Sun Dec 07 13:31:03 UTC 2025: Summary:
Rev. Dr. Fares Abraham, who grew up near Bethlehem in the West Bank, expresses fear for the survival of his Christian community in Beit Sahour due to the establishment of a new Israeli settlement outpost. This outpost threatens planned community projects like a children’s hospital and cultural center, exacerbates existing land shortages due to confiscation, the separation wall, and settlement expansion, and forces families to consider leaving their ancestral land. He challenges the notion that supporting Jewish security requires tolerating the dispossession of Palestinians and urges American Christians to acknowledge the suffering of Palestinian Christians while also supporting Jewish safety. He emphasizes that the situation is a matter of human dignity and the future of the Christian presence in the birthplace of Christianity and says that if the Christian community disappears, it will be a loss for the global church and the Gospel.
News Article:
New Israeli Settlement Threatens Christian Community Near Bethlehem
Beit Sahour, West Bank – An illegal Israeli settlement outpost has been established on the edge of Beit Sahour, a predominantly Christian town near Bethlehem, raising fears about the survival of the local Christian community, according to Rev. Dr. Fares Abraham.
The settlement, built on land the town planned to use for a children’s hospital, cultural center, and public spaces, is intensifying existing pressures on Palestinian Christians already facing land shortages, the separation wall, and settlement expansion. “For the first time in my life, I felt fear that the community that raised me may not survive,” said Rev. Dr. Abraham.
Beit Sahour is one of the last majority-Christian towns in the West Bank, and the community’s leaders are concerned that the new settlement will further restrict their ability to build homes and maintain their presence on their ancestral land.
Rev. Dr. Abraham is urging American Christians to recognize the plight of Palestinian Christians and challenge the false dichotomy that supporting Jewish safety requires tolerating the dispossession of Palestinians. “Safety for one people cannot be built on the insecurity of another,” he stated. He argues that churches in the West have remained silent on this matter, sending the unspoken message that some lives matter less.
Rev. Dr. Abraham calls upon the global Church and all who value the birthplace of Christianity to recognize the human dignity at stake and advocates for a solution that protects the rights and safety of both Israelis and Palestinians. “This is not a choice between peoples. It is a choice between justice and indifference.”
First Piper 