By: worldbulletin.net
Source: http://www.worldbulletin.net/
The Gaza government and Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Monday called for unity among adherents of the Gaza Strip’s two faiths.
“Christians are an intrinsic part of the Palestinian people,” the government and the resistance movement declared in a joint statement following an official visit to the Greek Orthodox Church to congratulate Christians on the occasion of eastern Christmas.
The joint government/Hamas delegation lauded the role played by Gaza’s Christians in resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the measures taken by the self-proposed Jewish state against Palestine’s historical inhabitants.
According to the statement, the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church had lauded the positions of the Gaza government regarding the Palestinian enclave’s Christian residents.
It quoted the patriarch as describing relations between Palestine’s Christians and Muslims as “historic,” adding that the patriarch had called for the continuation of these warm relations.
Western Christians traditionally celebrate Christmas on December 25, while their eastern counterparts celebrate the holiday on January 7.
Even though the number of Christians in Gaza is small, they have played an important role in Palestine throughout the years.
There are around 2,000 Christians in the Gaza Strip out of a total population of almost two million.
Around 70 percent of Gaza’s Christians are Greek Orthodox, whose main church is in Jerusalem. The remainder consists mostly of Catholic Christians.