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S.T. Antonio's avatar

Hi Mark, I appreciate your attention to detail and to history. You give a good overall fly-by of a few of the complexities of the historical development of the various ethnic influnences into modern-day Palestinian Arab identity.

However, there are a few parts of this description that I believe are a bit misleading to the reader.

(1) "However, Arabic speaking Jews were excluded from this identity. Indeed Pan Arab identity developed in opposition to Jewish identity: a key goal of the Arabist movement in the first half of the 20th century was to block the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine." I'm not sure this is accurate. There are Jews who lived in many Arab Muslim countries (not those who lived in Europe), such as Iraq, who identified as Arab and felt more at home in places like Iraq than in Israel. See for example, "Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab Jew" by the accomplished Israeli historian Avi Shlaim (who was born in Iraq, where his family lived for generations). Unlike the Jews of Europe, the Jews who lived in Arab Muslim countries lived in relative peace alongside Muslims for centuries, and they were not supportive of the Zionist project that was spearheaded by (mostly) European Jews.

(2) "There has been a prolonged flight of Christians from the Palestinian Territories throughout the past century. ... Christians have also been leaving all the surrounding nations: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt." By comparing the "prolonged flight" of Christians from Palestine to the departure of Christians from surrounding nations, it is implied that this is simply one example of a larger regional problem. However, the flight of Palestinian Christians (and Muslims) is sui generis--they are fleeing from a non-state in which they have no citizenship, no full rights, severe restriction of movement and services, dehumanizing treatment at checkpoints, attacks and provocations from extremist Israeli settlers, and (for Christians) occasional persecution from Hamas as well.

(3) "Palestinian identity has now become in effect a local expression of the Muslim Umma, the nation of Islam, as Arabism has given way to Islamism." This statement is extremely problematic. Aside from the fact that Palestinians themselves (like any ethnic or national group) are the ones who get to tell us what their identity means, this statement does not square with what was just acknowledged in the preceding paragraphs. In other words, this statement essentially erases Palestinian Christians from Palestinian identity. Palestinian Christians (and their ancestors) have been a presence in the holy land for centuries, and their assertion of Palestinian identity (and their Palestinian Muslim neighbors' acceptance of them as fellow Palestinians) contradicts the idea that Palestinian identity is a Muslim identity.

The reality of Palestinian brothers and sisters in Christ is a precious treasure for the global church, which I wish would have inspired more than a few short paragraphs in this blogpost. Whereas in other Arab countries the ancient Christian presence did not survive Islamic rule (e.g., in North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula), Palestine is one those few places where the Christian witness remained steadfast through the centuries, even under the Islamic caliphate. One of the churches that suffered from an Israeli bombing in Gaza (St. Porphyrius Church) is believed to be the 3rd or 4th oldest church in the world (18 Palestinian Christians and 1 Muslim taking refuge there were killed in their sleep). While their ancestors were of multiple ethnic origins, those who today identify as Palestinian Christians are heirs to a rich, millenia-long heritage of Christians bearing witness to Christ in the places where Jesus walked. Our understanding of the question, "Who are the Palestinians?" should be deeply informed, shaped, and inspired by their voices and their witness, as much as, if not more than, the voices and murderous actions of Hamas.

With all that said, I do appreciate the detailed history and backstory that you have provided and hope that readers are inspired to read more widely on this topic.

Regards,

S.T. Antonio

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