1 Year After Hamas’ Attack, Some Arab Christians Pursue Emigration Option| National Catholic Register

While Christians have been emigrating from the Holy Land for decades in search of economic prosperity, security and religious freedom, the war has added a new sense of urgency.

JERUSALEM — Even before Hamas’ vicious attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, some Holy Land Christian families were making plans to emigrate. 

Since the massacre and the year-long war that has ensued, first between Israel and Hamas and now between Israel and Hezbollah, those plans have accelerated, according to Catholic parish priests in Jerusalem and the West Bank.  

While Christians have been emigrating from the Holy Land for decades in search of economic prosperity, security and religious freedom, the year-long war has added a new sense of urgency. In addition to the hundreds of Christians in war-torn Gaza who have received emergency permits to emigrate to Australia, many Christians in Israel and the West Bank also want to live elsewhere.  

The decision to uproot is ultimately a personal choice, but it can weaken the community and religious institutions left behind, Catholic Church officials acknowledge. This is especially true when people who can afford to pay full tuition at the local Christian school, opt not to donate to less fortunate families, and support Christian causes abroad. 

Franciscan Father Amjad Sabara, the parish priest of Jerusalem, said at least 10 Catholic families have left since the start of the war, most due to economic reasons. 

“At least 20% of our parishioners work in the tourism sector, in hotels or restaurants or in guiding. They had already lost two years of wages due to COVID-19” and related travel restrictions, Father Sabara said. When Hamas infiltrated Israel from Gaza, “it was completely unexpected. We had been expecting a much better tourism season, and then everything stopped.” 

Those who have been able to emigrate since last October were already in the process of applying for overseas residency, often to join relatives in North America or Europe. 

“During the first three months, they took a wait-and-see attitude in the hope that things would calm down,” Father Sabara said. When the situation didn’t improve, they emigrated. In contrast, “those with permanent work want to stay here. They are living with the war.” 

Franciscan Father Rami Asakrieh, the parish priest of the Bethlehem district, said that not every family in his parish wants to emigrate, “but there are many who do.” 

“They prefer to go where they have relatives to a place where they can find work, dignity and a future for their children,” he said.

There are two types of emigration, Father Asakrieh said — asylum and standard emigration. Those who receive asylum are entitled to plane tickets, housing, living stipends and help integrating into their adopted country. Non-asylum seekers must go through the same time-consuming process as any other would-be immigrants: Apply for and pay for a visa and provide financial guarantees so as not to burden their adopted country. And this sobering fact doesn’t include those who wish to leave but can’t.

Christians, who were once the majority in the Muslim-dominated West Bank, now comprise just 11% of the population in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala. 

“Unless they have family who can take them in, they need to rent a house and find jobs quickly. The Christians in our community don’t have this money,” Father Asakrieh said. 

Although some nations have been willing to grant asylum to Palestinians in Gaza, they do not consider Palestinians in the West Bank or Israel in need of asylum. 

Suha, a Catholic mother of five adult children who requested that her real name not be published, told the Register she would love to emigrate, ideally to the United States. 

“I would leave tomorrow morning if I had the opportunity,” said the Bethlehem resident, who works for a financially strapped church institution. “We have no money. I am the only one in my family who is working, and my salary was halved. My husband can no longer enter Israel to work due to the war, and my son, who worked in a hotel in Israel and has an entry permit, can’t find a job because there are no tourists here or there.” 

Her youngest child, who is 21, should be attending university, but the family cannot afford the annual $1,200 tuition. Applying for residency abroad “is out of the question” due to the high cost, Suha said. 

Father Sabara said, in addition to prayers for peace and donations from abroad to help Holy Land Christians remain in their communities, “We need to find a road map on how to live together.”