Bethlehem — the birthplace of Jesus Christ — under Israeli rule it was about 50% Christian. Today, after three decades of Palestinian self-government authority rule, Christians make up nearly 15% of the city’s residents.

During the Second Intifada in 2002, Palestinian terrorists violently took over the Church of the Nativity and turned one of the holiest places in Christianity into a center of a 39-day armed siege.

The ancient Christian community of Bethlehem is disappearing. This is the lived reality of Christians under the rule of the Palestinian self-government authority.