by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – A Christian researcher is sounding the alarm over the persecution of Christians living under Palestinian Authority (PA) rule, warning that intimidation, religious restrictions, and economic pressure are driving Christian families from Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus.
Elias Zarina, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy, told Israel National News that Bethlehem’s Christian population has fallen from an estimated 80% before the Oslo Accords to just 7% today. These figures are Zarina’s estimates and have not been independently verified.
Zarina, a former member of a student cell affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, alleged that Christians face growing discrimination, including threats against Christian-owned businesses, pressure to surrender property, and restrictions on public religious celebrations.
According to Zarina, 154 Christian families have left the Bethlehem area over the past two and a half years, while others remain reluctant to speak publicly out of fear of retaliation.
He alleged that masked individuals connected to Palestinian political factions have intimidated businesses displaying Christmas decorations and that politically connected figures have attempted to seize Christian-owned properties through threats and manipulation of the legal system.
The researcher also criticized Palestinian educational materials for promoting hostility toward Jews and Israel, warning that such teachings undermine prospects for peaceful coexistence.
Beyond persecution, Bethlehem’s Christian community has suffered economically as tourism and religious pilgrimages have struggled to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and years of regional conflict.
Zarina urged Christian-majority nations to reconsider providing unconditional financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority, arguing that international aid should be tied to meaningful protections for religious minorities.
His allegations raise troubling questions about the future of Christianity in the very city where Jesus Christ was born more than 2,000 years ago—and whether the international Christian community will speak out as one of the Holy Land’s oldest Christian communities continues to diminish.
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