Richelle Wiseman

If she gets her wish, this year Dr. Suhaila Tarazi will be able to celebrate Easter at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where Christians from around the world will attend worship services. The Church is one of the holiest sites in the world for Christians, built on the place where Jesus Christ was crucified and buried.

But Dr. Tarazi must first obtain a permit from the Israeli government to travel from her home in Gaza, to go into Israel and to Jerusalem.  She is doubtful she will succeed, and though it is only a short distance from Gaza to Jerusalem, it might as well be a world away.  She is part of the tiny Christian minority caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hamas.

Dr. Tarazi is the administrator for Ahli Hospital in the Gaza strip which is in a 100 year old building funded by churches in the Middle East and around the world.  It is a private Christian hospital run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, with a staff made up of Christians and Muslims.  During the recent war with Israel, the hospital suffered minor damage to doors, windows were shattered, and there are new cracks in the ceilings.  But the hospital treated some 400 casualties during the conflict.  With only 80 beds, the hospital was a beehive during the crisis, and Muslim and Christian doctors worked day and night to attend Muslim and Christian patients in cramped quarters and lacking medical supplies. 

“We provide service to all people of all religions here,” Dr. Tarazi said in a phone interview. “We never even ask who is who.  It doesn’t matter.  In our hospital we are working in harmony together.”

“This hospital has been here for over 100 years, and we have never been afraid to be Christians here,” she added. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t extremists in Gaza.  There are, but they target Muslims and Christians.  Extremists don’t differentiate.”

The Ahli hospital receives some assistance from the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), and treats around 52,000 outpatients per year.  Most people in the Gaza live in such poverty that they cannot afford any medical care, so the hospital staff and supplies are paid for through funds and donations from churches. 

In Gaza, there are only between 3,000-4,000 Christians in the midst of 1.5 million Muslims.  While they do not support the ideology or theology of Hamas, Christians share the same hardships as Muslims in Gaza.  Now, some Christians in Gaza fear that Hamas extremists will become more militant in the wake of the conflict, and that Christians will be targeted more often because they are increasingly seen as symbols of western political power.   Ironically, strong support for Israel by many western Christians has resulted in greater challenges for Palestinian Christians who feel largely abandoned by the western Church.  Emigration by Palestinian Christians is on the rise, leaving a shrinking active Christian community in the territories to worship and maintain Christian holy sites.

The statistics for Gaza are bleak on every count.  The average annual income is $1100, the unemployment rate is 35%, the infant mortality rate is at 18.5%, half the population is under 16, and there are 1.5 million people on a piece of land 25 miles long and 7 miles wide.  Add to that the death toll from the conflict of between 1100 and 1400 people including children, and the destruction of many buildings, homes and infrastructure. 

Since Hamas was elected in 2007, Israel has blockaded imports and exports into Gaza, and electricity has been rationed. Food and water in the drought-stricken area are always scarce.  During the crisis, international agencies had difficulty transporting supplies into Gaza, and efforts to provide humanitarian aid are still scrutinized as potentially helping Hamas.  After Hamas was elected, some Palestinians, including some Christians, moved to the West Bank.  Now families are divided, unable to leave either of the territories to visit Israel, or each other. 

 Dr. Tarazi will likely spend Easter Sunday with her family and friends in Gaza.  She will worship in her home congregation at  St. Porphyrious, a Greek Orthodox church which dates back to the 5^th century, the oldest church in Gaza.   It was named after the 5^th century Bishop Porphyrious whose tomb is in the church.  Some 400-500 Christians will gather there on Easter Sunday to celebrate Christ’s resurrection, a hopeful reminder that there is hope after suffering and life after death.  And this Easter, that will be especially meaningful to the Christians of Gaza. 

As for Dr. Tarazi, who longs for peace in the region, she hopes next year she can celebrate Easter in Jerusalem.