Palestinian Christians are a vital part of the Christian story—an ancient community rooted in the very places where Jesus lived and taught. Yet today, they are a small and vulnerable population, often unknown or misunderstood by outsiders, including Christians, in the West.

So what is actually true? Who are Palestinian Christians? Where do they come from, and why does it matter that we talk about them?

This primer seeks to separate myth from fact, offering a clearer picture of who this ancient community is and why their presence matters today.

1. Palestinian Christians trace their roots to the time of Jesus.

True. This community traces itself to the time of Jesus and Pentecost (Acts 2). Jesus was a Jewish rabbi born in Bethlehem, which is now a Palestinian city in the Palestinian West Bank. Today, vibrant Palestinian Christian communities still live in the places of Jesus’ life and ministry. Over centuries of various rulers and empires, a remnant of these first Christians from Pentecost have remained faithfully present in the land. They include Christians from a variety of traditions and denominations–ranging from Catholic and Orthodox to Presbyterian and Evangelical. Palestinian Christians will often tell you they take pride in passing the faith down from mother to daughter, father to son, under empire after empire, from Jesus’ time until today.

2. Palestinian Christians are a disappearing minority.

True. In 1922, 9% of people in the region were Christian. Today the number is closer to 1%. In all parts of Palestine/Israel, Palestinian Christians face immense challenges to sustain their way of life. Since Israel’s creation in 1948, growing numbers of Christians have fled to more stable countries. This ancient community now lives in fear of extinction, especially as Gaza has been destroyed and Israeli military and settler violence has increased in the West Bank over the last two years.

3. Muslims are driving Christians out of the Holy Land.

False. The primary reasons for the decline of percentage of Christians in the Holy Land relate to (a) Israeli atrocities against Palestinians, which drive emigration; (b) comparative ease of emigration for Christians; and (c) lower birth rates among Christians.

Historically, Palestinians Christians consistently cite Israel’s occupation as the primary reason for leaving, with only a small minority referencing tensions with Muslims as a factor at all. Like all Palestinians, Christians experience violence and economic hardship. But Christians have had a much easier time immigrating, particularly to Europe and the Americas. The genocide in Gaza–in which Israel killed at least 3% of the small Christian population there–and accelerated ethnic cleansing in the West Bank are forcing even more Christians out.

While the Palestinian Christian community teeters on an existential brink today, their numbers began to decline long ago. The most significant early shock came in the Nakba—the years surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948 when Israeli militias expelled the majority of indigenous Palestinians, Christian and Muslim, from their homes and blocked their return. Over the last century, Palestinian Christians have created vibrant diaspora communities around the world, particularly in the Americas—in places like Santiago, San Francisco, and Detroit.

Yet many have fought (and fight) to stay. Many view part of their calling as bearing witness in the land of Jesus’ ministry. Palestinian Christians and Muslims typically see themselves and each other as fellow Palestinians. While there have been inter-communal tensions—as there are in every society—disputes about civil matters like property ownership are often mischaracterized in the media as primarily religious in nature. While Christians have been persecuted elsewhere in the Middle East, Christian-Muslim relations in Palestinian society have historically been very good. For long stretches before the 20th Century, indigenous Christians, Muslims, and Jews coexisted relatively peacefully in the Holy Land.

The last major factor for the decline of Palestinian Christians is economic and cultural. Palestinian Christian communities trend economically middle class, and have lower birth rates than Jewish and Muslim counterparts. Some communities, like Bethlehem and Nazareth, have periodically experienced a rise in the total number of Christians. However, the overall trend points to a steep decline in the percentage of Palestinian Christians.