Bethlehem’s Christians Await Arafat’s Arrival

The Israeli army lookout post that towered for so many years over Nicola Andonia’s Christmas Tree restaurant on Manger Square is gone--every last piece of it, the Palestinian entrepreneur notes with satisfaction.

Gone too are the Israeli sharpshooters who stood on roofs across the plaza. Now posters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat hang next to Christmas decorations in the city regarded as the birthplace of Jesus.

Like all residents, Andonia eagerly awaits the end this week of Israel’s 28-year occupation of Bethlehem, paving the way for the city’s first Christmas under Palestinian rule. As a nationalist, Andonia is pleased that the semi-bearded man coming to town this Christmas Eve is none other than Arafat.

But as a member of Bethlehem’s shrinking Christian community, Andonia, 26, sees a particular significance in the Christmas visit by Arafat, a Muslim who is a religious moderate, saying: “It is a beautiful feeling that our president is coming to Bethlehem and wants to celebrate Christmas with the people. Arafat is always saying there is no difference between Muslim and Christian, and the biggest proof is that he married a Christian woman.”

While rejoicing over the end of Israeli rule, many Palestinian Christians also quietly are expressing uncertainty about the future of their religious life and their rights as a minority in an incipient Palestinian state that is predominantly Muslim. They are happy to see the Israelis go but often view their departure as a change from Jewish to Muslim control of the city.

Many of Bethlehem’s Christians share Andonia’s view that Arafat’s planned Christmas Eve visit is a good sign for Palestinian Christians, who make up only 3% of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They view Arafat as someone willing to stand up to fundamentalists who they fear might one day try to quash religious freedom and impose Islamic beliefs on all Palestinians.

Most Christians are equally pleased that Arafat’s Palestinian Authority has earmarked at least five seats for Christians on the 82-member governing council that is to be elected Jan. 20, guaranteeing them a voice in the new order.

But at the same time, history warns them that minorities have rarely fared well in the Middle East. Although Palestinian Christians and Muslims largely have coexisted in peace, Christians note that other Arab countries have treated Christians more like guests than full citizens.

“Christians realize they are a minority, but what does that mean?” asked Salim Munayer, dean of the Bethlehem Bible College. “There is deep concern about which flavor, which style of authority there will be.

“In every situation with a majority and a minority, there is always some tension. Over all, relations are good. There is no burning of churches here. No shooting at churches. But Christians are asking how much Islamic law will be introduced.”

Their concern stems in large part from the intifada, the seven-year Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule that began in 1987, when Islamic extremists dominated the streets of the West Bank and imposed a strict code of behavior that drove a wedge between Christians and Muslims.

Before the intifada, Bethlehem businessman George Abuaita recalled, “you couldn’t differentiate between Muslims and Christians. They would celebrate Christmas with us with a small glass of brandy and a special date cake that we serve on Christmas Day. . . . On the Muslim feasts, we would go to their houses.”

But suddenly, Abuaita said, fundamentalists “made the Muslims isolate themselves from us.” Muslim women he had known for years covered themselves, and Christian women were harassed for their Western dress. Restaurants that sold alcohol received threats, and a few were burned. Longtime Muslim and Christian friends abruptly ceased associating.

The fanaticism, combined with the Israeli crackdown, made it uncomfortable, if not impossible, for many Christians to openly celebrate Christmas. The tensions accelerated Christian emigration from the onetime Christian city, increasing its Muslim majority.

Exactly when Bethlehem made the switch from a Christian majority to a Muslim majority city is uncertain. By most accounts, the Christian exodus began in 1948 during Israel’s War of Independence and stepped up in 1967, when the Jewish state captured the West Bank in the Arab-Israeli War. Christian emigration continued as the economy choked under the occupation and intifada.

As landowners and entrepreneurs, often with a foreign education and ties abroad, Christians found it easier than Muslim Palestinians to secure residency in other countries. So while Muslims moved to Bethlehem from Jerusalem and West Bank villages, Christians left for the United States and South America.

Tens of thousands of Bethlehem Christians live in Santiago, Chile, while the Christian population of Bethlehem has dwindled to 15,000 of the city’s 50,000 residents. Neighboring Beit Sahur and Beit Jala--considered part of the Bethlehem area--retain Christian majorities, although there has been much migration from those towns too.

Having lost their position of dominance, Bethlehem Christians often accuse friends and family members of having “abandoned” the city in its hard times. In confidence, they criticize them for having sold family land--Christian land--to Muslims.

“Maybe they thought they would go for 10 or 15 years and come back,” said one Bethlehem businessman who saw many relatives leave. “But what they did is they sold their land to Muslims, and when they come back, the Muslims don’t sell.”

More than on their families, Christians pin blame for their diminished numbers on the international Christian churches and communities. They say they failed to provide resources that would have allowed more Bethlehem Christians to stay put.

“They did not help us to stay here,” said Abuaita, owner of a garden center in Bethlehem. “Muslims get money from all over the world. Look what [the extremist Muslim group] Hamas is doing for its people--giving food to families.” The Christian community, meanwhile, “built churches and sent some of our young men abroad to study. That is not enough.”

Churches have provided health care and schools in Bethlehem, but the community also needs jobs and housing, residents said.

Christian leaders respond that the issue is not whether Christians are a majority in Bethlehem but whether they are free to practice their faith.

“Christians ceased being a majority in the Holy Land centuries ago,” said Timothy Margaritas, metropolitan of Lydda and general secretary of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. “What difference does it make if Bethlehem Christians are a majority or a minority, as long as they are free to celebrate their festivities and traditions and have access to their holy places?”

In that light, he too welcomed Arafat’s decision to visit Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. “We welcome all steps toward peaceful cohabitation,” he said.

In this town now, the sounds of Arabic Christmas carols mix with the Muslim call to prayer. Muslims and Christians seem to mingle naturally in the city where extremist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad are weak.

But Christians cannot help looking over their shoulders at neighboring Hebron, where the radical groups are strong. To keep the radicals at bay, they believe, Bethlehem needs heavy investment and many new jobs. And that makes some Christians look at the long run with concern.

“Arafat is with Christians and Muslims,” said businessman Abuaita. “But what happens if someday we have a parliament with a majority of Muslims who are fanatics? What if America is not so strong then, but Iran is?”