Christians in Palestine is journalist Jean Rolin's highly
personalized account of the lives of the Arab Christian population in
Palestine. Set on the eve of the Iraq War, when Rolin visited Bethlehem,
Ramallah and Jerusalem, this detailed portrayal reveals a people torn
between their religious beliefs and their Arab patriotism, loathe to
criticize their Muslim leaders and eager to blame their misfortune on
the Israelis. Despite the importance of the community as guardians of
the holy sites of Christianity, the Palestinian Christians suffer under
a society governed by increasingly radicalized fundamentalist Islamic
beliefs. As a consequence of the ongoing Middle East conflict, the
Palestinian Christian rate of emigration is so high that they are now on
the verge extinction, despite their presence in Palestine for over 2,000
years. Abandoned by their leadership and the international community,
many believe that Palestinian Christianity will soon die if a peaceful
resolution cannot be found between Israel and Palestine.
Through his eloquent descriptions of the landscape and his intimate
portrait of a community under siege, award-winning journalist Jean Rolin
captures a little known aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in
vivid detail.
Jean Rolin's journalism has won many awards in France, including the
Albert Londres Prize and the Prix Médicis. Christians is his first
book to be translated into English.
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