Palestinian, American Christians meet in Bethlehem
The unity between Christians from abroad and fellow Christians in Palestine gives Palestinians hope they can stay put on their land.
For the first time since US President Donald Trump was elected with the large support of the Christian right in the United States, Palestinian Christians met to counter the ideology that helped him win the election.
For the fifth time since 2010, Palestinian Christians successfully organized a five-day international conference that attempted to theologically confront Christian fundamentalism or what is often referred to as Christian Zionism.
Two weeks after two Christian Zionist evangelical pastors gave their blessing May 14 to the moving of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, more than 400 Christian leaders and theologians met to discuss and counter the theology that justified Israel’s occupation as part of a divine plan by God.
The conference, titled “Christ at the Checkpoint - Jesus Christ at the Center,” is organized every two years by the Bethlehem Bible College. This year’s four-day conference that began May 28 in Bethlehem was attended by over 400 persons, including some 210 who have come from around the world. Among those attending is the head of the World Evangelical Alliance, Bishop Efraim Tendero, who told attendees that he was pressured not to come. He didn’t detail who pressured him.
