It is one of the quieter accomplishments of Western discourse on Palestine that Palestinian Christians are still treated as an anomaly—something to be discovered, explained away, and then politely ignored.
Palestinian Christians are an inseparable part of Palestine’s history and identity, not a passive minority to be overlooked. We preserve a heritage that predates European Christianity and, alongside Palestinian Muslims, form one people. Telling the truth and resisting distorted narratives is our right, showing that Palestinian identity goes beyond religion—it belongs to justice, continuity, and collective memory.
This is my first reading of your work. After reading this essay of blistering brilliant art, I was convinced that I must have been living under rock somewhere to have missed such eloquent prose. If so, the rock would be identified as Roman Catholic Christianity (RCC), the religion of my upbringing. Your narrative bridged gaps in my understanding of the RCC's history that I never knew existed. And I thank you whole heartedly for that.
As I was reading I thought, perhaps Mr. Alya would enjoy reading the first half of my recent stack article, -Jesus Under The Rubble of Imperialism- which recounts Constantine's marriage of Christianity with the Roman empire? After completing my review of your work, I determined that it was highly unlikely that you would gain anything from a retelling of the events that lead to Christianity became European.
As you, I am in the habit reminding evangelical Catholics, Protestants, and Zionist Jews of some uncomfortable history. To point out a few items that really sets them off:
Judaism was never the religion of an empire, like Christianity and Islam. The jewish state(s) simply didn't have, nor do they today have, the population base to support a massive conquest of "far reaching" lands.
The final result of a Zionist Jewish and Zionist (Fundamental) Christian alliance is a religious war of devastating proportions. Since the Global population of Christians out numbers the Jews 164 to 1, the Jews would be, for the most part annihilated. Anybody who thinks that the Zionist Fundamental Christians are going to forget about the part were the Jews must convert to Christianity or be killed, and banished to hell, are sadly mistaken about how truly deranged the Apocalyptic Fundamental Christian ideology is.
God never promised Abraham the land from the Euphrates to the Nile rivers (so called Greater Israel). The word "Wadi" in Gen:15:18 of the Biblical text translates as a dried out ditch that only flows during the rainy season. It did not refer to the Nile as many fundamental religious practitioners like to claim.
Jesus was a Jewish reformer who died as Jew and had no conception of a "Christian" religion.
This writing is so packed with pertinent statements that the words speak for themselves. Here are a couple of many that I thought really spoke to the current reality of the Palestinian Christians.
"The word minority does not describe [Palestinian Christians]; it assigns us to a role in someone else’s story: the “good” native who proves the occupier’s tolerance, the endangered sect who requires a patron, the exception meant to excuse the rest. It names Palestinian Christians not as we are, in our history and in our ordinary life, but as we are meant to appear—detached from Palestine as a political reality, and reattached to Palestine as a religious spectacle."
"That this [Cyrus Scofield's biblical] interpretation had no basis in two thousand years of Christian theology, that it trained readers to read the Old Testament as if the New had not been written—none of this prevented its success. An interpretation drawn entirely from the Old Testament, owing nothing to the teachings of Christ, became, for millions of American evangelicals, simply what the bible says."
Thank you so much for posting this excellent work, Mr. Alya! I wish you and yours safety, healing, and peace during this time of absolute turmoil.
This really says what so many people refuse to see. Palestinian Christians aren’t some rare exception or a “protected minority” — we’re part of the Palestinian people, full stop. You make it clear how the language of religion and protection gets used to hide dispossession and make injustice sound moral. The reminder that Christianity was born in Palestine, not imported from the West, matters a lot — especially when faith is being used to justify pushing its own people out. This is an honest, necessary piece, and it deserves to be heard.
This is a powerful and necessary truth. Thank you for naming what is erased and refusing the roles imposed on Palestinian Christians with clarity, dignity, and courage.
The occupying invaders now follow a textbook model toward systemic failure and collapse.
Collapse theory and frameworks such as settler-colonialism or national liberation represent fundamentally different epistemological starting points for examining the trajectory of human societies.
While collapse theory primarily utilizes the scientific method to identify impersonal social forces and macro-historical regularities that push societies toward systemic failure, frameworks like settler-colonialism and national liberation prioritize historical justice, human rights, and moral culpability.
It's good to always remember what the righteous goals are. Thank you for that.
Palestinian Christians are not a footnote in history; they are integral to the story of Palestine. Their struggles, faith, and resilience deserve the same recognition and respect as any other part of the Palestinian experience. It’s time their story is told, not ignored...
This text is deeply moving and painful, not only for what it narrates, but also for the precision with which it exposes a deliberate omission. Reading it makes one pause and ask how many of the common “obviousnesses” are actually constructed by power. My sympathy for Palestinian Christians is not just one of sadness, but also of conscious anger; anger that a living history, a collective spirit, and an indigenous belonging are thus reduced to the label of “minority” in order to make the occupation seem moral and defensible. What shines most in this writing is the reminder that Palestinian suffering is not fragmented; Christian and Muslim are formed in a common dispossession, in a common memory, and in a common morality. The attempt to separate Christianity from Palestine is not a defense of faith, but a continuation of the same colonial project: cutting people off from the land, from history, and from the right to their own narrative. This writing is a courageous testimony against this distortion, and a voice that must be heard, not out of curiosity, but out of moral responsibility.
"My sympathy for Palestinian Christians is not just one of sadness, but also of conscious anger; anger that a living history, a collective spirit, and an indigenous belonging are thus reduced to the label of “minority” in order to make the occupation seem moral and defensible." Yes, a seething moral outrage! This is not a "hollow voice of protest" but a moral injury that demands some form of action, no matter how great or small. We must do something!
The invisibility of Palestinian Christians is not just an oversight; it’s a deliberate erasure of their identity and history. Their voices have always been integral to the Palestinian struggle, yet they remain sidelined in a narrative that claims to represent all. It’s time to listen, acknowledge, and honor their story
This text confronts, with clarity and courage, one of the most fundamental distortions in the dominant discourse on Palestine: the separation of Palestinian Christians from the Palestinian people as a whole. The reminder that Christianity was born in this land and is not an imported faith from the West is especially vital at a time when faith is being weaponized to justify colonialism and dispossession. Your insistence that Palestinian Christians and Muslims are one people, sharing one history and one fate, directly challenges divisive narratives that serve only power. This piece is not only a defense of Palestinian Christians, but a defense of truth, continuity, and justice. Thank you for reclaiming this voice and for refusing the role designed to silence it.✌️🇵🇸🕊
This is powerful and necessary. Speaking truth, even when inconvenient, is essential especially when it challenges injustice and calls for a Christianity rooted in justice, not comfort. We must keep voicing what needs to be heard.”
This analysis is very accurate and insightful. I completely agree with the view that labeling Palestinian Christians as a “minority” is not only incorrect but also diminishes their shared identity and deep connection with other Palestinians. The reality that Palestinian Christians and Muslims are linked through history, culture, and daily life; a shared “soul” , is often overlooked in official narratives and media.
Moreover, the political use of this label and the effort to separate Christianity from Palestine is not just a form of cultural and historical erasure; it is also a tool to legitimize occupation policies and violate Palestinian rights. This distortion silences the voices of Palestinian Christians and, in effect, perpetuates injustice.
Therefore, emphasizing the solidarity and unity of Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, and challenging reductionist and colonial narratives is essential to preserving the identity and rights of these people. This perspective is not only just but also a crucial step toward a better understanding of Palestine’s complex reality and combating historical and political injustices🤍🕊
Palestinian Christians are an inseparable part of Palestine’s history and identity, not a passive minority to be overlooked. We preserve a heritage that predates European Christianity and, alongside Palestinian Muslims, form one people. Telling the truth and resisting distorted narratives is our right, showing that Palestinian identity goes beyond religion—it belongs to justice, continuity, and collective memory.
Wonderful article! Thank you my friend for your insights
This is my first reading of your work. After reading this essay of blistering brilliant art, I was convinced that I must have been living under rock somewhere to have missed such eloquent prose. If so, the rock would be identified as Roman Catholic Christianity (RCC), the religion of my upbringing. Your narrative bridged gaps in my understanding of the RCC's history that I never knew existed. And I thank you whole heartedly for that.
As I was reading I thought, perhaps Mr. Alya would enjoy reading the first half of my recent stack article, -Jesus Under The Rubble of Imperialism- which recounts Constantine's marriage of Christianity with the Roman empire? After completing my review of your work, I determined that it was highly unlikely that you would gain anything from a retelling of the events that lead to Christianity became European.
As you, I am in the habit reminding evangelical Catholics, Protestants, and Zionist Jews of some uncomfortable history. To point out a few items that really sets them off:
Judaism was never the religion of an empire, like Christianity and Islam. The jewish state(s) simply didn't have, nor do they today have, the population base to support a massive conquest of "far reaching" lands.
The final result of a Zionist Jewish and Zionist (Fundamental) Christian alliance is a religious war of devastating proportions. Since the Global population of Christians out numbers the Jews 164 to 1, the Jews would be, for the most part annihilated. Anybody who thinks that the Zionist Fundamental Christians are going to forget about the part were the Jews must convert to Christianity or be killed, and banished to hell, are sadly mistaken about how truly deranged the Apocalyptic Fundamental Christian ideology is.
God never promised Abraham the land from the Euphrates to the Nile rivers (so called Greater Israel). The word "Wadi" in Gen:15:18 of the Biblical text translates as a dried out ditch that only flows during the rainy season. It did not refer to the Nile as many fundamental religious practitioners like to claim.
Jesus was a Jewish reformer who died as Jew and had no conception of a "Christian" religion.
This writing is so packed with pertinent statements that the words speak for themselves. Here are a couple of many that I thought really spoke to the current reality of the Palestinian Christians.
"The word minority does not describe [Palestinian Christians]; it assigns us to a role in someone else’s story: the “good” native who proves the occupier’s tolerance, the endangered sect who requires a patron, the exception meant to excuse the rest. It names Palestinian Christians not as we are, in our history and in our ordinary life, but as we are meant to appear—detached from Palestine as a political reality, and reattached to Palestine as a religious spectacle."
"That this [Cyrus Scofield's biblical] interpretation had no basis in two thousand years of Christian theology, that it trained readers to read the Old Testament as if the New had not been written—none of this prevented its success. An interpretation drawn entirely from the Old Testament, owing nothing to the teachings of Christ, became, for millions of American evangelicals, simply what the bible says."
Thank you so much for posting this excellent work, Mr. Alya! I wish you and yours safety, healing, and peace during this time of absolute turmoil.
This really says what so many people refuse to see. Palestinian Christians aren’t some rare exception or a “protected minority” — we’re part of the Palestinian people, full stop. You make it clear how the language of religion and protection gets used to hide dispossession and make injustice sound moral. The reminder that Christianity was born in Palestine, not imported from the West, matters a lot — especially when faith is being used to justify pushing its own people out. This is an honest, necessary piece, and it deserves to be heard.
Exactly. Born in Palestine, not imported. "
when a history is rendered invisible, it is not out of forgetfulness, but so that erasure appears justified.
Denying roots is the simplest way to seize both land and meaning.
This is a powerful and necessary truth. Thank you for naming what is erased and refusing the roles imposed on Palestinian Christians with clarity, dignity, and courage.
Thank you for your timely reminder, Abu Alya.
The occupying invaders now follow a textbook model toward systemic failure and collapse.
Collapse theory and frameworks such as settler-colonialism or national liberation represent fundamentally different epistemological starting points for examining the trajectory of human societies.
While collapse theory primarily utilizes the scientific method to identify impersonal social forces and macro-historical regularities that push societies toward systemic failure, frameworks like settler-colonialism and national liberation prioritize historical justice, human rights, and moral culpability.
It's good to always remember what the righteous goals are. Thank you for that.
Palestinian Christians are not a footnote in history; they are integral to the story of Palestine. Their struggles, faith, and resilience deserve the same recognition and respect as any other part of the Palestinian experience. It’s time their story is told, not ignored...
This text is deeply moving and painful, not only for what it narrates, but also for the precision with which it exposes a deliberate omission. Reading it makes one pause and ask how many of the common “obviousnesses” are actually constructed by power. My sympathy for Palestinian Christians is not just one of sadness, but also of conscious anger; anger that a living history, a collective spirit, and an indigenous belonging are thus reduced to the label of “minority” in order to make the occupation seem moral and defensible. What shines most in this writing is the reminder that Palestinian suffering is not fragmented; Christian and Muslim are formed in a common dispossession, in a common memory, and in a common morality. The attempt to separate Christianity from Palestine is not a defense of faith, but a continuation of the same colonial project: cutting people off from the land, from history, and from the right to their own narrative. This writing is a courageous testimony against this distortion, and a voice that must be heard, not out of curiosity, but out of moral responsibility.
"My sympathy for Palestinian Christians is not just one of sadness, but also of conscious anger; anger that a living history, a collective spirit, and an indigenous belonging are thus reduced to the label of “minority” in order to make the occupation seem moral and defensible." Yes, a seething moral outrage! This is not a "hollow voice of protest" but a moral injury that demands some form of action, no matter how great or small. We must do something!
The invisibility of Palestinian Christians is not just an oversight; it’s a deliberate erasure of their identity and history. Their voices have always been integral to the Palestinian struggle, yet they remain sidelined in a narrative that claims to represent all. It’s time to listen, acknowledge, and honor their story
This text confronts, with clarity and courage, one of the most fundamental distortions in the dominant discourse on Palestine: the separation of Palestinian Christians from the Palestinian people as a whole. The reminder that Christianity was born in this land and is not an imported faith from the West is especially vital at a time when faith is being weaponized to justify colonialism and dispossession. Your insistence that Palestinian Christians and Muslims are one people, sharing one history and one fate, directly challenges divisive narratives that serve only power. This piece is not only a defense of Palestinian Christians, but a defense of truth, continuity, and justice. Thank you for reclaiming this voice and for refusing the role designed to silence it.✌️🇵🇸🕊
This is powerful and necessary. Speaking truth, even when inconvenient, is essential especially when it challenges injustice and calls for a Christianity rooted in justice, not comfort. We must keep voicing what needs to be heard.”
This analysis is very accurate and insightful. I completely agree with the view that labeling Palestinian Christians as a “minority” is not only incorrect but also diminishes their shared identity and deep connection with other Palestinians. The reality that Palestinian Christians and Muslims are linked through history, culture, and daily life; a shared “soul” , is often overlooked in official narratives and media.
Moreover, the political use of this label and the effort to separate Christianity from Palestine is not just a form of cultural and historical erasure; it is also a tool to legitimize occupation policies and violate Palestinian rights. This distortion silences the voices of Palestinian Christians and, in effect, perpetuates injustice.
Therefore, emphasizing the solidarity and unity of Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, and challenging reductionist and colonial narratives is essential to preserving the identity and rights of these people. This perspective is not only just but also a crucial step toward a better understanding of Palestine’s complex reality and combating historical and political injustices🤍🕊
🕊🕊🕊🕊
Excellent and lucid, thank you so much