Dr. Bernard Sabella

Jerusalem: A Christian Perspective

Jerusalem: Mater Omnium Ecclesiarum

In Christian tradition, Jerusalem is the Mater Omnium Ecclesiarum. This honour is bestowed upon “earthly Jerusalem” as the city which witnessed the dramatic events of Christ’s death and resurrection. It is also the city in which the first Christian community was born and consolidated in the years 30-32 AD when about three thousand people were baptised, influenced by the message and witness of St. Peter[4]. Jerusalem, then is witness to the new beginning ushered in by Christ and it is also the point of departure for Christianity.

Al-Quds: Holy and as other Cities

For indigenous Christians, Jerusalem is “ Al-Quds, the holy, and the presence of their community in the city is confirmation of the continuity of Christ’s new beginning. The long history and rich traditions of Jerusalem’s Christians provide a continuous link to the “earthly Jerusalem” of Christ and its first Christian community.

But Jerusalem, the holy, is not the sole determinant of the experiences of Palestinian Christians. As the city has spread from within the walls, specially since 1967 with the new Jewish suburban settlements, and as socio-economic and technological changes have affected style of life and orientations of individuals and communities, life in Jerusalem has become similar to life in any other city of over half-a-million inhabitants, with attendant pressures and stresses. These troubled relationships have affected the demographic and the socio-economic characteristics of Jerusalem’s Christians.

At present, there are 11.000 Christians who make up 7.1% of the 156,000 Arab Palestinian population which inhabits the city. The Christians belong to over ten different denominations and their relative numbers are as follows[5]

Jerusalem within the walls is home to 55% of the 11000 Palestinian Christians who inhabit the city. Christians are concentrated within the Christian and Armenian Quarters with some families living in the Muslim Quarter, The Christian population clusters around the Christian holy places, as the shops and trades which developed revolved around servicing pilgrims. Christian Jerusalemites become known for such crafts as wax-making, jewelry and souvenirs for pilgrims. Schools, hospitals, hostels and other service institutions, run by Christians, have contributed to the upkeep of the population and to its educational achievements. Jerusalem Christians have participated in running the city ever since the establishment of its first municipal council and they continue to fulfill an important professional role in the city. Outside the walls, most Christians live in the relatively new Arab neighbourhoods of Shu’fat and Beit Hanina, on the road north to Ramallah.

The Decline of Jerusalem’s Christians

Jerusalem’s Christians are blessed with probably the highest “church per capita” rate the world over as there is one church for every 177 Christians in the city. This, however, offers no solace as the decline in the number of Jerusalem Christians continues. Emigration is responsible for this decline as the political conditions, especially since 1967, have pushed many Palestinians out of their country. Christians are particularly susceptible to the worsening political and economic conditions because of their socio-economic and educational characteristic and the presence of migrant family members abroad. The extent of the Christian decline is best demonstrated by the fact that in 1944 there were 29.350 Christian living in the city. In other words, Jerusalem’s Christian population today is only 37.5% of what it was 50 years ago [6]

Concern of Experts and Church Officials

There is concern by some, both Church officials and experts, that if preventive and curative steps are not undertaken then the decline of Christian numbers will continue unabated causing the eventual disappearance of community life in some of Jerusalem’s Churches. But why are the Christians of Jerusalem and of the Holy Land leaving? On the one hand, the answer lies in the composition of the Christian community, which tends to be middle class in its educational background, employment profile and style of life. On the other, the political situation, with several decades of actual conflict, and with negative repercussions on the economic and employment prospects of the population, tends to push middle class families and individuals towards leaving the country in search of better economic and social prospects. This fits will the definition of a migrant community as proposed by migration experts: “ A community with a high educational achievement and a relatively good standard of living but with no real prospects for economic security or advancement will most probably become a migrant community” [7].

Excellent Christian- Muslim Relations

Reaffirmation of the traditionally excellent relations between Christians and their Muslim neighbours is found especially in the exchange which takes place, on a daily basis, between Christian and Muslim youngsters who attend Jerusalem’s mostly Christian private schools. Here, life-long friendships are made; children learn about each other’s religions while common bonds of culture and politics mold the outlook of youngsters as they get progressively involved in the affairs of their community and society. This tradition of good Christian–Muslim relation has evolved through centuries of coexistence and exchange. The contribution of the following factors to this tradition is worth mentioning[8].

1-    The Arab-Israeli conflict has affected the entire Palestinian population equally, with the experience of Dispersal and loss of homeland. From fifty to sixty thousand Christians, or 35% of all Palestinian Christians, became refugees following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Altogether, 726.000 Palestinians became refugees as a result of that war.

2-    The contribution which mostly western Christian institutions have made since the 19^th century to the education, health and other needs of  the population irrespective of religion.

3-    The presence of the Holy Places, and the Islamic recognition by of the centrality of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth to Christianity. This recognition is best demonstrated by Caliph “ Umar’s al- Uhda Al-Umariyya, the guarantee of safety for Christians and their holy places in 638 AD when Islam entered the country. [9] 

4-    The urban nature of the Christian population and its residence in mixed Christian –Muslim neigbourhoods, emphasizes openness and neighbourly relations. In those instances where Christians lived in villages and rural areas, relations were always characterised by friendly co-operation and communal sharing.

5-    Christians take equal pride in their national and religious roots. Being a good Christian has never detracted from being a good Palestinian nationalist, and vice versa.

6-    The Ottoman millet system which recognized the autonomy of the Christian communities to run their own internal affairs, especially those related to religious and civil matters. [10]

Rites, Rituals and Celebrations

The rites, rituals and traditions of Jerusalem Christians are factors which still pull the community together and reinforce is raison d’etre. In spite of the somber shadows which politics in the Holy Land sheds on Christmas, Jerusalem parents still endeavor to celebrate Christmas with a semblance of joy. Trees are decorated a couple of days before Christmas and they are kept standing, in most homes, until Greek orthodox Christmas on January 7^th and Armenian Christmas on January 19^th. Families, especially children, take great pride in the replication of the nativity scene under the Christmas tree and as elsewhere, await Santa’s visit with impatience.

Easter Week

The Easter season begins with the carnival weekend when those intent on fasting have the last chance, until Easter Sunday, to satisfy their culinary buds with rich dishes and sweets. Lent is kept by most families including children who abstain from eating meat on Wednesday and Fridays and undertake to perform small “sacrifices”, here and there.

With the arrival of the first Easter pilgrims, especially from Cyprus and in years past, from Egypt and other neighboring countries, the atmosphere of Easter starts to appear. Stands selling souvenir items are found on every street corner and in alleys leading to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Candles of all sizes and designs are offered for sale and local children employ their newly learned foreign words and phrases to entice pilgrims to buy pilgrims to buy souvenir items.

Easter week starts with Palm Sunday. Some families in the Christian Quarter specialize in preparing palm branches in tree-like designs with pockets to hold flowers. These are sought by local families, especially those blessed with small children, and they are decorated with flowers and colour ribbons in preparation for Palm Sunday service, which is truly a community event. At the end of the service, olive branches are distributed to parishioners as an omen of peace.

In the afternoon of Palm Sunday the community takes part in the traditional procession, led by the Latin Patriarch, from Bethany, a village on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives, to the Church of St. Anne just inside St. Stephen’s Gate in the Old City. Palm branches, symbolizing victory, are carried by all. At the end of the procession, the branches are shaken as the Patriarch enters the church. The sound produced is reminiscent of that of the leaves shaken by the crowd which gathered around Jesus as he entered Jerusalem. After the procession, another of those events which testify to good Muslim-Christian relations takes place. Christian and Muslim boy scout troops circle the walls of the Old City in their colourful uniforms and flags as they play popular and nationalistic tunes.

On Good Friday, Christians of Jerusalem as well as thousands of pilgrims from throughout the world show expressions of mourning and grief as they walk along the Via Dolorosa. The procession through the fourteen stations of the cross ends at Calvary and is accompanied throughout by the Franciscan community choir and the parish boy scout troop which keeps order.

Sabt An-Nour: Saturday of Holy Fire

Easter Saturday is the Saturday of Light, “Sabt An-Nour“, when the resurrection of Christ is commemorated in the ceremony of “Holy Fire” which takes place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Hundreds of pilgrims, mostly Cypriots, Greeks and Copts, sleep overnight by the Sepulchre to be among the first to receive the holy fire. Locals start joining them in the early morning as the church, its square and roofs become packed with crowds. All carry bundles of candles and glass lanterns.

At noon, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch proceeds with his entourage from his residence to the Holy Sepulchre through a staircase leading from the roof inside the church. Meanwhile, Christian youths gather in one of the squares of the Christian Quarter and proceed through the narrow alleys to the church. On their way, they alternately carry one of them on their shoulders as he leads them in shouting slogans. Among these, one can hear: “Oh Virgin (Mary) peace be unto you from Christians and Muslims alike”, and "We Christians and the candles in or hands- for St. Geries (St. George) Al-Khader, we pray.“ As the youths enter the church, they circle the Holy Sepulchre repeating: “This is the tomb of our Lord – our Lord is Jesus Christ – Christ has brought us- with his precious blood he has redeemed us, we are today happy.“ After circling the Sepulchre three times. They await for the official procession led by the Patriarch, with the participation of members of old Arab Orthodox families who carry embroidered banners and flags.

The procession finds its way from the Catholican Church, east of the Sepulchre, around the cupola of the Holy Sepulchre. At the end of the procession, the Patriarch is led into the chapel of the tomb and the crowd, which until now having shown excitement, falls silent in anticipation of the appearance of Holy Light. The Patriarch stays for an hour or so in prayer and meditation and then around 1:30 pm, the light appears and is quickly passed from one bundle of candles to another. Glass lanterns are lit as well and the more faithful go over the blaze of the candles with their hands and then cross themselves in benediction. The light spreads instantly to the environs of the church and the whole place, inside and out, is ablaze. Joyful ululations are heard, bells start ringing and holy fire is already on its way to more distant places, in the country and beyond.

The Greek Orthodox and other boy scout troops, including Muslims, who await the light on the roof of the church start playing their bands as they proceeds together through the narrow alleys of the Christian Quarter. They are met by the group of youngsters, now carrying lit candles and lanterns as they again shout slogans which intermingle with the band music. The atmosphere is one of public joy and celebration and local Christians start greeting one another with the traditional Easter greeting: “Christ has risen“ and the response: “He as really risen.”

Christians, Political Developments and the Future of Jerusalem

Where do Palestinian Christians, who number 50.000 in the West Bank and Gaza, stand with respect to the political developments taking place in the region? What do they expect specifically for the future of Jerusalem?

Palestinian Christians, including Jerusalem Christians, support the political developments now taking place in the region. These developments provide hope that an era of peace and prosperity is finally beginning to take shape in our troubled land and region. The peace process is particularly important for Christians since there are indications that with the coming of peace, fewer Christians will think of emigration. In a survey undertaken in 1993 to check on intention to emigrate, Palestinian Christians had a rate double that of their Muslim compatriots. When asked if they would still leave if real peace were to occur, 65 percent of Christian respondents said that they would not leave in such an eventuality. Clearly, the coming of peace will stop the hemorrhage of Christian emigration from Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

The Issue of Jerusalem: the Christian Community and its Leaders

If Palestinian Christians are generally in favour of a just and comprehensive peace, where do they stand on the issue of Jerusalem and its future? We can detect two overall responses from the Christian community and its leaders on this issue: on the one hand, the Christians of Jerusalem are concerned by the daily preoccupations and constraints which the present political environment places on them. On the other, the Church leadership, while sensitive to the preoccupations and constraints felt by its faithful, is conscious of the need to highlight the Christian presence in the Holy City irrespective of the restraints and pretensions of temporal governing arrangements. But such highlighting, as will be illustrated below, is carried out with due respect to other religions and their faithful who equally view Jerusalem as their Holy City.

Daily Preoccupations, Constraints and Concerns

Unemployment in the Jerusalem Christian community is a problem: high school and college graduates do not find employment readily. Estimates place the rate of unemployment among Christians at over 30%. This high rate is attributable to the ageing nature of the community, youth emigration and the community’s white collar occupational preferences[11].

Data on income indicates that a majority of Christian employees are dissatisfied with their income since it is not sufficient to cover the high cost of living. In Jerusalem itself, the average income of a Christian family is only 58.6% of that of a Jewish family [12]. Thus, even if two or three members of a family work, their combined income will just be sufficient to break even.

According to the Israeli census of 1983, only 18.7% of Jerusalem Christians owned their homes. This may have increased since then, but indicators show that the great majority of Christian families still do not own their homes.

With Israeli measures and restrictions placed on the construction of homes and dwelling units in the Eastern Arab part of Jerusalem, it is becoming extremely difficult for individuals and families to obtain the required licensing to build a home. These measures are undertaken in order to safeguard the 28:72 Arab-Jewish population ratio in greater Jerusalem. But even if the licenses are granted, the exorbitant cost makes constructing a private home beyond the means of most, if not all middle class families of East Jerusalem. This means that Christian families, irrespective of denomination, will not have the possibility of ever constructing or owning their home or apartment.

Housing Needs of Jerusalem Christians

As an illustration of the concrete effects of Israeli measures and restrictions, official Israeli statistics for Jerusalem in 1992 show that out of 3,155 dwelling units constructed that year in greater Jerusalem, only 240 units, or 7.6% of the total, were built by Arabs in their part of the city[13]. Using data for housing needs among the Arab population of Jerusalem and considering the proportion of Christians in the city, there is an immediate need to construct 481 dwelling units for Christians. Of these, 176 units should be constructed in the Old City and 305 units outside the walls. Since, however, it is practically impossible to construct inside the Old City, then all of these need to be constructed in the eastern and northern suburbs of the city. Those living inside the Old City will have to rehabilitate and maintain their housing in order to continue living there and to accommodate some of the natural increase, although relatively small, of the community.

With the housing situation as it is, there is fear among Arab Jerusalemites, including many Christians who hold an Israeli identity card, that moving outside the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem will eventually result in the loss of their identity card and consequently their right to permanent residence in Jerusalem. In such circumstances, bona fide Jerusalemites, who have been there with their families for countless generations or even centuries, will find themselves excluded from their own city. This in unsettling to the many Jerusalemites who, at present, are living outside the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. This situation is cause for concern, not simply for Palestinians and indigenous Christians, but also to all those who pray and labour for the peace of Jerusalem and the Holy land.

The Cordoning off of Jerusalem

Another concern which has caused immense emotional and practical damage to the Christians and other Palestinians is the cordoning off of Jerusalem from the West Bank and Gaza Strip by the Israelis for “ security reasons”. This has denied the Christian and Muslim faithful from having free access to their religious holy places in Jerusalem since March 1993. Permits are needed from the Israeli military authorities in the West Bank in order to enable those Palestinians wishing to visit Jerusalem to do so. There are instances of Palestinians from Bethlehem and Ramallah, two areas with relatively large concentrations of Christians, who have not visited Jerusalem since the imposition of the “security belt” This not only contradicts religious rights but also severely limits the exercise of other basic human rights such as education, health and the fulfillment of simple family obligations such as attendance at weddings, funerals and other occasions of family importance.

Arab Jerusalem: The Capital of the State of Palestine

Jerusalem’s Christians believe, as do other Palestinians, that East Jerusalem, the Arab part of the city, should be the capital of the state of Palestine. Most Christians do no envisage a real peace without finding a compromise solution on Jerusalem whereby the two national groups, Palestinians and Israelis, and the three religious groups, Jews, Muslims and Christians will all feel comfortable and at ease in the city. This comfort and ease cannot transpire without a solution that will satisfy both the national and religious aspirations of each and every community in the city. It is only then that the city will truly become a city of peace.

Memorandum of Heads of Christian Churches on Jerusalem [14]

On 14 November 1994 twelve heads of different churches and Christian communities in Jerusalem and the Holy Land published a memorandum on “The Significance of Jerusalem for Christians.” The memorandum presents the vision of Jerusalem as a holy city “for the people of the three monotheistic religions … with a special vocation… for reconciliation and harmony among people.“ The heads of churches pointed out that Jerusalem has again been side-stepped in the peace process because of the difficult question of the city’s status and sovereignty over it. Exclusivist claims presented by one side or another cannot, according to the memorandum, be but “very divergent, indeed conflicting.“ The memorandum goes on to stress that, “Jerusalem should be open to all, shared by all” and that it should be made into, “the capital of humankind”.

A Place of Roots

Christians, according to the memorandum, “believe the Jerusalem of the Prophets to be the foreseen place of the salvation, in and through Jesus Christ.” As to the continuing presence of a Christian community, the heads of churches emphasize that “Jerusalem is the place of roots, ever living and nourishing,” and that “the local church with its faithful has always been actively present in Jerusalem and witness to the life and preaching, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ upon the same Holy Places and its faithful have been receiving other brothers and sisters in the faith, as pilgrims, resident or in transit, inviting them to be reimmersed into the refreshing, ever living ecclesiastical sources."

Full Freedom of Access

The Christian leaders of the Holy Land churches are aware that Jerusalem is a holy city for Christians, Muslims and Jews who each have a right “to continue to live there freely, with all the rights, which obtain from that.“ The leaders then specify the “legitimate demands of Christians for Jerusalem,“ which include that as “quintessential Holy City, it above all ought to enjoy full freedom of access to its holy places, and freedom of worship.“ The right to come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem should be guaranteed in the spirit of the authentic tradition of pilgrims.

Rights of Christians and Citizens

As for the local Christian communities, they “ should enjoy all those rights to enable them to continue their active presence in freedom and to fulfil their responsibilities towards both their own local members and towards the Christian pilgrims throughout the world”. The memorandum continues to insist that local Christians should “ not only in their capacity as Christians per se, but like all other citzens, religious or not, enjoy the same fundamental rights for all: social, cultural political and national. Specific rights are mentioned such as freedom of worship, conscience and civil and historical rights as well as “the right to have their own institutions“ to undertake various religious, educational, pilgrimage and other functions. What the Christian heads of churches claim for their communities, they recognize and respect for Jewish and Muslim communities in the city: “Christians declare themselves disposed to search, with Jews and Muslims, for a mutually respectful application of these rights and for a harmonious coexistence in the perspective of the universal spiritual vocation of Jerusalem".

Special Statute for Jerusalem

The memorandum then goes on to argue for a special statute for Jerusalem in which representatives from the three monotheistic religions together with local political powers should elaborate and apply and that the international community should be engaged in the stability and permanence of the statute. The memorandum ends with the following call: “We invite each party to go beyond all exclusivist visions or actions, and without discrimination, to consider the religious and national aspirations of others, in order to give back to Jerusalem its true universal character and to make of the city a holy place of reconciliation for humankind.”

The Future of Jerusalem: A Key to Peace

Jerusalem’s Christians are an integral part of the city: its wounds, woes and promises. As others who live in the city, they have a dream that one day the city will become a true symbol of peace and that their children with Muslim and Jewish children will be able to plan for the city together. The traditionally excellent relations between Christians and Muslims could be extended to include adherents of all three monotheistic religions, on a basis of equal and mutual trust and respect. This in not too much to ask from a city which symbolizes so much to so many. If the three monotheistic religions fail in sharing the city and if the two national groups Palestinians and Israelis, cannot work out their differences, then indeed the whole peace process would be put in doubt. Success in Jerusalem is the key not simply to the peace process but also to the future of Israel and Palestine and to the whole Middle East