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Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Gaza is a Palestinian territory where the majority of the population is Muslim. However, there are also Christians living in the enclave.

In the report Al JazeeraThere are currently 1,000 Christians in Gaza, down sharply from the 3,000 recorded in 2007, when Hamas took full control of the enclave.

According to Kamel Ayyad, spokesperson for the Saint-Porphyry Church, the majority of Christians come from Gaza itself. The rest are refugees who fled to the region after the establishment of the state of Israel, which displaced some 700,000 Palestinians in an event known as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.”

“The Hamas government implemented an Israeli-led land, air and sea blockade, accelerating the flight of Christians from the poverty-stricken enclave,” Ayyad said. Al Jazeeraquoted Monday (06/11/2023).

“It is very difficult for people to live here. Many Christians go to the West Bank, America, Canada or the Arab world, in search of better education and better health.”

Gaza’s Christian residents themselves have a unique style as they often follow several Christian streams simultaneously. One of them is Fadi Salfiti, who attends all the churches.

“On Sunday morning we go to the Orthodox church, in the afternoon to the Catholic church and in the evening to the Protestant church,” he said.

History of Christianity in Gaza

The legacy of Christianity in Gaza dates back to a time when the religion was a persecuted sect that promised salvation to the oppressed.

In the Bible, after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the apostle Philip traveled the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza to preach the Gospel. According to the Bible, Philip was present at the wedding at Cana in Galilee, when Jesus transformed the water into wine.

Saint Porphyry Church is the oldest in the Gaza region. It was founded in the 5th century after the death of the eponymous bishop who converted the region’s inhabitants to Christianity. After the Persian conquest in the 7th century, the church was transformed into a mosque and then rebuilt by the crusaders in the 12th century.

Palestinian Christians, numbering 50,000 in the occupied territories, are sometimes referred to as “living stones”, a metaphor first used by Peter, the disciple of Jesus, to describe the role of believers in building a “spiritual house” or a church. Today, the term refers to their special status as guardians of the religion born on their territory.

Relations with Muslims

Living under Israeli siege, Christians in Gaza demonstrate a spirit of solidarity with Muslims in their struggle for survival and their dreams of freedom.

“We are all Palestinians. We live in the same city, with the same suffering. We are all under siege and everything is the same,” Ayyad said.

In general, the Christian community has always played an important role in Palestinian life, producing figures such as Issa El-Issa, founder of the influential Jaffa-based newspaper Falastin, and Edward Said, who expressed the complacency of the West towards the East in his book, Orientalism.

Salfiti also expressed the same thing. The YMCA, for example, provides sports, artistic, educational and social activities to Palestinians in Gaza of all faiths. This program is also run by Christians.

The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, which was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike last month, killing hundreds, was owned and run by Anglicans.

“They tend to be highly educated and have a strong presence in the business world and the nonprofit sector,” Salfiti said.

Christian life in Gaza

Under recent Israeli bombings, hundreds of Christians and Muslims sought refuge in Saint-Porphyry Church. After another bombing, they all went to the Church of the Holy Family, located 400 meters away.

Priest Gabriel Romanelli has been stuck in Bethlehem since the start of the war and remains in contact with his congregation. In his message recorded on October 24, he called for an end to the bombings and the opening of a humanitarian corridor.

“Please tell them that the parish is full of ordinary people and Muslim neighbors. They are civilians who pose no danger to anyone,” he said.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]