Israel-Hamas War: The Christian presence will survive in the Holy Land

“I am sure that the Christian presence will survive,” said Sami El-Yousef, administrative director of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (PLJ), regarding the violence of the war between Israel and Hamas, which is hitting hard the Christian community in the Holy Land. .

In conversation with the pontifical foundation Help the Church in Need (ACN), El-Yousef stated that he is convinced that the Catholic Church is absolutely necessary for the well-being of the region, and that “it has to be present with its institutions.”

Furthermore, regarding the work carried out by Catholic humanitarian organizations, the official assured that the volunteers do not pay too much attention to the political scenario, because otherwise “we would pack our bags and leave.”

“However, this land has already gone through many crises and the Church has always found a way to be the means of support for its community, and there is no reason to believe that now it will be different,” El-Yousef added, although he stressed that it is a very complex situation and that they must “think carefully” about what they will do in the future.

At the beginning of the conflict, Israel revoked the work permits that people from Gaza had. The residents of the area, El-Yousef continued, believed that the suspension would end in a short time, but they soon realized that “with the current Israeli mentality” that was not going to happen.

“Instead, they have begun to import immigrants from all over the world, which doubles the cost of labor, and they are people without qualifications or knowledge of the language,” he said.

El-Yousef stressed that the situation is more desperate than expected and that trust between Arabs and Israelis in the Holy Land has been broken since the war began, affecting the Christian community, but he is confident that with a lot of help they will be able to overcome the adversities.

The region’s poor are now poorer

An ACN team visited the Holy Land to evaluate the development of several of its projects. Dima Khoury, director of the PLJ Social Services Department, commented that “many Christians have lost their jobs or have had their salaries reduced or have no income at all.”

Both ACN and PLJ strive to support the most needy Christians to cover their food, tuition and rent expenses. “Life has become terrible for them,” he said.

“The middle class has become poorer and the poor are even poorer now. Many of the families who own their own businesses have left the country,” said Khoury. “As the war continues, we are beginning to worry that the Holy Land will become the next Syria and that this will be an endless war,” he lamented.

The PLJ carries out various humanitarian care projects, with the financial support of ACN, from which around 715 families and 200 chronically ill people benefit, as well as school and university age students.