When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree Feb. 21 setting aside a minimum of seven legislative seats for Christians in the upcoming elections for the 132-member Palestinian Legislative Council, he was following a tradition set by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He was also reflecting on the wide contribution of Palestinian Christians in the last century.
Issa el Issa, a Palestinian Christian poet and journalist, founded with his cousin Yousef El-Issa the biweekly newspaper Filastin in 1911 in his hometown of Jaffa.