The Role Of The Palestinian Christians In The Construction Of A Palestinian Identity?

Each year as Israel celebrate their Independence Day, Palestinians commemorate al-Nakba or “the Catastrophe.” The day of festivity for one was the day of disaster for the other. In a famous poem, “The Story,” written by Kamal Nasir (1961), he tells the story of Palestinians who lost their state during the Israeli War of Independence. What makes this poem special is that it was written by a Palestinian Christian, a member of the Palestinian Christian minority that is only around 10% of the Palestine population. When studying the historical literature and ongoing of the Israel-Palestine conflict, Palestinian Christians have often been overlooked. This paper aims to study the discourse of Palestinian Christians in their involvement in the construction of a Palestinian identity in the last decade.
Palestinian Christians have been struggling nonviolently against the Israeli occupation. In the landmark Kairos Palestine Document – which has been signed by thousands of Palestinian Christians and endorsed by all the Heads and Patriarchs of the
Despite their religious identity as Christian, their national identity is as part of the Arab Palestinian culture and civilization. While the small number of Palestinian Christians do not make them quantitatively significant, their presence is strongly felt qualitatively. Throughout history, Palestinian Christians have chosen to be fellow citizens in the common struggle against any king of foreign or colonial invasions, regardless of its religious or ethnic identity. Palestinian Christians strongly identify as Palestinians with the same culture and history as their Muslim sisters and brothers. In the land, Christians and Muslims have lived together peacefully for many generations. Throughout the twentieth century, Palestinian Christians have played critical roles in the politics and social aspects of Palestinian life, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. (Moist,