Moreover, no one should be fooled into thinking the Christian Arab minority among Palestinians are equal partners with the Sunni Muslim majority. To them they are nothing more than dhimmi – a protected but unequal minority. For all of the tension between Jews and Arabs, it is only in democratic Israel that Christians have complete religious freedom in the region.
We can hope that one day Abbas or one of his successors will be sincere when talking about peace on earth during the Christmas season. We’ll know they are serious when they stop pretending Jesus was a Palestinian. Until then, it’s clear that for the Palestinians, Christmas is just another day on the calendar whose purpose is to delegitimize Israel and to deny Jewish history and rights.