In June 2025, I was a few weeks away from flying out to the State of Israel and occupied Palestine. It would have been the first trip of its kind sponsored by Colorado College since before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. I planned to interview several Israeli and Palestinian peace organizations about a subject that I felt received very little attention over the course of the Israel-Palestine conflict: Christian-Palestinian perspectives on Israel-Palestine and interfaith relations.
For the less familiar, the broader Christian faith has had an inextricable role in the Israel-Palestine conflict, though to varying ends. Prominent religious figures, including the late Pope Francis, have called for a ceasefire since Israel began its military campaign in the Gaza Strip. Pope Francis later donated his world-famous pope-mobile to be used as a mobile health unit in Gaza.
Conversely, organizations like Christians United For Israel — a pro-Israel Evangelical group that claims a membership of over 10 million — have lobbied U.S. foreign policy on Israel while maintaining close relationships with Israeli politicians, including Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet with the land of Palestine being the birthplace of Christianity and the home to a sizable Christian Palestinian population, I hoped to find their voices in the conversation of Israel-Palestine.
My visit to the region ultimately fell through, as in the weeks leading up to my flight, Israel and Iran entered into what has been termed The 12-Day War, with ballistic missiles exchanged, buildings destroyed, thousands of people injured, thousands of Iranians killed and thousands of Israelis forced into bomb shelters. Despite the war, I was still able to speak to three organizations virtually, amidst a series of delays and interruptions caused by the unpredictability of Israel’s military operations. Out of the nearly twenty organizations I had contacted, only three responded to my requests for interviews: Musalaha, Holy Land Trust and the Arab Educational Institute-Pax Christi. Each of my correspondents requested that they remain anonymous for their safety. No Israeli Jewish organizations responded to my requests.
The first of my correspondents represented Musalaha, a faith-based not-for-profit peace organization that focuses on reconciliation between people of different ethnic and faith backgrounds, including Muslim and Christian Palestinians and Israelis. Based in Jerusalem, they conduct educational workshops throughout the year, following a step-by-step reconciliation process. They begin with restoring relationships, which they said could take months or even years.
As Musalaha’s representative explained, “you need to call for justice together, to be able to stand for your neighbor.” In this process, they seek to challenge what they term the “dominant cultural, political and social narratives” of the Israel-Palestine conflict, which they described as being “manipulated for fear-mongering, existential hate and threats.”
Musalaha works to speak truth to a settler-colonial reality of Israeli occupation, and bring people from all sides together for joint action through nonviolent co-resistance, which they view as necessary for change. They explain that this can be an intensely emotional and confrontational process for both Palestinians and Israelis alike — the former of whom must survive military injustices and killings, as well as work through traumatic interactions with Israelis. The latter must overcome misconstrued notions and propaganda that Palestinians are, broadly, antisemitic terrorists.
Musalaha spoke of this as requiring real sacrifice from community participants. From the ground up, Musalaha hopes that “eventually, political power may come from this work” through growing social and political pressures, which they said require assistance from more powerful foreign governments.
My second correspondent represented the Arab Educational Institute (AEI), an associate organization of Pax Christi International: a global Catholic peace movement dedicated to “promoting Gospel nonviolence, justice, and reconciliation rooted in Catholic social teaching.”
The AEI has focused on the education of Palestinian women and children and engaging in advocacy for gender equality, human rights, community building and a just peace — a peace which must be attained through “sumud,” a Palestinian term that translates to “steadfastness.”
Like Musalaha, the AEI has engaged with both Israelis and Palestinians to bring about mutual understanding and peace.
However, as my correspondent explained, since the onset of the war, they have stopped meeting with Israelis due to recent policies and restrictions put into place by Israel, which have drastically reduced the AEI’s ability to foster peace education across borders.
My third correspondent represented Holy Land Trust (HLT), an nongovernmental organization founded during the early period following the Oslo Accords — agreements between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization — which had promised work towards a peace treaty between Israel and Palestine based on mutual recognition and respect. This treaty never came to fruition.
At its founding, HLT sought to educate young Palestinians and bring about the next generation of political leaders in anticipation of the formal creation of a Palestinian state. Though not a Christian organization, they took inspiration from the teachings of Jesus Christ, Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on attaining peace.
Now, HLT seeks to support the Palestinian community to process traumas and anxieties stemming from the Israeli occupation, as well as what they described as the effects of a national Israeli trauma from the Holocaust. They likened their work to trauma-informed care. HLT also runs travel programs for foreign citizens to visit and better understand Palestine, operating with the belief that art and culture are a “universal language.”
The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (COI) determined that Israel was actively committing genocide against the Palestinian people on Sept. 16, 2025.
The HLT cited the Jewish Talmud, saying, “For this reason was [Adam] created alone, to teach you that whoever destroys a single soul Scripture imputes guilt to him as though he had destroyed a complete world.” This notion has been similarly adapted into the Qur’an. Each of my correspondents pointed out that Gaza and the West Bank are inextricably tied together, as they have only been truly cut off since 2006 — after the Second Intifada — with family members, friends, and colleagues forcibly and permanently separated.
The death toll in Gaza, mostly women and children, rose to at least 67,000, profoundly impacting those in the West Bank, for whom the deceased are close relations. Musalaha made it clear, “all Palestinian children are our children, because we are one people.” At the time of this interview, a community associate of Musalaha had lost 42 friends and family members to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Even still, this associate is reportedly still working through the organization’s process of reconciliation. “It’s extremely difficult to fight against the theft of our humanity, but we cannot lose ourselves in vengeful actions and emotions that are evoked by this attempt,” Musalaha said, indicating that those most strongly affected in the community should be leading the peace movement.
Each organization I interviewed reported significantly fewer participants and programs since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, with Musalaha describing the situation in the West Bank as “surviving, not living.” Costs of living have skyrocketed as Palestinians who had once worked in Israel as tour guides, restaurateurs and hotel managers have had their work permits—mandatory for all Palestinians who cross into Israel for work—taken away en masse. Palestinian students seeking to study abroad have had such opportunities foreclosed on them, and mobility as a whole has steeply decreased.
“Nobody can plan anything,” said the Musalaha representative. “Poverty is everywhere…we need to have grace for those who cannot prioritize reconciliation in these times.”
Additionally, the rapid expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank—which are illegal under international law according to the Fourth Geneva Convention—have contributed to restrictions on Palestinian mobility, as simply traveling from one West Bank city to another now requires lengthy and convoluted routes subject to inspections and detainment by Israeli security forces. HLT spoke to the process of settler expansion as witnessing the “complete deletion and demolishment” of Palestinian towns and villages as settlements gradually took their place, with the AEI describing this process as a feeling of “being eaten and swallowed by settlers.”
According to the HLT correspondent, nearly 200 iron gates have been installed around Palestinian cities and villages, blocking movement and communication within the community, creating what HLT called “an open-air prison, filled with ghettos.” The AEI described the situation in the West Bank as “paralyzing,” necessitating community gatherings to share stories, not just of suffering, but of “hope in action.”
Christian Zionism has risen as a prominent international movement since the founding of the State of Israel, and especially in the 21st century, with organizations such as Christians United For Israel (CUFI), which has lobbied the U.S. government extensively in favor of pro-Israel policies since its founding in 1975. A significant drive behind my inquiry was how movements like Christian Zionism could be reconciled with opposing Christian perspectives — such as those held by the Catholic Church, which has condemned Israel’s actions during the genocide and made repeated calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Further, each of the Palestinian organizations I spoke with are either based in the Christian faith, adhere to practices or beliefs inspired by Christian teachings or represent a significant Christian Palestinian community. I asked each organization how they understood and reconciled with Christian Zionism, and where Palestinian Christianity stood on the subject of Israel-Palestine. Musalaha firmly opposed Christian Zionism, calling it an “instrumentalization of the Christian faith to eliminate a people, and a betrayal of what Jesus stood for,” in favor of political supremacist and imperial goals that required a “dehumanization and elimination of a native Indigenous people.”
Musalaha went on to assert that Christian Zionism generally deviates from Jewish interests, while HLT warned that Christian Zionist interests are often at the expense of the Jewish people. This includes concepts such as “premillennial dispensationalism,” a belief held by some members of the Christian Zionist community, which holds that the “restoration” of an Israeli state will lead to the physical return of Jesus Christ.
The AEI further clarifies that the “theology of the land [of Israel, of Palestine] is the problem,” and differing interpretations of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Testaments have led to deep and consequential divisions between the practitioners of the Abrahamic faiths — primarily represented by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The AEI said that the representatives and members of these religions must “come together for a national program to decide how to go forward,” while still advocating for the rights of Palestinians.
Christian Zionism is only one variant of the broader mission that is Zionism. Zionism principally advocates for the establishment of a secular Jewish homeland in the land of Palestine. The AEI took a grave stance on Zionism, warning that “it is deadly for the Jews, deadly for the Muslims and deadly for Palestinians,” citing the history of bloodshed since Israel’s founding. HLT felt it important to clarify Zionism’s secular, rather than religious nature, claiming that Zionism “has nothing to do with Jewish teachings, though it is nonetheless affecting current teachings in Judaism.” They went on, “before Zionism, many Palestinian Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze lived together peacefully,” and that part of the Zionist mission has been to “remove the basic, human feelings that would connect Israelis with Palestinians.”
Connecting the issue of Zionism to Christian Palestinians, Musalaha noted a deep tie between the contemporary Palestinian people as a whole and Jesus Christ himself.
“Jesus was born, condemned, and died here. Palestinians relate strongly to him, his respect for the land, his parables, and the way he confronted people in power,” said Musalaha. “Palestinians now carry the cross of colonialism, of the residual trauma of the Holocaust, of accusations of antisemitism and of Jesus’s sacrifice.”
HLT also spoke to this, citing Palestinian Christians as “the first Christians in the world,” who are now victims in a conflict that “is not Jewish-Muslim, or focused on combating radical Islam.” Rather, it is a conflict between Zionists and Arab people, regardless of religion, as “Palestinian Christians have been killed intentionally by Zionists who do not want them to be part of the story of the land.”
A common flashpoint in debates surrounding both Israeli and Palestinian rights to the land is the notion of “indigeneity,” or who is Indigenous to the land. My correspondent from Musalaha framed this by sharing the personal lived experiences of Musalaha’s founders, in their cases, of having been born in a town that no longer exists — in its place, the Ben Gurion International Airport now stands.
My correspondent from HLT recalled their personal heritage, for which the earliest church records show their family to have lived in Palestine for at least 800 years. According to my correspondent, their family most likely converted to Christianity from Judaism — just one example of the ancient blood ties between Palestinians and Jews that they said is too often ignored. To them, Indigeneity means “you’ve always been here.”
To my Musalaha correspondent, Indigeneity means an “interwovenness with the fruits of the land, with faith, with history, with environmental stewardship, with taking care of your neighbors, believers and non-believers,” repeating again the concept of sumud or “steadfastness.”
They went on, “It’s a belonging that isn’t about spatial or territorial boundaries, but about traditions and faith — a feeling that you should be here, that it’s your mission to make this a better place. We can change this, Israelis and Palestinians, we can form healthier ideologies.”
Palestine’s role as the “Holy Land” complicates things when it comes to claims of biblical birthright, oft-cited by Zionist movements. “If you call the land ‘holy,’” said HLT. “You need to respect its sacredness. And exclusivity is not helpful.” They continued, “most of the heritage of the land is actually Christian,” yet they insisted that religious heritage did not grant the right to exclude others.
“Who am I to deny a Jewish person to worship here, to live here? Likewise, who are you to deny my right as a Christian Palestinian to worship by the Sea of Galilee?”
My correspondence with the AEI elaborated: “this land is that of God. He would not be a just God to make the land for one people and deny another, it should be a land for all people, a common home,” emphasizing coexistence in future Israeli-Palestinian relations. As a reminder of the region’s long history of migration and colonialism, he continued, “the original churches that were built here were built on pagan lands.”
I had also asked how keeping faith has changed or been affected over the course of the genocide, with the memory of this year’s Ramadan being marked by rampant famine and displacement in Gaza. HLT noted a distinction between what I had phrased as “keeping faith” and “keeping practice.”
“You can keep faith wherever you are, but the practice is challenging,” he said. He noted that 2025 would be the third consecutive year in which Palestinians in the West Bank would be unable to celebrate Christmas as a community or participate in the Palestinian Christian tradition of visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the eve of Easter. “Freedom of religious expression just isn’t possible,” he said.
My AEI correspondent noted that Israeli police often shut down religious celebrations, “yet we must go on past frustration and remain steadfast, in a peaceful struggle.” Musalaha noted a particular challenge of “containing joy” in the midst of genocidal disaster. “For Christians, Easter gives renewal, new beginnings, but nothing compared to before the war. We don’t want to celebrate too much,” recognizing that in Gaza, there are only a few hundred Christians left, celebrating in the rubble of destroyed homes and churches. Musalaha related this issue of faith to Jewish Israelis, stating that “some [Israelis] wish for Judaism to be separated from Zionism.
There can be feelings of guilt, questioning what is being done in the name of God.”
At the end of our discussion, I asked where each organization saw Israel and Palestine heading into the future. Readers should be reminded that, given the constantly and rapidly changing circumstances surrounding the genocide, these answers are reflective of my correspondents’ views as of July and early August of 2025.
HLT spoke to the growing international visibility of the genocide, and that “this war has changed thousands of people’s minds away from blindly supporting Israel.”
“[Israel] is becoming more and more internationally isolated,” a statement which continues to hold relevance in light of recent actions taken by the United Nations and several of its most prominent member states towards officially recognizing a Palestinian state, which to this day only holds observer status in the UN14.
“It is only America that keeps Israel going the way it has been,” HLT continued, referring to the United States’ hardline support of Israel. The AEI warned, however, that “if this stubbornness and continued refusal of all international law goes on, the cycle of violence will continue, and more extremism will result,” anticipating growing conflicts with other countries as tensions rise. Musalaha, however, held a grim outlook. “We should expect things to get worse before they get better,” they said, anticipating that an annexation of the West Bank — a process they affirm has already been in effect since 1967 — would likely go forward, despite international efforts.
Communities in the West Bank are bracing themselves for a future similar to Gaza’s, Musalaha continued, as refugee camps in the West Bank have been the targets of airstrikes, and civilian homes have been raided indiscriminately by Israeli security forces. “Still, there is faith,” Musalaha said. “No one is going anywhere. All regimes based on death and destruction have themselves died,” though Musalaha could not guess at how much more violence it would take to get to that point.
Musalaha further dismissed debates over one-state and two-state solutions as being “too divisive” and “begging many questions,” asserting that without there first being reconciliation, there is no workable solution to the conflict.
Each organization put forward their vision for a postwar Israel and Palestine, which brought their viewpoints together in unity for the foundation of a home, where there could be “celebrations of diversity, respect for the equal rights of everyone…a place empty of discrimination, as a symbol of peace for the world,” as HLT put it.
In accordance, AEI hopes for more “stability, relaxation, and freedom on the path to justice, on the path to end occupation, “with an emphasis on new and younger generations of politicians being “more aware, educated and future-minded.” Musalaha condensed their view for a postwar outcome as the foundation of a home, bringing into question whether a “genocidal regime” can ever really be a home.
Much has changed in the time that has passed between my interviews. Thousands more Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s continued offensive in Gaza, with the most recent death toll confirmed to be over 70,000 (including at least 20,000 children) and over 170,000 injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The Gaza Strip has been all but razed to the ground, with images of the region showing few buildings still standing — nearly everything has been destroyed. A tenuous ceasefire now holds between Israel and Hamas, though it is abundantly clear that any sense of peace in the region is still a distant notion.
It will take a great deal more than political rhetoric to actually broker peace in Israel and Palestine. Having been knocked off the edge of one knife, we fall onto the edge of another, in the latest developments of a 77-year long pattern of conflict, dispossession and genocide in Palestine.
So the road ahead of us continues to grow ever longer.