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Hope for Survival: the History and Decline of Palestinian Christianity

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Hope for Survival: the History and Decline of Palestinian Christianity Hope for Survival: The History and Decline of Palestinian Christianity Author: Craig Andrew Noyes Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/3058 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2008 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Hope for Survival The History and Decline of Palestinian Christianity Craig Noyes Boston College Arts & Science Honors Program Senior Thesis 2 3 For Dad You are the consummate officer, gentleman, father, and human Your enthusiastic interest in my pursuits has driven me I hope this would have made you proud 4 5 I think as they say, ‘hope is the last to die.’ So there is always hope and, actually, only the hope is keeping us here in the land and continuing our ministry through the people. Not only [to] the Christians, but to our people living here in this time. – Reverend Na’el Abu Rahmoun 6 Table of Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................... 7 Prologue ............................................................................................. 10 Introduction........................................................................................ 18 Chapter One: Christian Roots and the Holy Land ..................................... 28 Chapter Two: The Qur’an and the People of the Book ................................ 38 Chapter Three: Islamic Political Philosophy and Dhimmitude .................... 48 Chapter Four: The Muslim Conquest of Palestine ..................................... 62 Chapter Five: Palestinian Christians and Dhimmitude in the Holy Land...... 72 Chapter Six: Palestinian Christians through the Fourteenth Century ........... 85 Chapter Seven: Palestinian Christians under the Ottomans ....................... 94 Chapter Eight: Palestinian Christians at a Crossroads ............................. 100 Chapter Nine: Contemporary Identities and Conditions........................... 116 Conclusion: Hope for Survival ............................................................. 147 Appendix A: Interview Transcripts ...................................................... 154 Appendix B: “Saint George and the Dragon” ......................................... 223 Bibliography ..................................................................................... 225 7 Acknowledgements I have been blessed by a tremendous amount of support throughout this endeavor. Assistance, interest, and engagement have come from many different sources and have affected my work in myriad ways. I have attempted to write an interdisciplinary work, and appropriately enough the support I have received has come from highly varied sources. I am inexpressibly grateful for all support to my senior thesis. I am unable to name all those who have helped me along the way, but I will try to highlight those of particular influence. My interest in this topic developed fervor during my trip to Israel-Palestine in June 2007. I was able to accomplish primary research, hold interviews with indigenous Palestinian Christians, and become immersed in the societies that I seek to address. It was a remarkable experience and would not have been possible without the support of many people. Kay Potfora, Roland and Gail Noyes, Dana and Winona Vickery, Eric and Lin Vickery, Jan and Bob Sweet, Jano and David Witman, and others made it possible for me to afford the trip. Michelle Sweet, on behalf of WGBH-Boston, provided audio recording equipment for the interviews. Claire Donohue accompanied me as a friend and colleague, offering her perspective and her assistance throughout the interview process. I extend a heart-felt thank you to Maurine Tobin and Reverend Bob Tobin, who offered to assist in setting up interviews and an itinerary throughout our 8 stay. Maurine’s caring insights helped Claire and I make the most of our trip. Meanwhile, their hospitality made us feel welcome from the moment we arrived. I appreciate Sabeel Jerusalem and thank their office for hosting many of the interviews. Their members were eager to show us their perspectives and welcome us into their lives. Thank you to all of the Palestinian Christians I was able to interview. From candid conversations to recorded discussions, your perspectives have aided this work tremendously. Much appreciation and respect is due to George Rishmawi. He and his family hosted us during our stay in Beit Sahour. His candid portrayal of daily life in and around Bethlehem was eye- opening. He, more than any other, allowed me to witness and appreciate the human struggle and proud existence of Palestinian Christians. In researching and writing this thesis, there were many academics, scholars, and mentors that offered me guidance. Thank you Justus Reid Weiner of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs for offering me copies of his works and suggestions for my own writing. Thank you to Professor Mark O’Connor for his support and words of advice as I sought to complete this work, despite difficulties beyond my control. His wisdom is coupled with compassion for the other and passion of the excellent; he encouraged me during some of the toughest moments. From day one of this project, Professor Franck Salameh has supported my efforts. He has given me access to the vast majority of my sources and offered me highly insightful perspectives on the subject. As my thesis advisor, he has consistently been available and helpful whenever I have inquired. Having taken six courses with him, I have developed a tremendous amount of respect for him as an educator, mentor, and human being. He has been a consistent, excellent example and has taught me how to pursue truth in life. My ability to be in a position to write a senior thesis would not have been possible without the unceasing love and support of my family. My sister has always been an example that I have 9 admired and tried to emulate. Her perseverance, passion, intelligence, love, and compassion have given me life lessons that few can convey. Thank you, Rebecca, for your interest and support. I am unable to express adequate thanks to my parents. My sister and I became their priorities from the start and, in doing so, they have always committed themselves to our betterment. Mom and dad have always taught through example. Thank you for your enthusiastic support for all that I have achieved. I love you. 10 Prologue I heard our names pronounced in a thick Hebrew accent over the public announcement system and slowly trudged over to the gate counter. Twenty minutes ago we were told by an El Al representative that we could expect to be called back for some “basic security questions” before boarding the flight to Tel Aviv. Not at all surprised by this, I thought nothing of the scenario, walked over to the waiting area, sat down, and tried to rest my eyes. The first feelings of suspicion and concern entered my head when two security officials took our passports and then quickly separated me from my travel companion. Though I had managed the vast majority of trip planning and logistics for our 10-day trip to Israel and the region of Palestine, the future of our sojourn was suddenly thrown into the hands of two security officials serving at the pleasure of El Al and- to a greater extent- the Israeli state. Nothing more than a clear glass divider separated me from Claire and the rest of the people going about their business in Terminal C at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Nevertheless, for the next fifty minutes I felt completely isolated and confined. My interrogator was a very stern, stone-faced woman who couldn’t have been older than thirty. Cleanly dressed, sharp, assertive in her speech and thorough in her questioning, she began a campaign of circular questioning about our identities, where we came from, our intentions while in Israel, how we procured money to finance 11 our trip, who we were going to meet with, where we were going to be staying, and how we were traveling throughout the country. Before I had the chance to notice, twenty minutes had passed and she excused herself to talk with the agent meeting with Claire. No doubt they were comparing our answers and attempting to identify any inconsistencies in what we said. I honestly thought that it was a fairly comical affair. I softly chuckled. ‘It’s absurd that they are expending this much time and energy trying to catch two white, American students in the act of international terrorism! What do they even think we are capable of?!’ The thought of us as conspirators was ridiculous! But more than anything, I was upset that we were being denied an opportunity to catch up on some rest and prevent the full effects of jet lag by the time we got to our final destination. ‘Well, I hope they’re happy. They caught both of us after an eight and a half hour flight from JFK. We’re overtired and thinking it is late at night. What’s more, we’re still getting used to real airport security outside the U.S.!’ After reassuring my perspective and thinking about the absurdity of the whole exercise, I had a naïve, cocky air when my interrogator returned to continue questioning me. For the most part the questions from earlier were repeated, though they were more thorough and in depth this time around. More emphasis was placed on the “status” of my relationship with Claire. Although Claire and I agreed before leaving that when this interrogation was to take place our answers were to always match- we were classmates from college who were visiting the Holy Land to visit the Christian holy places- I began to doubt Claire’s resilience to this questioning. Did she say something different? Did she admit that we were in a relationship? How would they interpret that? Or even worse, did she tell them that we were, in fact, going to be in daily contact with Palestinians? Did they find out that we were going to be doing research and conducting interviews throughout Israel, Jerusalem, and the West Bank? 12 While the interrogation continued and I was commanded to show proof of our hotel reservations, contacts in the country, and any material I had read or studied about the state of Israel, fearful questions began to slowly pepper my thoughts.
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