List of Palestinian Christians explained

The following Lists of Palestinian Christians are lists of notable Christians who either self-identified as Palestinian, or were referred to as Palestinian in reference of their origin or long-time residence being in the Palestine region, the designation being an endonym and exonym respectively.

Pre-Arabization

Clergymen

- - Sulayman al-Ghazzi - 11th century Bishop of Gaza who was a contemporary to persecutions under Fatimid Caliph Al Hakim Angelus of Jerusalem -12th century Jerusalemite Jewish convert to Catholicism in the Kingdom of Jerusalem Munib Younan – president of the Lutheran World Federation since 2010 and the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jerusalem, Palestine, Jordan and the Holy Land since 1998
Archbishop Theodosios (Hanna) of Sebastia – Bishop of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Michel Sabbah – former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (Roman Catholic)
Fouad Twal – former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (Roman Catholic)
Naim Ateek – leader of Sabeel Christian Ecumenical Foundation
Mitri Raheb – pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem
Suheil Salman Ibrahim Dawani – the current Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem
Elias Chacour – Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and Galilee of the Melkite Eastern Catholic Church
Riah Hanna Abu El-Assal – former Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem
Anis Shorrosh – Palestinian Evangelical Protestant pastor
Benny Hinn – Protestant televangelist
Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem – current Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem
Manuel Musallam – retired Roman Catholic priest, who was pastor in Gaza from 1995 to 2009.
Boutros Mouallem – retired Melkite Eastern Catholic Church archbishop of Acre, Haifa and the Galilee
Samir Kafity – prominent former Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem
Salim Munayer – founder of Musalaha, a non-profit organization that works towards reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians based on the Biblical principles of peace, works mainly among Palestinian Evangelical Protestants and Messianic Jews
Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem – late Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
Patriarch Irenaios – former Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem
Torkom Manoogian – current Patriarch of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Faik Haddad – prominent former Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem.^[1] ^[2]

Politicians

John H. Sununu – Governor of New Hampshire (1983–1989) and White House Chief of Staff to President George H. W. Bush (1989–1991)
Joe Hockey – Treasurer of Australia (2013–2015), Member of Parliament for North Sydney (1996–2015), Ambassador of Australia to the United States (2016-Current)
Raymonda Tawil – poet, political activist, journalist, writer and the mother-in-law of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat^[3]
Antonio Saca – President of El Salvador from 2004 to 2009
Justin Amash – U.S. Representative for Michigan's 3rd congressional district (2011–2021) which encompasses the Grand Rapids area, and a member of the Libertarian Party (formerly Republican Party)
Vera Baboun – first female mayor of Bethlehem
Azmi Bishara – Arab-Israeli politician
Janet Mikhail – former mayor of Ramallah
Karim Khalaf – attorney and politician who served as the mayor of Ramallah, but was removed from office in 1982 by Israel
Victor Batarseh – former mayor of Bethlehem
Elias Bandak – former mayor of Bethlehem
Hanna Nasser – former mayor of Bethlehem
Elias Freij – former mayor of Bethlehem
Emil Habibi – politician born in Mandatory Palestine, leader of the Israel Communist Party and Member of the Israeli Knesset
Ameer Makhoul – founder of the Haifa-based Ittijah (the Union of Arab Community-Based Associations, a network for Palestinian NGOs in Israel), who is jailed in Israel until released in 2019,^[4] after some claims for spying on behalf of Hezbollah.^[5] Amnesty International expressed concern that "his human rights activism on behalf of Palestinians" may be the reason for his imprisonment.^[6]
George Habash – politician, founder of the PFLP and the Arab Nationalist Movement^[7]
Nayif Hawatmeh – Palestinian politician, founder and General Secretary of the DFLP^[7]
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi – politician, legislator, activist, and scholar. Currently, she is a leader of the Third Way party.^[7] She was previously notable as a spokesperson for Arafat.^[8]
Afif Safieh – diplomat and was most recently the Palestinian ambassador to the Russian Federation
Yusif Sayigh – economist, and member of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Joudeh George Murqos – former Palestinian minister of tourism
Ghazi Hanania – member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Fatah
Emil Ghuri – former Secretary of the Arab Higher Committee (AHC), the official leadership of the Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine. He was also the general secretary of the Palestine Arab Party
Hanna Nasser (academic) – academic, political figure and ex-president of Birzeit University
Ghassan Andoni – a professor of physics at Birzeit University, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and founder of the International Middle East Media Centre
Daud Turki – poet and was the leader of the Jewish-Arab left-wing group called the Red Front
Imil Jarjoui – former member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the PLO executive committee
Huwaida Arraf – rights activist and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM)
Michael Tarazi – lawyer and former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization
Kamal Nasser – PLO political leader, writer and poet
Layla Moran – first British MP of Palestinian descent
Elias Sanbar – Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO^[9]
Zuhdi Labib Terzi – Terzi was the first Ambassador, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations and served from 1974 to 1991.

Journalists

Shireen Abu Akleh – journalist who worked as a reporter for the Arabic-language channel Al Jazeera for 25 years
Issa El-Issa – the founder of Filastin newspaper in Jaffa, Palestine 1909
Yousef El-Issa – Issa's cousin who also founded Filastin newspaper in 1909, he also established Alif Ba' newspaper in Damascus, Syria
Raja El-Issa – Issa's son, who took manager position of the newspaper after his father's death, he was also the first chairman of the Jordan Press Association in Amman, Jordan in 1956
Daoud El-Issa – Issa's nephew who also had the manager position of the newspaper, established Al-Bilad newspaper in Jerusalem in 1956 and became a member of Jordan Press Association in 1976
Tawfiq Sayigh – editor of Hiwar magazine

Cultural figures

Ashraf Barhom – Christian actor from Tarshiha, northern Israel.
Edward Said – Palestinian literary theorist, cultural critic, political activist
Rosemarie Said Zahlan – historian and writer
George Antonius – founder of modern Arab nationalist history
Khalil Beidas – scholar, educator, translator and novelist during the Al-Nahda cultural renaissance
Khalil al-Sakakini – educator, scholar, poet, and Arab nationalist during the Al-Nahda cultural renaissance
Tawfiq Canaan – physician, researcher of Palestinian popular heritage
May Ziadeh – poet, essayist and translator during the Al-Nahda cultural renaissance
Elia Suleiman – Palestinian film maker and actor
Hanna Musleh – Palestinian film maker and university professor
Raja Shehadeh – lawyer and writer
Rifat Odeh Kassis – human rights activist
George Saliba – Professor of Arabic and Islamic Science at the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, Columbia University, New York, United States
Rami George Khouri – journalist and editor
Hisham Zreiq – award-winning independent film maker, poet and visual artist
Ray Hanania – Palestinian-American journalist also known for his stand-up comedy^[10]
Joseph Massad – Associate Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University
Rim Banna – singer, composer, and arranger who is well known for her modern interpretations of traditional Palestinian folk songs
Amal Murkus – singer
Anton Shammas – essayist, writer of fiction and poetry and translator
Fady Andraos – singer and actor
Karl Sabbagh – Palestinian-British writer, journalist and television producer
Suleiman Mansour – Prominent Palestinian painter
Sabri Jiryis – writer and lawyer
Leila Sansour – film director
Makram Khoury – actor
Clara Khoury – actress
Kamal Boullata – artist & writer, Boulatta is the author of several studies on Palestinian art in particular, Palestinian Art (Saqi 2009) and Between Exits: Paintings by Hani Zurob (Black Dog 2012).
Steve Sabella – artist
Ibrahim Fawal – Palestinian American academic, former professor, and author of the historical novel On the Hills of God.

Militants

Sirhan Sirhan – assassin of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy
Chris Bandak – Palestinian Christian militant and a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the Tanzim, both armed wings of the Fatah movement, convicted and imprisoned in Israel until 2011.^[11]
Wadie Haddad – Palestinian leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's armed wing. He was responsible for organizing several civilian airplane hijackings in support of the Palestinian cause in the 1960s and 1970s.
George Habash – founded the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Businesspeople

Yousef Beidas – founder of Intra Bank
Hind Khoury – Palestinian Delegate-General to France
Hasib Sabbagh – entrepreneur and businessman
Zahi Khouri – Palestinian-American businessman and entrepreneur

Activists

Sumaya Farhat Naser – peace activist
Mubarak Awad – Palestinian-American psychologist and an advocate of nonviolent resistance
Alex Odeh – Palestinian-American anti-discrimination activist
Khalil Jahshan – lecturer in International Studies and Languages at Pepperdine University and executive director of its Seaver College Washington DC Internship Program
Salim Joubran – Justice on the Israeli Supreme Court
Mira Awad – singer, actress and songwriter
Hanna Siniora – publisher and human rights activist

Canonized by the Catholic Church

Saint Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas – founder of the Congregation of the Rosary Sisters, the only Arab religious order in the Holy Land to date
Saint Mariam Baouardy

Other

Sami Aldeeb – Palestinian-Swiss lawyer and author of many books and articles on Arab and Islamic law born to a Palestinian Christian family; left Christianity and became a nontheist.^[12]
Roberto Bishara – Palestinian football defender
Ibrahim Hazboun – Palestinian astrologer
Michel Shehadeh – Palestinian-American, member of the Los Angeles 8^[13]

Notes and References

Web site: Middle East Central Synod Inaugurated, Bishops Installed. 6 January 1976. 12 March 2021. episcopalarchives. English. 12 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210312172636/https://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/ENS/ENSpress_release.pl?pr_number=76002. live.
Web site: Retired Bishop of Jerusalem to Speak Tomorrow in Bethlehem Religion. 17 May 1986. 12 March 2021. The Morning Call. English. 7 December 2020. https://archive.today/20201207231428/https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-1986-05-17-2525060-story.html. live.
Web site: If Americans Knew presents. https://web.archive.org/web/20110320133041/http://www.israel-palestinenews.org/2011/01/interview-with-raymonda-tawil-militant.html. dead. 20 March 2011. Israel Palestine News.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190911-the-palestinians-resisting-israels-threats-of-detention-and-death/ The Palestinians resisting Israel's threats of detention and death
News: Israeli Arab Who Spied for Hezbollah Jailed for Nine Years. Haaretz. 21 January 2016. 16 March 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150316052023/http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-arab-who-spied-for-hezbollah-jailed-for-nine-years-1.340113. live.
Web site: Palestinian Human Rights Activist Jailed in Israel . Amnesty International . 30 January 2011 . 2 February 2011 . 1 February 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110201025123/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/palestinian-human-rights-activist-jailed-israel-2011-01-30 . live .
News: The Jerusalem Post. Persecuted Christians?. Larry. 7 May 2009. 10 May 2009. Derfner. 22 August 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230822142413/https://sdk.streamrail.com/cs-config/cs.html?org=5fc4e64a13fd9b0001fed793&tc=5fcf73ff6900a50001a5ff58&as=5fcf73ff6900a50001a5ff5a&type=hb&wd=cs.yellowblue.io&domain=fr.jpost.com. live.
Web site: The Christian Exodus from the Middle East. Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. 17 August 2009. Jonathan Adelman and Agota Kuperman. 24 May 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060524055344/http://www.defenddemocracy.org/usr_doc/Christian_Exodus_final_2.pdf . 24 May 2006.
Web site: 8 November 2013 . L'Entretien - Elias Sanbar, ambassadeur de Palestine auprès de l'Unesco . 15 October 2023 . France 24 . fr . 17 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231017150755/https://www.france24.com/fr/20131107-lentretien-elias-sanbar-ambassadeur-de-palestine-unesco-histoire-heritage . live .
Web site: A Palestinian Refusenik's Open Letter to the Jewish People. Jüdische Nachrichten. 21 January 2016. 17 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210817223108/http://friedensbewegung.zionismus.info/dialog/letter.htm. live.
Web site: PA minister visits family of imprisoned Palestinian Christian. Ma'an News Agency. 21 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20140904033453/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=211687. 4 September 2014. dead.
Web site: Centre de droit arabe et musulman مركز القانون العربي والإسلامي. Centre de droit arabe et musulman مركز القانون العربي والإسلامي. 5 August 2022. 13 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220813005151/https://www.sami-aldeeb.com/. live.
Web site: Victory at last for Los Angeles 8. 21 January 2016. 28 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160128203135/http://www.workers.org/2007/us/la-8-0208/. live.