Do Israelis make a distinction between Muslim and Christian Palestinians?

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Worldluv

MikeinRI where on earth are you getting your information? I lived in a village in the West Bank that had both Christian and Muslim Palestinians. They get along great. The Israelis oppress both, imprison both without charges, have tortured both, have demolished homes of both, and have cut down olive trees that have belonged to both thus impacting their livelihoods.

MichaelJ is correct in that none of the Christian Palestinians have been terrorists. Israel is doing their best to get rid of them as well anyway. They have stopped issuing travel visas for Catholic Priests, making it impossible for the Jordanian priests living in Palestine to go back to visit their families because then they can't get back into Israel/Palestine. This of course has caused some to leave the West Bank; others are staying put and serving where they are with hopes that some day this will be resolved.

EDIT - Just want to add to Mr. X that NO, Christian Palestinians cannot worship freely. If they live in Gaza or the West Bank, they cannot enter Jerusalem to go to the Holy Sepulchre. Sometimes on rare special days the Israelis will let the ones from the West Bank in to worship but not always - they sometimes say yes only to get to the checkpoint and be told no.

shimeringstars01

No they do not tend to differenciate between the 2 groups. Here are some examples that prove that they do not.
1) In April of 1978, Israel passed a law that stated that any christian who tried to convert a Jew to Christianity could face up to 5 years in prison. And asserted that an act as simple as giving a bible to someone could be considered trying to convert them. At that time parliment minister Binyamin Halevy called christian missionaries a "cancer in the body of the nation."
2) Israeli scholar Yehoshafat Harkabi wrote that he was disturbed by â€œthese manifestations of hostility-the designation of Christians as idolaters, the demand to invoke the â€˜resident alienâ€™ ordinances, and the burning of the New Testament.â€
3) Desicration of Christian property has long been a problem in Israel. Including the buring of the New Testiment and arson and vandalism to churches.
4) A catholic priest told reporters in 1948 â€œJewish soldiers broke down the doors of my church and robbed many precious and sacred objects. Then they threw the statues of Christ down into a nearby garden.â€
5) In 1948 the Christian Union of Palestine complained that 10 churches in Jerusalam were used by the Israeli army as bases and were desecrated by the Israeli army. Due to this 3 priests were killed.
6) Another such instance happened in 1967 Reverand James Kelso of the United Presbyterian church said â€œHow did Israel respect church property in the fighting...? They shot up the Episcopal Cathedral [in Jerusalem], just as they had done in 1948. They smashed down the Episcopal school for boys...The Israelis wrecked and looted the YMCA...They wrecked the big Lutheran hospital...The Lutheran center for cripples also suffered...â€
&) In 1963 hundreds of Jews(not the Israeli military) attacked Christian missions in Jerusalam, Haifa,and Jaffa. In the Church of Scottland school in Jaffa children were beaten when over 200 Jews attacked it.
A Palestinian-American Christian lawyer, when visiting Isreal or Palestine was strip searched several times even as a child. Since she was Christian and a child I highly dout that she posed any real threat of terrorism so they just did that to discourage her and her family from coming back. Please watch the video here to see her testimony and that of other victims. http://www.ifamericansknew.org/about_us/easiesttargets.html

In addition to that there is a Christian woman living in the Palestinian territory and she says that the Christians there are treated just as badly as the Muslims to them a Palestinian is a Palestinian.

RedRose (got headache)

it's called the palestinian-israeli conflict NOT the muslim-jew conflict. palestinians are palestinians no matter what their religion is.

dalia

here in gaza,muslim and christians are treated the same,they r palestinians to israelis,so no difference

HopelessZ00

I wish Edmund T was still around to answer you. He was also a Christian Palestinian, he had enough here and left. He was a great person. I cannot answer you as to how others feel. Cheers!

To add about Edmund: He did not care about the Christian or Muslim difference. He was Palestinian no difference. Peace!

gribela

No.
They seem to have the view that the only good arab is a dead arab.

kismet

We are aware of the differences, yes!
It is the same for Israeli Arabs as well; most are Muslims, and some are Xians.
I remember growing up in Old Jaffa; I always knew to whom I should wish a merry Xmas or a happy Eid:)
So yes, we do make that distinction.

Nora

No Israel does not make a distinction between Muslim and Christian Palestinian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynWjYHP91gA

See this is how it works: Israelis hate all Arabs- irregardless of their religion, and hate all Muslims- irregardless of their ethnicity. There are exceptions of course, but in general that's how it is. But- to be fair- there is racism on both sides, Arabs (in general) are known to be very racist against Jews.

Mr. Pitiful (was Gonzo)

no they dont
and i dont
but on the opposite way

most isrelies hate all arabs
and even more Palestinians
Muslim and Christian

i dont hate any one of them (i am isreali)
and dont like one over the other

Stainless Steel.

No, they are very happy to kill both kinds.
Especially small arab kids.
jews believe that a good arab is a dead arab, no matter if he or she is a christian or a muslim arab.
Sugar and sand my dear!

Bosco

By and large they've kept their hands off the Christian Palestinians,who are centered around Haifa. That is for fear of alienating American opinion,especially in the Bible belt. Other than that they make no secret of their contempt for Palestinians. They are usually referred to as "cockroaches" and comparable slurs.

mark

The Christian are Palestinian too the First Palestinian freedom fighter to be jailed by the Israelis was Christian his name was William Nsar. 2 Palestinians Resistance groups were founded by Christians. PLP and the DFP they are the most radical groups in the Palestinian movement. Father Kapushy was also jailed for freedom fighter activates.

maroc

only to set them one against the other.
divide et impera

haggerpotter

I used to have a penpal who was a christian arab. she lived in nazareth and back before email days we'd send each other letters and id wait by the mail for hers! I met her once in nazareth.. her family was very hospitable. i wonder where she is now...

greengrass44444

the christian arabs seem to be more liberal and moral

samsproudmommy

i make a distinction, but if you want to desteoy me my ppl and my country, i do not discriminate bet religions

Michael J

Yes. Most Israelis feel that it's only the Muslim Palestinians who are violent towards Israel. If I'm not mistaken, there has never been a Christian terrorist.

You never see Christians blowing stuff up in Israel, so yeah, people are less likely to be suspicious of Christians. Most converts to Judaism in Israel are Christians.

Palestinian Christians(Inside the West Bank) use to be anti Israel but since the Muslims have been targeting them(including occupying there churches), they drifted to supporting Israel.

Most Israeli Arab Christians vote for Likud and the Shas(Orthodox Jewish party)

Mr. X

sure, we have no problem with palestinian christians, they generally don't generate too many suicide bombings. israel allows them, of course, to worship freely. they do have all kinds of problems with the arab palestinians however, who routinely persecute the christians living there.

MikeInRI

In my trips to Israel relations between Christian Palestinians vs Muslim Palestinians with Jewish Israelis or Israels in general were usually better in part because the Christians generally speaking felt more threatened by the Muslim Palestinians then anyone else.

Good Luck!!!

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