{"id":10097,"date":"2013-08-07T10:18:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T14:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=10097"},"modified":"2025-04-09T14:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:38:10","slug":"encountering-holy-land-christians-arab-palestinian-christians-in-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/encountering-holy-land-christians-arab-palestinian-christians-in-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Encountering Holy Land Christians: Arab Palestinian Christians in Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first three days of our journey were spent in Israel. We visited the Mount of the Beatitudes and the surroundings of the Lake of Tiberias, referred to in the Bible as the Sea of Galilee; Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration of Jesus; and the house of St. Peter in Capernaum, which was used for community gatherings by the very first Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems so simple and peaceful to build a church, but the political climate of that era was complex and violent, making the process extremely hazardous. The Christians had to be strong, determined and forgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a similar way, we encountered a brave man who as a child was forced with his family out of his village and became a refugee in the new Israel. Archbishop Elias Chacour is the Melkite Catholic leader for Haifa, Nazareth and Galilee. Our group spent a good two hours with him in Haifa where he explained the difficult life of Arab Palestinian Christians in Israel since its creation in 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the Arabs live in segregated villages where Israeli Jews and Arabs rarely connect. He told us he had to go to court over 35 times as a priest, just trying to construct a parish hall, schools and a gym. \u201cI never understood why the authorities didn\u2019t want us to succeed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of his projects, a school for Israeli children from all backgrounds \u2014 Jewish, Muslim and Arab Christian \u2014 has seen great success, but it is an exception in this complex place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were all very moved by Archbishop Chacour\u2019s presentation. Before we parted ways, he shared copies of his books with us \u2014 Blood Brothers<\/em><\/a> and Faith Beyond Despair<\/em><\/a>, in which he describes his life in Israel and how peace is possible. A few days later, one of my fellow pilgrims, Corina, told me that she couldn\u2019t put the book down. \u201cIt\u2019s too good,\u201d she said, \u201cand so informative. I never knew about Arab Palestinian Christians living in Israel. It\u2019s a must read.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Melkite Archbishop Elias Chacour poses with Velma Harasen, former national president of the Catholic Women\u2019s League of Canada, and Carl H\u00e9tu, director of CNEWA Canada. (photo: CNEWA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first three days of our journey were spent in Israel. We visited the Mount of the Beatitudes and the surroundings of the Lake of Tiberias, referred to in the Bible as the Sea of Galilee; Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration of Jesus; and the house of St. Peter in Capernaum, which was … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70080,"featured_media":10098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[963],"class_list":["post-10097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catholic-womens-league"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEncountering Holy Land Christians: Arab Palestinian Christians in Israel | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/encountering-holy-land-christians-arab-palestinian-christians-in-israel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Encountering Holy Land Christians: Arab Palestinian Christians in Israel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first three days of our journey were spent in Israel. 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