he number of Palestinian Christians is on a steady decline.
In East Jerusalem Al Quds, the birth place of Christianity, they make less than 2 percent of the population.
"I believe that the real oppression is the Israeli occupation and the persecution is carried by the Israeli occupation.
The occupation bears the direct responsibility for the exodus of Christians from the holy land"
And you will get more than one explanation, depending on who you ask.
Israel's Ambassador in Washington for example will tell you that it is Palestinian groups to be exact that is behind the exodus of Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem especially after the Palestinian Authority assumed some responsibilities there.
But Ambassador Oren does not provide answers why the number of Christians in East Jerusalem for example, which is under full Israeli grip, is on the decline.
Palestinian Arch bishop Atallah Hanna of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem had a different explanation.
The Archbishop's analysis goes much further blaming Israel and even the US for the dwindling number of Palestinian Christians and Christians in the region.
"I believe that there's an Israeli American plan to empty the Middle East from Christians to serve an Israeli agenda.
Israel does not want a Christian dimension to the Palestinian cause ..."
Earlier in the week we spent some time in the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's old city.
We encountered hundreds of pilgrims and tourists from around the world. But out of the hundreds of those tourists we only encountered only one Palestinian family.
Sana' came from nearby Ramallah with her two daughters and her sister.
"I came to visit the holy sepulcher and to light candles, the difficulties that we face are going through Qalandya checkpoint, we spend 2 or 3 hours until we pass even with permits.
It is hard to obtain permits; we visit Jerusalem Al Quds once a year or 2 years"
Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories cannot enter the city unless the Israeli army issues a permit.
In a telephone conversation with the Deputy Mayor of Beit Jala, Nader Abu Amsha said that the encroachment of Israeli settlements and the separation barrier are to blame for the dwindling numbers of Palestinian Christians in the Beit Jala and Bethlehem.
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