Who will speak for them? The silent suffering of Christians under the Palestinian Authority

Before you read this article, I want you to understand something: the person who wrote these words could pay a high price simply for choosing to speak. If my identity is revealed, I could face danger or even death — not because I have committed a crime, but because I am trying to share truths that many people ignore. I am not seeking fame or controversy; I simply want others to hear the voice of those who cannot speak.

I also want to make one thing clear from the beginning: my love for Israel and the Jewish people did not lead me to write these words. My commitment is to truth, wherever it leads.

When we listen to Christian leaders, pastors, and those associated with what is often called “Palestinian theology,” we frequently hear one repeated narrative. They say that Israel is the reason for the emigration of Christians from this land.

They appeal to Western churches, saying: “Do not support Israel, because the unconditional support and the weapons provided to it are the reason Christians are being displaced, especially from Bethlehem.” They emphasize that Bethlehem is considered the center of Christianity and that it once had the largest Christian population in Palestine.

But is what these Christian leaders claim the complete truth? Or is there something being hidden that many do not want to discuss?

If Israel is the only reason Christians are leaving, why do these leaders not also speak about the internal issues that many Christians experience every day? Why are corruption, weak institutions of justice, land confiscation, abuse of influence, and fear of confronting those in power often ignored? Ignoring these issues does not help Christians; rather, it leaves their suffering unresolved and presents the world with only half of the story.

When we speak about the Palestinian territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority, we are speaking about an authority that many citizens describe as lacking true rule of law. In other words, many feel that power and personal connections often determine outcomes more than justice.

If I were to describe the Palestinian Authority, I would describe it as a system that prioritizes personal interests and political survival, where ordinary citizens remain a low priority. The PA also uses the Christian presence and some Christian leaders to advance certain interests and political goals.

If I were to describe the West Bank, I would say that in many areas, it is governed more by the influence of powerful families than by the rule of law. Strong families often attempt to impose their authority and take what they want through influence or power.

Many members of these families work within different institutions of the Palestinian Authority, including positions such as prosecutors, deputy prosecutors, judges, intelligence officials, Preventive Security officers, or police personnel.

According to many citizens, these institutions are often used to protect those with influence rather than to serve ordinary people.

The problem is not limited to administrative or financial corruption; it extends to the absence of justice.

When citizens lose confidence that the courts will protect them, that the police will apply the law equally, and that officials will stand with the oppressed rather than the powerful, emigration becomes, for many families, a way to seek safety, stability, and a better future for their children.

At times, life for an ordinary Christian under this system can feel less like living under the rule of law and more like surviving under the law of the jungle.

In the jungle, the strongest animal decides what belongs to whom. The weak do not appeal to a court because there is no court. They do not call the police because there is no police force that protects them equally. Power itself becomes the law.

This is how many ordinary Christians describe their reality when they find themselves in conflict with powerful families or politically connected individuals.

If your opponent has influence, connections, or relatives within the security services, the prosecution, or the courts, many believe the outcome is often decided long before any legal process begins. Justice becomes selective. The law bends toward those with power, while the ordinary citizen is expected to remain silent.

A successful state cannot function this way. A government that cannot guarantee equal justice for its weakest citizens is failing in one of its most basic responsibilities. When influence outweighs evidence, when family connections outweigh the law, and when fear replaces justice, society begins to resemble the jungle rather than a constitutional system.

For many Christians, this is not merely a political problem — it is an existential one. When people believe their property can be taken without consequence, their complaints ignored, and intimidation rewarded, they naturally begin asking a painful question: "Why should we stay?" Emigration then becomes not simply an economic decision, but an act of survival.

The tragedy is that this reality is rarely acknowledged by those who claim to speak on behalf of Palestinian Christians. It is easier to blame every departure on Israel than to confront corruption, nepotism, abuse of power, and the absence of genuine justice within Palestinian society itself.

Yet truth demands courage. A wound cannot be healed if everyone refuses to acknowledge where it exists.

When we talk about Christians, we are talking about a small minority within a society where Muslims represent the overwhelming majority. In this reality, some influential families have taken advantage of Christians by seizing their land, homes, and properties.

When an ordinary Christian citizen tries to seek justice, they may find themselves facing a network of connected interests, leaving them without protection or a fair resolution.

This is not merely theoretical. Some Christian families in the West Bank have spoken publicly about such experiences. One Christian family in Bethlehem stated:

“We lost our home and our lands because of fraud and force. Despite our appeals to President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene, no action was taken.”

Such testimonies raise an important question: Why are these issues not discussed with the same level of attention when talking about the reasons behind Christian emigration?

There are also many Christians who speak about facing pressure related to their lands and properties, or about feeling that they do not receive sufficient protection when they enter disputes with powerful individuals.

Even if not every case is identical, the mere feeling among a minority group that they are not protected by the law can push many families to consider leaving.

Families have stated that their land was taken from them and later sold. Afterward, they filed complaints through Palestinian courts, but nothing happened because, in their view, the same network of people benefits from the situation.

Some also claimed that their homes were attacked by gunfire as an attempt to intimidate them and silence them through force.

In the end, the ordinary Christian citizen is often forced to leave their homeland, searching for a safer life and a better future for themselves and their children.

The irony is that some influential Christian leaders who hold important positions do not speak openly about these issues because they do not want to confront the authorities or powerful families, or because they have interests they want to preserve.

However, when the discussion turns to Israel, they speak continuously about occupation and emphasize that occupation is the reason behind Christian emigration.

They present a narrative saying that Christians and Muslims are united and share the same goals, frequently highlighting what they call “coexistence.” This image is often presented to the media and Western churches, while internal struggles faced by many Christians on the ground are overlooked.

Reducing Christian emigration to only one cause does not help us understand the full reality. Migration is not the result of a single factor, but rather the result of a combination of political, economic, security, social, and legal factors.

Anyone who truly wants to address the issue must acknowledge all these causes, not only those that support a particular political narrative.

Christians in the West Bank do not need political slogans; they need justice, rule of law, freedom, security, and the ability to build a future for their children. If Christian leaders ask the world to hear the voice of Christians, they must first communicate the complete truth, not only a part of it.

Christian witness is not based on pleasing governments or political powers, but on speaking the truth with love and faithfulness, even when that truth is uncomfortable.

Therefore, any honest discussion about Christian emigration must recognize all factors, both internal and external. Hiding part of the truth does not serve Christians, does not serve justice, and does not glorify God.

My purpose is not to spread hatred or create division, but to speak for those who feel they cannot speak, and to call for justice and truth.

“Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:8–9).