Life as a Christian in the Heart of Palestine

We will refer to our friend as George and hide his real name as it is his wish to stay anonymous
Civilizatio Team

Introduction

Hasan:

Can you introduce yourself for us?

George:

My name is ~~redacted~~, I am a Christian Palestinian, I am twenty-four years old. I studied in Ramallah in school and now I’m finishing my college degree in Pecs.

Hasan:

Were you born in Palestine? And how long have you lived there?

George:

Yes, I was born in Palestine. I lived the majority of my life in Palestine till I was 24. Actually, I just left the country to continue this semester in Pecs.

Bora:

OK, by the way where did you live in Palestine? Like, were you in Gaza or West Bank?

George:

In the West Bank in Ramallah.

Sky:

You said you are from Ramallah. Ramallah is originally an old Christian settlement.

George:

Yeah, Ramallah is one of the cities where Christians reside.

Life as a Palestinian Christian

Sky:

Yeah. And as we know, Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine. But Ramallah is now a kind of administrative capital. So, it’s a cosmopolitan city. As a native of the city, can you tell us about the city and your life there?

George:

Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine. However, since the ruling government of the Palestinian state currently has no access to Jerusalem, it operates from Ramallah, which is often regarded as the capital.

Life in Ramallah is undeniably dynamic. As we mentioned, it functions like the capital, making it a hub for business, trade, education, and tourism. Living there, life was never static. From participating in community services at school to celebrating religious holidays for both Christians and Muslims—such as Christmas, Easter, and Ramadan—the city thrives with activity. During Ramadan, for example, markets and carnivals bring people from all religious backgrounds together as Palestinians, united regardless of their beliefs.

Additionally, being in Ramallah allowed me to meet tourists from all over the world. This exposure helped broaden my perspectives and provided opportunities to share experiences and learn from others.

Sky:

And as you know, migration is a very huge problem on the agenda of all countries over the world. And you said you’re an immigrant, so how it feels to be an immigrant, how do you feel it?

George:

That’s it. See, it’s not like I left my country. That’s the big difference. I’m still in Palestine, so I didn’t feel like it. But I didn’t go through it although my grandparents went through it. So, I was raised in Ramallah my whole life. I’ve never moved from Jerusalem to Ramallah. So for me, the experience was different than, for example, my grandfather, had to leave Jerusalem and come to Ramallah.

Sky:

Jewish and Muslim population are huge there and Christians are like a minority there. How do you feel about that power struggle? You know, there are too many Muslims, too many Jewish people. And how is the life for a Christian in this city?

George:

We’re all living in the West Bank. We don’t live with Jews, unlike Jerusalem, who has the three people of religion living together. And in Ramallah, there is only Christians and Muslims. Growing, I didn’t feel any discrimination or anything because Palestine is unique. We live together in harmony. So, although we are a minority, it doesn’t affect us that much. So, I was raised in a Quaker school, one of the best schools in the Ramallah, named Friends School. And we study together, we live together. It’s not like we live in our own places. We study in our own schools. No, we’re integrated in the same community. So of course there’s some racism coming from both sides. It’s not like perfect, but it’s not like you can’t live your life. No, most of my friends are Muslims, and most of the people I spend my time with are Muslims. So, it’s not like we’re separated, and we don’t live together. We don’t work together. No, we do everything together.

Hasan:

OK, I want to add on to that. We see many Christians leaving Palestine. There are like 50,000 Christians left in Palestine as the latest statistics shows. Do you think you will be going back to living in Palestine?

George:

Yeah, of course. For sure it’s different. Palestinian culture is very unique. It’s not something you can find anywhere. The culture is very rich, the way people interact together, the way the culture is built, makes people closer. It’s not like in Hungary, although I’ve been here for a couple of months, but I can see the individualism, people want to work on themselves, focus on themselves. But in Palestine it’s more of a community. It’s more of getting closer together, which is something you need. Yeah, I’d be going back to Palestine, definitely.

Bora:

What’s the first word that comes to your mind when you define yourself? Like, do you define yourself as an Arab or Palestinian or Christian at first?

George:

Palestinian for sure, because it’s very unique to be a Palestinian. I think you can share being an Arab with other Arabs. You can share being a Christian with a lot of people, but being Palestinian; you are in a smaller group, that’s very unique for us.

Sky:

You said you’re a student in Hungary. What is the life being a Palestinian in Hungary or Europe in general?

George:

I think right now being a Palestinian is very unique because we’re under the spotlight. It’s been like that since the war on Gaza. Before that, I don’t think many knew about Palestine, but recently it’s been all over the news. People have been seeing Palestine. I’d say from most people that I’ve met; they’ve been supportive of Palestine because I think the new generation have a new understanding of what the conflict between Palestine and Israel as compared to the old generation, which didn’t understand. Their only information about what the conflict has come from traditional media, which affected their point of view. Well, now you can find information everywhere, you can see videos everywhere, so you can make your own judgment. So, I think every person I’ve met from different countries from Europe has given support.

Bora:

So about you, how were you personally affected by the recent developments in Palestine, like the occupation of Gaza or bombings of West Bank?

George:

I think everyone has been affected on different levels, psychological, economical, everything. It’s been different since the start of the war. I’d say that the biggest effect is the things we see, the videos we see, all that suffering, the children suffering, everything. It’s like we as Palestinian people feel helpless right now, we don’t have anything we can do. And the war is growing. It’s not like it’s ending. So, it started in Gaza, and now it’s moving closer and closer to the West Bank. So, every day we hear of shootings in the West Bank and closing of the roads or closing of the cities. So even though the West Bank is what we call the Palestinian state, still cities within the West Bank are controlled by Israel. So, you have to need permits to go from one place to another or they can close the gates. You can’t go, for example from Ramallah to Jericho, or Bethlehem, they can close the gates, so it’s not completely controlled by us. So yeah, it’s been affecting everyone living there.

Responses From the International Community

Sky:

After the Israeli offenses, there is a perception in the international community that Muslims are being persecuted. As we know Muslims are not the only ones affected by these attacks. What do you think about this perception? World is focused on the Jews, and the Muslims. So, what is your thought about it?

George:

You’re completely right. People generally think that only Muslims live in Palestine. That’s not true. Although, as Christians, we’re a minority. Even in Gaza, there’s, I think like a 1000 Christians or something? I know it’s a minority, but still there is Palestinian Christians in Palestine. I actually don’t know why it’s been portrayed or received as there’s no Christians in Palestine.

Hasan:

There is a harsh reaction against Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine. So, compared to that how do you feel that Palestinian cause not getting the same support from countries and leaders?

George:

It’s surprising, but it’s not surprising at the same time. See, we Palestinians have been involved in politics for since our birth, we have to be involved in politics, so we always knew that America or the West Europe, they’re not standing with us. So, it came as no surprise that they support Israel in this conflict. But it’s good that they show the contradiction between their actions because on one side they oppose Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which they should, or they shouldn’t. It doesn’t matter. It’s not our problem. But if you want to stand with Ukraine, at least you can do is stand with Palestine, which is the equivalence. The same equivalence, it’s even more applicable to Palestine, I think.

Bora:

I want to ask about the Palestinian Authority, Palestinian state in West Bank. Do you think they showed enough reaction to what happened in Gaza?

George:

Well, the Palestinian Government in the West Bank is more supportive of the route of international law. They take the route of international law. So, in their opinion the application of international law should come first, not the response of resistance. So that’s the main difference between them and Hamas in Gaza.

Situation in West Bank and the Future of Palestine

Sky:

And by the way, in general, what do you think about the new Israeli settlements in the West Bank?

George:

Israeli settlements, even under international law is illegal. And they haven’t stopped. If anything, they’re getting bigger. But I think it’s unfair. It’s simply unfair you’re taking land, and then you’re taking more land from people, and that’s something you simply don’t own. You don’t have the right to just build more settlements. This is something that’s affecting our daily life as people in the West Bank because they’re taking more land, they’re taking more resources, they have control of water, they have control of everything. So yeah, it’s becoming difficult to live. The means of living are becoming difficult, even economically. Things are becoming more expensive because you have less resources. Yeah, it’s becoming very difficult.

Bora:

I want to ask about the economic situation in the West Bank. How is it now? Are daily necessities expensive?

George:

I think it is very expensive. It’s not cheap in any means because Israel has one of the highest costs of living. Which makes life even harder for us because we import and export things together. We have the same taxes. We pay the same prices because in the West Bank, we have no port. So, we don’t have any means of trade. So, it has to go through Israel. So, we pay tax for them thus it’s expensive, very expensive. Cost of living is comparable to Europe, which is crazy to think of.

Hasan:

So, you said Palestinian Authority in West Bank abides and wants to use the way of the international law. But there is a different approach than that and that is Hamas. So, what do you think about the Hamas?

George:

Oh, that’s a very hard question, See, I’m against killing. Let’s start from this, because how the media wants to translate this into fewer support for Hamas. They say if you support Hamas, you support killing of Israelis, which is wrong. Everyone should be against the loss of human lives. I’m not going to say I’m with or I’m against, but let’s look at what happened for the past 70 years or so. International law has put us aside. Basically, Israel has been allowed to do whatever they want. So, I think, in their position, if you were living in Gaza, you’re under siege. You have no means of living; your future is controlled for you. Basically, your whole life you’re under control. You have no future. You have nothing to look for. Would you just sit there and watch yourself being killed? What would your response be? What do you think would be their best response? Wait for international law to save them? They don’t have medicine, they don’t have food, they don’t even have water. Electricity is all controlled by Israel. So, what are they supposed to do? Wait for international law? To just give them a solution and they did. They waited. They waited for a long time for international law to give them a solution, but even the past two years before the war, our conflict as Palestine was forgotten. It was. It’s only brought into action and people got reminded of it, because the war on Gaza started. So even if we want to go the international route, we were not given a choice of that.

Bora:

Do you believe in the future there will be a Free Palestine State, or do you think Israel is going to go all the way to occupy Palestine? And do you think the solution is intifada or is the solution abiding by international laws?

George:

I hope for a free Palestine. I think that justice will prevail in some way. The solution I actually don’t know. I have no idea how things will play out. I have no idea. We’ve seen that the Palestinian conflict is more than Palestinian versus Israel. The past year has proven that it’s not just about Palestine, it’s more. Even the start of war on Lebanon. It’s proving that. It’s something bigger than we had initially thought and the US is involved, Europe is involved it’s a fight for power. So, saying it’s going to be resolved one way or another. I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.

Bora:

I have one last question to ask what can we do as youth? What can we do to help to Palestinian cause? Do you think boycotting works?

George:

For sure, the boycott had a large effect even for the big companies. And even reading about the situation helps a lot because well, knowledge is power. I think what changed the situation is the access to resources and the being able to know what the situation is. This helped Palestinians a lot because youth has been able to change the way. They’re thinking about new information they never heard before. Old people used to think that, Isreal must be right, because media told them so. They showed that Israel was being attacked, Israel has to defend itself. But now we are able to realize who started this conflict? We can now read more about history, so access to information has helped a lot to our cause. So, I’d say any youth can read about the situation and make their own decision. It’s not like I’m forcing you to take my point of view. Read about the situation and form your own opinion.

Hasan:

Thank you for your responses, that’s all for today’s interview.

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