“ Our Israeli, Arab Christian Neighbors”

Jerusalem today is a city of ordinary people who live in an extraordinary city! Jerusalem is also a divided city, divided between East and West, Religion and Culture, Language and Background, Geography and Climate. Israel has always had its tribes from biblical times but now the modern State of Israel has no fewer than 20 people groups! That’s how many subcultures interact today in Israeli society. The communities are diverse and spread across religious, ethnic, political, and economic lines. Despite globalization, we all live in the same small country in our own different fascinating mosaic cultures. Although we are one nation, we are many tribes so to speak.

We want to share with you some thoughts regarding a third major group of believers in our land, the Israeli Arab Christians...or as most prefer to call themselves today, Palestinian Christians. Most of them were born in the land and speak Arabic. A proportion of the Arab Christians also speak Hebrew, particularly those who were raised within the 1967 borders of Israel. Among those in the Palestinian territories, fewer of them speak Hebrew. Those Arab Christians living in the Palestinian territories are currently facing more severe socio-economic problems than their brothers who live within greater Israel. Those who live in the territories do not have Israeli citizenship, have a difficult time finding employment, live in poor villages, and are subject to harsher political feelings against the nation of Israel. The Palestinian Christians have difficulty traveling back and forth to different parts of Israel.

Our Christian Neighbors

Out of the roughly one and a half million non-Jews in Israel, there are approximately 150,000 Christians who were born and raised here in what is known as the “Eastern Church”. The “Eastern Churches” are those denominations that were here in the Land of Israel from before the Crimean War in the 1860’s. At that time, Jerusalem and all the Land was under Turkish Ottoman rule. The Crimean War which involved Russia, the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire set forth new precedents as far as the future of the churches that were already in Jerusalem. It is known as the “Status Quo”, and means under former Turkish law, that no church could go and build or add on to its existing properties, nor could there be any more building projects for the purpose of expansion. The ladder which sits up on the second level of the façade of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a symbol of the “Status Quo”, and has been there (or a replacement) since the “Status Quo” was established. The Eastern Church is made up of the Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Maronite, Coptic, Syrian Orthodox, and Ethiopian. These churches have roots that go back to the time when Christianity dominated the Mediterranean region, North Africa (Alexandria), The Holy Land (Jerusalem) and Asia Minor(Antioch). The roots go back to the Greek speaking gentiles of the Acts of the Apostles and are developed throughout Early Church history. These areas were then conquered by Islam, and the Christians of these churches came under Islamic rule through the Covenant of Omar made in Jerusalem by the Bishop Sophronius and the conquering general Caliph Omar in 638 AD. The agreement was for the local Christians to abide by Islamic law, and to pay special taxes in return for protection by the Islamic state which would rule over them. Throughout the last 1400 years, these Christians have learned the art of living in the midst of a Muslim majority, living their lives as best they can in silent Christian witness. (Under the agreement with Caliph Omar, Christians cannot evangelize Muslims) With the Muslim conquest, these formerly Greek-speaking Christians gradually adapted to an Arabic speaking environment and many of these churches eventually introduced Arabic into their worship. Today they are known as the Arab Christians, and in this land they call themselves “local Christians”. Many of these Eastern Christians have become born again Christians and live a precarious life as they strive to be more open in their witness to Christ among their Muslim neighbors. They are the front line for evangelization to the Muslim world, and more are finding themselves truly called to a ministry to Muslim people.

Born again Muslim background Christians are now the hottest issue among the born again community who find themselves outside of the framework of the traditional Eastern Church. They have even coined the term MBB (Muslim background believer) for new Christians who come to faith in Jesus Christ from a Muslim background. Because it is forbidden in Islam to become a Christian, there is the Fatwa (decree) of death penalty for any Muslim who openly comes to faith in Christ. This is dangerous for both the new believer and also the Christian community who accepts him or her and works to integrate them into the life and discipleship in Christ. Therefore much of the activity of born again Eastern Christians among the Muslim people is not widely publicized and remains discreet for the protection of all who are involved. Most of the Eastern Churches believe in having some kind of witness among the greater Arab community, which surrounds them, which is primarily Muslim, but they tend to be discreet in their activities in the area of Christian/Muslim dialogue. Most of that activity takes place on a higher level among church leaders and not among the lay people. Most of the Eastern Churches are structured in the “Archaic” Middle Eastern social model with the Patriarch at the top and under him, archbishops, bishops, archmandrites and priests and deacons. Their services are formal and liturgical preserving traditions, which were introduced in the early development period of church history between the 4th and 8th cent. AD. Their worship is full of symbolism, pomp, and appeals to the senses. .ie. incense, icons, and processions. Behind all of it is an elaborate network of symbolism mostly taken from the Gospels, which are central in the worship service. One Israeli commented that it reminded him a lot of the synagogue. Eastern Christians have adopted a Middle Eastern culture similar to their Muslim neighbors and often live together in the same villages. It is not unusual to find one “Hamulah” (large extended family) with both Christians and Muslims. Here in Israel, with relative freedom of religion in a democratic society, it is possible to see joint Muslim-Christian events. No better place to find this incomprehensible combination is in the Old City of Jerusalem with the Christian Quarter and Armenian Quarter next to one another and the Muslim Quarter next to both. This does not mean there is always harmony - in fact, the situation can become dangerous for Christians living in such close proximity. The Covenant of Omar established that Christians (as well as Jews) were considered second class citizens having distorted the Words of the Bible, and therefore must live in subjection to Islam. The pressure on Christians over the centuries has risen and fallen with the different Muslim regimes, but under the constant scrutiny, many Christians have simply fallen away from the faith of their community to become Muslims. This is considered among the Christian community to be a tragedy and a shame. Other pressures on the community of Christians has been the radical changes taking place in the “Holyland” since the 19th century when again the Jewish people began to return to the Land of their fathers, and the State of Israel was miraculously re-established in1948. It has been very difficult for Arab Christians to integrate an understanding of Israel’s part in the Lord’s overall plan of salvation history. Mainly, their eschatology (understanding of the end times) was never developed, (the Book of Revelation is not publicly read in any of the services although it is alluded to in some cases). The early Church Fathers had adopted the idea that “God was finished with the Jews” and that the new “Holy Roman Empire” which spread out over most of the known civilized world at the time was the fulfillment of the promises that the Jews had held before them as the “Hope of Israel”. When Islam came to conquer these Christian lands, the Church leaders never revised their ideas of “eschatology” and in holding to tradition. The messianic idea of Israel being in the “end time plan of God” is foreign to most Arab Christians. In addition, the problem of the loss of many Christian families in the early years of the State of Israel of family properties did not help them to welcome back their lost brethren, the Jews. Since 1948, most of the Christians in the Arab community have adapted to becoming Israeli because their inclination has normally been towards western culture. Although they have many Middle Eastern cultural characteristics, their worldview is closer to the American or the European. Many of them speak at least one other western language than Arabic, and many speak fluent Hebrew. A recent survey done by former government minister Amnon Rubenstein suggests that Arab Christians are the most educated people group in Israel. Families encourage their children in learning more than one language, and also to learn a valuable profession. Many Arab Christians who live in Israel are very active in politics and public debates. Most of the young people go to University, and they attend all the Israeli Universities. They are an unusual combination of ancient and ultra modern culture, and stand as examples of the possibilities we have here in Israel to create a truly vibrant society.