lives of people in the land of Jesus. The network includes, among others, Latin Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah, Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan, Greek Orthodox Bishop Attallah Hanna, the coordinator of the Sabeel Ecumenical Center, Sawsan Bitar, Palestinian theologian John Munayer, Jesuit Father David Neuhaus, Father Frans Bouwen of the Missionaries of Africa, and Father Alessandro Barchi, a monk of the Little Family of the Annunciation, founded by Father Giuseppe Dossetti. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 29/9/2025)

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