The Christians of Gaza

As some of you know, I have relatives in Gaza. They are my dad’s first cousins. Tragically, several of them were killed in October when an Israeli airstrike destroyed part of the complex at Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church where they had been sheltering.

The past few months have been extremely difficult for our cousins in Gaza and heartbreaking for our family in the United States. There’s no avenue to get them out, and our communication with them has been sporadic since November. Occasionally, I’ll receive a passed-along message about their well-being, which at least lets me know they’re still alive.

A lot of people were surprised to learn there are Christians living in Gaza, but this community has existed since the earliest days of Christianity. Followers of Christ have long called Gaza home.

The people known today as Palestinian Christians are the descendants of Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Israelites who resided in the region that comprises present-day Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. Palestinian Christians can trace much of their ancestry back to Jews and Samaritans who lived in the Levant thousands of years ago and became early Christians.

The Christians of Gaza are descendants of both the ancient Gazan Christian community and other nearby ancient Christian communities. The Amash family, many of whom now reside in Gaza, descend from Christians who lived for centuries in and around the cities of Lydda (Lod) and Ramle (Ramla) before Israeli forces expelled them from their homes in 1948. Some, like my dad’s immediate family, were blessed to find refuge in the United States. Others made their way to the West Bank and Gaza—and they, their children, and their grandchildren remain there to this day.