This week we held an online meeting on ‘Christians in the Holy Land’ with the CEO of Embrace the Middle East, Tim Livesey, and Canon Andrew Thompson MBE, of St Margaret’s Church, Uxbridge.
Tim’s presentation addressed the question: ‘Do Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land think about the Occupation and the prospects for peace differently from non-Christians?’ and Canon Andy spoke about ‘The Abrahamic Accords and Christian minorities in the Middle East’.
The assaults on Muslim worshippers at the Al Aqsa mosque during the holiest nights of the holy month of Ramadan and the damage to the interior of the mosque itself, caused much outrage for the deliberate targeting of a place of worship and the wounding of worshippers at prayer. Muslims and Christian communities in the UK were quick to condemn the escalation to violence amid calls for the sanctity of places of worship to be upheld. International humanitarian law prohibits attacks on places of worship and cultural property. At the time the violence ended, 248 Palestinians had been killed, including 66 children and 39 women and 1,948 people were injured according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. 13 Israelis were killed, including 2 children.
Christian communities in the Holy Land, though rapidly diminishing in size, are deeply affected by the occupation. Discrimination and harassment are their lived experience too and Palestinian Christians frequently encounter obstacles to religious freedoms such as the denial of travel permits, preventing visits to holy sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.