Christian economic resources.
The distribution of the local Christians by occupation is not as artisans or skilled or unskilled workers such as electricians, plumbers or construction workers. Few are skilled mechanics and even fewer are unskilled workers. Christians work in the civil service and teaching, some are self-employed, and others employed in trade and commerce. Unfortunately, there are no updated statistics regarding the Christian employment demographics except for the survey conducted by Sabeel in 2006. That survey presented employment demographics showing that 60% of the Christians with jobs worked in the various service sectors, which gives a clear indication about the occupational profile of the community. The Christian community in Jerusalem forms a distinct group due to their unique position. Nearly every Christian denomination has representation in the Holy City. During the 19th century, Jerusalem attracted the western powers in such a way that resulted in a highly profitable tourist and service industry that benefited local Christians. Local Christians continue to serve as tour guides, tour operators, travel agents, hotel workers, restaurant workers and managers and souvenir shop owners. Consequently, the Christian population in Jerusalem more than doubled by the end of the British Mandate, and the city became the largest Christian city in Palestine because of tourism and pilgrimages.
The Christian community in Jerusalem lost its majority within the Arab population because of the higher birth rate of Muslims in Jerusalem and their immigration into the city.
The hostility and political consequences of the 1948 War brought fundamental changes to Jerusalem. Of primary importance is the fact the Jerusalem was divided into two parts: West Jerusalem consisted of the new western suburbs that became Israeli-Jewish and the Eastern suburbs became Jordanian-Palestinian Arab. The 1948 War and the division of the city affected the local Christian community, not only politically, but also economically. Importantly, prior to the war, nearly half of the Christians resided in the western suburbs of the city. After the war, they were dispossessed of their properties and sought refuge in the monasteries and other centres throughout the 1950s resulted in high rates of unemployment due to the lack of pilgrimage activities and a shortage of other suitable employment opportunities. This led to large scale Christian emigration that reduced the population of Jerusalem from 29,350 in 1944 to 10,982 in 1967. Furthermore, Church leaders lacked an action plan to encourage the local Christians to remain in Jerusalem and failed to discourage them from emigrating. Christians who once controlled the tourism industry and commerce in the Jerusalem left for Jordan and other Arab countries and Western countries. This, in turn, led to many Muslim families from Hebron, a city in the West Bank south of Bethlehem, gradually taking control of Jerusalem’s commerce, especially in the Christian quarter.
Not only did the Church leaders have no action plan to discourage Christians from emigrating, but they also allowed Muslims to purchase most of the property in the Christian quarter (e.g., shops). As a result, the Christian Quarter has lost its traditional Christian atmosphere.
Since 1967, while under Israeli rule, the majority of Christians in Jerusalem have faced the deterioration of their economic situation as part of the urban middle class. Due to the growing rate of inflation and the lack of appropriate employment for university graduates, the lack of affordable housing became a special problem. That, coupled with a large influx of people from rural villages resulted in fewer opportunities to find suitable jobs in Jerusalem. The economic difficulties of the local Christians in Jerusalem, as in most of the Holy Land, consist of two main streams. The political situation affects the economy of the country and the economic structure of the Christian community. Each of these issues is discussed below.
The political situation affecting the economy
One of the important elements to lack of economic stability in the Christian community is the unsettled political situation and the associated unrest. It has been suggested that developments in the political situation would play a determining role in shaping economic stability, not just for the local Christian community, but also for all Palestinians living in Jerusalem. From 1948 to the present, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has negatively affected the economy. There have been economic losses, high unemployment, decreased participation in the labour force and increased dependency rates. These factors have produced a sharp decline in living standards for the Palestinian population in all the Palestinian areas, including Jerusalem.
A report from the Palestinian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation puts forward the view that Israel has taken deliberate measures to stall the Palestinian economy by establishing roadblocks, destroying roads, creating military checkpoints and digging deep trenches around its cities and towns. By imposing movement restrictions, border closures (both external and internal) and building the Separation Wall on 40% of the West Bank, the external border closures between the Occupied Territories and Israel restrict imports and exports and inhibits workers from reaching their places of employment. The effects of internal border closures between individual West Bank towns and villages decreases the earning potential of farmers, workers and merchants who are unable to obtain merchandize and sell goods in the local markets.
There has been a waning demand for local goods and services that has had detrimental effects on the domestic economy. In light of the issues outlined above, it comes as no surprise that these Israeli procedures have affected the Christians living in the West Bank and Jerusalem. According to “Ha’aretz,” an Israeli newspaper, approximately 80% of the Palestinian Arabs employed in the tourism industry are Christians and unemployment in this sector is rampant. For example, the closure of the Jericho Casino in December 2000 left about 1,200 Christians from the Bethlehem and Ramallah areas without work. Moreover, of the hotels operated by Palestinians in Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and Nazareth, more than half of the hotels’ employees lost their jobs.
If the political situation does not improve, it is difficult to predict what the economic situation will be in the coming years. During the 1990s, there were clear prospects for a political settlement. However, the Second Peace Process ground to a standstill. It is uncertain if, and when, peace negotiations might resume. Sabella argues that a multi-sector strategy for East Jerusalem needs to be formulated under two different scenarios regarding the future political situation. Achieving a more peaceful and stable situation will require moving towards a political agreement between Israeli and Palestinian authorities on the status of East Jerusalem. This will lead to a substantial and sustained drop in unrest and violence. However it is difficult to anticipate what a political agreement on East Jerusalem would require as over the years, a large number of options have been proposed, but none agreed on.
This thesis does not speculate on the nature of such a political settlement, but it does assume that any agreement will result in better prospects for Palestinian autonomy in East Jerusalem. In addition, it assumes that restrictions on links with the West Bank will be reduced, facilitating a more liberal movement of people, goods, services and capital between East Jerusalem and Israel. This scenario could facilitate the provision of donor assistance to East Jerusalem.
The economic structure of the Christian community
The economic profile of Palestinian Christians can provide the context within which one can understand how their present situation can be assessed and considered for the future. According to Sabella, they tend to be over represented in their educational attainments, with many in possession of a university degree. For example, Christians are twice as likely to have a university degree and have a median age of 32 years in contrast to that of the rest of the population which do not access universities and have a median age of 16 years. The older age structure among Christians also relates to the emigration of its younger members and older ages at marriage. Christians are essentially an urban community as 97% of them live in the urban localities of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and only 3% report living in villages and refugee camps. While historically Christians have lived in urban areas, the accelerating rate of urbanization among them is because the villages that were once populated by Christians, especially in the Ramallah and Jenin areas, can no longer economically support their inhabitants from work on the land and related activities. Migration to the cities was a natural process, especially after 1967, as Israeli economic policies made many Palestinian villages into dormitory communities, with most of their labour force commuting daily to work in Israel. As a result, many moved to Jerusalem and other West Bank cities and joined the communities already established there. Several problems have occurred within the economic structure of the Christian community as a result of this migration.
The economic sector
The Christian community in Jerusalem considers education to be a permanent resource for their children that should ensure a career with a good income and a reasonable lifestyle. Christian students from Jerusalem desire to attend universities such as Bethlehem University and Beir Zeit University which have a good reputation in both Israel and Palestine and equip their graduates to access Master’s level studies abroad. Several researchers believe that less than 1% of Israeli Arabs attend Israeli universities because of difficulties they experience in meeting the admissions requirements. He also suggests that Israeli universities discourage Arab students from entering. Fewer than 25% of the Christians in Jerusalem and the Israeli controlled areas attend Christian universities, while, only 1.3% of the Christian students attend vocational schools. Vocational schools are not popular for Christians in Jerusalem and the West Bank because the attitudes of the Christian community in the Holy Land who feel that their children should pursue a university decree, rather than a qualification from a vocational school.
Occupational aspirations
The education that Christians pursue generates a labour force that allows them to work in private sector institutions that provide services to the Palestinian people through not-for-profit and international organizations. Many Christian students are looking for specific field-of-study opportunities that are not available at their local university. Therefore, they seek out scholarships to various international universities in western countries. In most cases, these students may stay permanently in the countries where they studied. Christian students graduating from local universities may have difficulty finding jobs related to their field of study due to the lack of jobs caused by the political and economic situation. Lack of areas of specialisation in the local universities produces a high percentage of graduates who have the same area of study. This in turn, reduces the chances of finding a job as well as increases the qualification requirements of any positions advertised. For example, in order to apply for basic secretarial work, the applicant must have a university degree. A very low percentage of graduates from among the Christian community have their professional degree in agriculture, construction or commerce. This indicates that the Christian community has a limited field of work.
Christian resources.
Churches, monasteries, and Christian organizations have been built throughout history in the Holy Land. Some of them are living institutions and some are churches that control the Holy Sites related to Christianity, and most of these churches and institutions are not using their Christian resources to develop the economy of the Christian communities. The Church’s institutions are not using the local community in constructing development plans to generate income for local Christians in order to survive economically.
Business productivity thinking
Jerusalem’s Christian community primarily work in service institutions, as employees or work in family-owned long established businesses. Often, their business ethics and working methods are not current or innovative. Many people lack creativity in developing their own businesses. There are many Muslim-run businesses in what were originally Christian-dominated areas of business that are more up to date that similar Christian organisations and gain more share of the business opportunities.
Absence of economic solutions benefiting the Christian community
There is a lack of Christian economic strategies or solutions developed by the Church, Christian organizations, or the local Christian community to overcome the economic difficulties that local Christians are facing. On a positive note, church leaders and heads of Christian organization are now talking about the Christian economic situation but have no solutions yet.
Absence of vocational planning advisors
There is a lack of specific educational career consultants to prepare Christian students in selecting the appropriate educational pathway in accordance with what the market needs. In addition, there is a lack of consultancy institutions that develop careers for new Christian graduates.