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Arab church officials have hotly denied those reports, claiming that Israel, in circulating such stories, is attempting to drive a wedge between Christian and Muslim Palestinians. Arab Christian leaders have stated their loyalty to the Palestinian cause.

Christians—who enjoy a slightly higher economic status, better education, and business and marital links to the West—can travel abroad more easily than most Muslims. Now more than ever, Christians fear becoming a museum piece in the land of Jesus' birth. For the vast majority of Christians who remain, the reports of emigration are an ugly stain on their national loyalties, especially when the Palestinian national revolt against Israel has taken on a distinctly Islamic flavor.

This latest dispute began with Muslim-Israeli clashes at Jerusalem's key Islamic holy site, al-Aqsa Mosque. Conflicting Jewish-Muslim claims to the area, regarded by Jews as the ancient Temple Mount, have played a major role in fueling the conflict, dubbed the "al-Aqsa Uprising."

"The Arab Christian community in the Palestinian Territories is an integral part of the Palestinian people," said the Rev. Raed Abusahlia, chancellor of the Latin (Catholic) Patriachate in an outraged letter denying the reports that Christians are emigrating. "It suffers with it, rejoices with it, and shares with it the same hopes and aspirations."

"Our position is that nobody should emigrate or leave," added Younan, the Lutheran bishop. "They should stay in this country with all of the difficulties. This is the 'way of the cross' of our people, and I am sure that afterwards there will be a resurrection."

In an atmosphere of fear, siege, and suspicion, local churches are intensifying their efforts to reach the Western Christian community and the international media with their message. A new e-mail service, launched by the Roman Catholic Church, provides readers with daily reports of the tribulations of Bethlehem's Christian Palestinians, who suffer alongside their Muslim brethren.

Palestinian Christian leaders, such as Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, have come out forcefully in support of the Palestinian cause.

"There is no freedom and no justice when it is on account of others," said Sabbah, speaking on October 31 at the Vatican. "In these difficult days, in the midst of the actual conflict, we say that the Palestinian people should regain their freedom and justice, which are part of their legitimate rights."

For most Palestinian Christians like Duaybis, who have always lived alongside Muslim neighbors in mixed communities like Ramallah, the feelings of allegiance to the Palestinian cause, and even Islamic symbols, are integral to their own self-identity.

"Al-Aqsa, that's me, my identity card," said Duaybis, referring to the Muslim holy site. "If you take away my purse, and then offer to return it without my id, I won't feel complete. Israel has already taken 78 percent of what was once Palestine. I don't want to only get pieces of Jerusalem."

Duaybis is a member of a Christian prayer group that meets every week at an east Jerusalem Christian institution known as Sabeel. Sabeel promotes a Palestinian form of liberation theology developed by the center's founder, Dr. Naim Ateek, a former Anglican canon in Jerusalem. Meeting in a small stone room off a back street in east Jerusalem, these middle-class Palestinians, attired in conservative suits and pantsuits, share the Eucharist, sing hymns, and talk about the ongoing conflict.

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December 4 2000, Vol. 44, No. 14