ARE CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED IN ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES? A TRUTHFUL AND BALANCED ANALYSIS By Josimar Salum

 

               *A portrait by AI: Town of Taybeh (Ephraim)

ARE CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED IN ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES? A TRUTHFUL AND BALANCED ANALYSIS

By Josimar Salum 

July 15, 2025

The condition of Christians in the Holy Land—specifically in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza—is a complex and often misunderstood subject. Accusations of persecution, discrimination, or neglect are frequently made from various ideological standpoints. But what do the facts say? Are Christians persecuted in Israel? What about in the Palestinian Territories? And how do these conditions compare?

This article aims to offer an honest, well-documented, and biblically-informed overview of the status of Christians living in the land that bears the spiritual heritage of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike.

Biblical and Historical Context

From a biblical perspective, the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people by divine covenant:

“I will give to you and your descendants after you the land… as an everlasting possession.” — Genesis 17:8

For believers who accept the authority of Scripture, Israel is not an occupying power—it is the rightful heir to the land promised by God. This fundamental truth is not always acknowledged in international law or politics, which use the term “occupation” for post-1967 territories. But for many Christians, that term is a misrepresentation of God’s covenantal promises.

Christians in Israel: Legal Rights and Religious Freedom

Christians living within the recognized borders of the State of Israel—in cities like Nazareth, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Jaffa—enjoy full legal rights and freedom of religion. The law guarantees their right to worship, gather, evangelize (with some limitations in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods), and operate schools and churches without restriction.

Many Christians in Israel are citizens with equal civil rights, and some serve in public roles as judges, parliamentarians, lawyers, professors, and even IDF officers. Public celebrations of Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter are common in cities with large Christian populations, and Israel protects access to major holy sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Mount of Beatitudes, and others.

While state-sponsored persecution does not exist, Christians sometimes experience social discrimination, especially from radical fringe groups. Isolated acts of vandalism, verbal abuse, and disrespect toward clergy or Christian symbols have been reported—particularly in Jerusalem—by extremist elements in the ultra-Orthodox community. These acts, though serious, are consistently condemned by Israeli officials, and while enforcement can sometimes be inconsistent, the State of Israel defends the legal rights of its Christian citizens.

Christians in the Palestinian Territories: West Bank and Gaza

The situation for Christians in the Palestinian-administered territories—particularly under Hamas in Gaza—is markedly different.

In Gaza: Clear and Documented Persecution

Gaza, ruled by Hamas since 2007, has become increasingly hostile to the small Christian community that once lived there. The Christian population has plummeted from around 3,000 to fewer than 1,000, primarily due to persecution and fear. Christians have been subjected to harassment, threats, forced conversions, property destruction, and even murder. One widely reported case was the 2007 assassination of Rami Ayyad, a Christian bookstore manager, by Islamic extremists.

Under Hamas, religious freedom for Christians is practically nonexistent. Evangelism is dangerous, Christian education is heavily restricted, and public Christian celebrations like Christmas are discouraged or suppressed. Christians who remain in Gaza live under constant pressure and often in silence.

In the West Bank: Social Pressure, External Threats, and Legal Vulnerability

In contrast to Gaza, the West Bank (administered by the Palestinian Authority) presents a more nuanced and layered reality. There is no formal law outlawing Christianity, but Christians still face social and institutional pressures in majority-Muslim communities. While there are towns like Taybeh—also known biblically as Ephraim—where Christians form the majority and maintain strong traditions, Christian minorities in other areas often report land theft, discrimination, and harassment.

A particularly violent incident occurred in 2005, when a Muslim mob attacked and burned Christian homes in Taybeh following a rumor of an interfaith relationship. Though the PA condemned the violence, justice was slow, and Christian leaders have repeatedly called for stronger protections.

More recently, on July 7, 2025, the Christian town of Taybeh was again the target of violence—this time by radical Jewish settlers, who set fire near the ancient Church of St. George and its adjacent cemetery, causing widespread alarm in the community. The Israeli government condemned the attack publicly. However, critics pointed out that no concrete protective measures were taken, and no arrests were made. While Taybeh lies in Area B, under Palestinian civil administration, Christian leaders emphasized that Israel controls the surrounding security environment and urged Israeli authorities to prevent such acts of aggression in the future.

In addition to these social and security threats, Christians in the West Bank are affected by Israeli-imposed security restrictions, including checkpoints, border controls, and a complex permit system. These are tied to legitimate national security concerns but nonetheless hinder Christian mobility, economic stability, and access to Jerusalem’s holy sites.

Furthermore, economic hardship and political instability have fueled a steady emigration trend. Many West Bank Christians—often educated and internationally connected—have emigrated to the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Europe in search of safety, opportunity, and religious freedom.

How Do These Realities Compare?

To summarize:

• In Israel, Christians enjoy religious freedom, civil rights, and state protection. While incidents of harassment exist, especially from radical individuals, there is no government policy of persecution, and Christians thrive in many aspects of public and spiritual life.

• In the West Bank, Christians live under a difficult balance: they are not officially persecuted by the Palestinian Authority but face social hostility in some Muslim-majority areas, lack strong legal protection, and are sometimes victims of external settler violence. Israeli security controls, while meant for national protection, further complicate access to worship sites and economic activity.

• In Gaza, Christians are openly persecuted under Hamas rule. Their religious rights are denied, their safety is threatened, and their community is rapidly disappearing. This is a clear and ongoing case of religious oppression under a radical Islamist regime.

A Word to Believers

As followers of Christ, we must approach this issue with both truth and compassion. Christians in Israel are, by and large, safe and free. In the Palestinian territories—especially Gaza—the situation is far more precarious and dangerous. The sharp decline of Christians in the very land of its birth is deeply troubling and demands our attention, our intercession, and our voice.

We must support Israel’s right to exist and flourish, acknowledging its vital role in protecting religious minorities, including Christians, in a hostile region. At the same time, we must defend our persecuted brothers and sisters under Palestinian and Islamist regimes and resist attempts to politicize or downplay their suffering. Our concern must be rooted not in ideology, but in the unshakable truth of God’s Word and love for His people.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

‘May those who love you be secure.’”

— Psalm 122:6

#ASONE

WHICH ISRAEL DO WE BLESS AND SUPPORT WITHOUT BLINDNESS? Josimar Salum

 WHICH ISRAEL DO WE BLESS AND SUPPORT WITHOUT BLINDNESS?

Josimar Salum 

28/6/2025

When you trace the story of Israel throughout the Bible, you begin in Genesis 11, where God calls Abram to leave his father’s household in Ur of the Chaldeans.

In Genesis 12:1–3, God declares a foundational promise:

“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

From there, you see God forming a covenant with Abraham, promising to make of him a great nation, to bless him, and to give his descendants the land of Canaan (Genesis 17:7–8).

This covenant included three crucial dimensions:

1. A Great Nation — God promised to form from Abraham’s offspring a people with a distinct identity, purpose, and destiny.

2. A Land — God guaranteed Abraham’s descendants the possession of the land of Canaan, describing its specific borders in Genesis 15:18–21:

“To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.”

These boundaries encompass far more than the territory of the current modern state of Israel, extending from the Nile region to the Euphrates, covering parts of present-day Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. This is often referred to as the “Greater Israel” promise.

3. A Blessing to All Nations - God’s plan was never confined to natural Israel alone but had a redemptive, worldwide scope. Through Abraham’s seed, all the families of the earth would be blessed.

It is essential to understand that when God referred to the “seed” of Abraham, He was not speaking of many descendants in general, but ultimately pointing to a specific descendant — the Messiah — who, although a natural descendant of Abraham according to the flesh, is also the unique heir of God’s promises. Paul explains this powerfully in his letter to the Galatians, saying:

“Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘and to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘and to your seed,’ that is, Christ.”

(Galatians 3:16, NASB)

This promise is connected to the word God gave to the woman in Genesis 3 about the Seed who would crush the head of the serpent, as it is written:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

(Genesis 3:15, NKJV)

Therefore, the blessing of Abraham extends beyond the nation of Israel to include all who are in Messiah, forming one people as one with Him. Galatians 3:29 affirms:

“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

This profound truth reveals that Abraham’s descendants are far greater than a single ethnic lineage: they include a global family — the redeemed from every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 5:9–10).

However, the one body of believers in Christ does not replace the nation of Israel, nor does it annul God’s word and promises for natural Israel, including those who are part of the modern state and government of Israel. God’s faithfulness remains sure for His covenant people, and their prophetic destiny continues to unfold in accordance with His sovereign plan.

The promise continued through Isaac and then Jacob, whose encounter with God at Peniel transformed his name to Israel (Genesis 32:28), establishing a new identity for his descendants as the people of God. The story advances through Joseph, who preserved the family in Egypt during famine (Genesis 50:20), and then by the service of Moses to the birth of Israel as a nation in Exodus, as God delivered them from slavery and established them through the first Passover (Exodus 12:13–14).

During their wilderness journey, Israel faced repeated attacks, rejection, indifference and persecution from surrounding nations (Numbers 20:14–21), yet God preserved them. In the time of the Judges, Israel went through cycles of rebellion, oppression, and deliverance (Judges 2:16–19), until they requested a king, leading to the reign of Saul and then David, who established Jerusalem as the nation’s capital (2 Samuel 5:6–7).

The Scriptures then narrate centuries of covenant-breaking, idolatry, and injustice among the people of Israel, which led to their judgment and exile by the Assyrians (722 BC) and Babylonians (586 BC), fulfilling prophetic warnings (2 Kings 17:7–23; 2 Chronicles 36:15–21). Yet God promised restoration, saying, “I will gather you from all the nations and bring you back to your own land” (Ezekiel 36:24). That promise was partially fulfilled with Israel’s rebirth as a modern nation in 1948, after nearly two millennia of dispersion.

It is crucial to distinguish between the people of Israel — God’s covenant nation — and the State of Israel — a modern political institution with its own government. Similarly, we must differentiate the biblical Israel of the patriarchs, prophets, and apostles from today’s secular democratic state of Israel.

The modern State of Israel, though miraculously restored to its ancestral homeland, has adopted policies and cultural values contrary to biblical righteousness, including legalized abortion, the advancement of LGBTQ ideologies, and many liberal positions at odds with God’s moral standards. The prophetic destiny of Israel is holy, but its politics are not necessarily holy.

However, we cannot ignore the fact that nations and countries that persecute Israel or refuse to align with the State of Israel have historically been doomed to fail. Even in recent history, countries that have waged war against the State of Israel have suffered humiliating defeats. You may separate the actions of the State of Israel when they are unrighteous, but it is impossible to stand against the State itself without also standing against the people of Israel, upon whom the promises of God rest according to His covenant love with the ancient patriarchs of Israel — a covenant that still remains.

God commands us to bless Israel as the descendants of Abraham and to stand firmly against antisemitism, which is a demonic hatred directed at the Jewish people and their God-given right to the land promised to them. 

Let me be clearer! The covenant with Abraham still stands: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse” (Genesis 12:3). Likewise, Paul reminds us in Romans 11:28–29 that Israel is “beloved for the sake of the fathers,” and that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

God’s faithfulness to Israel is rooted in His everlasting covenant — “an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8) — and His determination to uphold their land and borders as described in passages like Amos 9:15: “I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted.”

Yet blessing Israel does not mean endorsing everything the Israeli government does. Like any human authority, it can act in unrighteous and unjust ways. Believers should pray for Israel’s leaders to rule with wisdom and justice, pray for the peace of Jerusalem  (Psalm 122:6) while recognizing that only the Messiah will fully reign in righteousness and peace from Jerusalem in the age to come (Isaiah 9:6–7).

The restoration of Israel to its land is a sign of God’s covenant faithfulness, but their ultimate redemption will come only when they recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah, fulfilling Zechariah 12:10: “They will look on Me whom they have pierced, and mourn.”

In summary, God’s heart for Israel is deeply rooted in His unchanging covenant with the descendants of Abraham. He has promised to uphold their borders, protect their people, and bring about a glorious restoration through the Messiah. Although the modern State of Israel fulfills aspects of biblical prophecy, it remains subject to human sin and political shortcomings. Our calling is to bless Israel as a people, pray for their peace, and stand firmly against antisemitism, while also holding the nation’s government accountable to standards of righteousness, justice, and truth.

#ASONE

#ASONE

ISRAEL: A NATION OF MIRACLES Dr Josimar Salum

ISRAEL: A NATION OF MIRACLES 

Dr Josimar Salum 

June 20,2025 

How can we explain the enduring existence, resilience, and extraordinary achievements of the Jewish people across millennia of persecution, exile, war, and dispersion?

Reason alone cannot account for it.

Despite their historical disobedience and rejection of the Messiah, the Scriptures testify this: 

“Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.” Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Their preservation, restoration, and global impact can only be rightly understood through the lens of the Grace of God. It is not merit, politics, or chance that sustain Israel — it is the sovereign hand of God.

The testimony below, of unknown authorship, echoes this truth: Israel remains a living miracle, not because of who they are, but because of who God is.

There is something about this people — the people of Israel — that feels like a living miracle.

A people the Pharaohs tried to erase 3,000 years ago… and failed.

A people the Babylonians sought to annihilate 2,500 years ago… and failed.

A people the Romans tried to wipe out 2,000 years ago… and failed.

A people the Nazis attempted to exterminate 80 years ago… and failed.

A people the Arab nations fought in five wars to destroy… and failed.

This is a small nation in number, yet marked by a singular strength — the blessing of God.

Wherever they lay their hands, they prosper: in finance, commerce, science, philosophy, literature.

They turned a desert into a flourishing land — not with oil or gas, but with liberty, democracy, intelligence, and unwavering resolve.

This is the people who gave the world Einstein, Newton, Spinoza, Freud… and countless others who profoundly shaped human thought.

There are truths that reason and logic alone cannot explain. There is only one word: miracle.

For over two and a half years, this people has fought on seven fronts.

Many predicted their exhaustion, even collapse.

Yet once again, they defy expectation — opening a new front against the Iranian threat, one that even unsettles Arab regimes.

This people, though few, possesses the courage of nobles, the wisdom of prophets, the endurance of the righteous, and the resolve of survivors.

How could it be otherwise? They are the descendants of Abraham, Solomon, David, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, Daniel… and more than a thousand prophets and messengers of their lineage.

They are the ones who brought monotheism and the knowledge of the one true God to the world — a people driven by a thirst for life, for work, for innovation, for continuity — a drive sustained for over 4,000 years.

I can find no better way to describe them than this: a nation of miracles.

If the Arab world had clear vision, it would choose to unite with this people — to learn from them, to work alongside them. Perhaps then, we too would share in their knowledge, their wisdom, and their dignity.

However, we must not ignore the spiritual dimension of their current reality.

On October 7, 2023, during what was publicly celebrated as an ancestral festival of freedom, a national event took place in Israel marked not by remembrance of God, but by acts of idolatry, immorality, and open rebellion. In the midst of the celebration, a massive statue of Buddha was erected, and people danced around it — a clear violation of the commandment of the Lord, who forbids the making and worship of any image or idol (Exodus 20:3–5).

This was more than a cultural expression — it was a moment of spiritual provocation, knowingly or not, against the very God who called Israel to be holy unto Himself. Throughout Scripture, the prophets repeatedly warned that turning to false gods invites judgment — not because God abandons His people, but because He is both gracious and just.

Tragically, Israel’s enemies struck on that very day. It stands as a sobering reminder that no covenant, no history of miracles, no divine calling removes the need for repentance and faithfulness. God remains faithful to His promises — but He also calls His people to return to Him with all their heart.

After all, we believers should pray for their conversion to Yeshua — the only name by which we must be saved.

This is exactly what the Apostle Paul expressed as the burden of his heart:

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.” — Romans 10:1

Despite Israel’s historic rejection of Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah, the Scriptures make it clear that God has not rejected His people. Their endurance is a testimony of His covenantal faithfulness — but salvation, for them as for all, is found only through faith in Yeshua the Messiah.

Yet even as we marvel at the miraculous preservation and influence of the Jewish people, we who believe in the Messiah must remember this: God’s ultimate purpose is not merely their survival, but their salvation.

We are called not only to honor God’s covenant with Israel, but to pray fervently for their eyes to be opened, that they may see Yeshua — the promised Messiah — and turn to Him in faith.

“And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.’” — Romans 11:26

Let every believer echo Paul’s cry: that the nation of miracles may yet experience the greatest miracle of all — redemption in the name of Yeshua, their King.

#ASONE