Daoud  Kuttab

Despite the decline of the Christian presence in the Middle East in general and in Palestine in particular, the Palestinian village of Zababdeh, in the  Jenin Governorate, is witnessing an expansion and increase in the number of the Palestinian Christian population.

Reverend Atallah Issawi, from the town of Zababdeh, travels between his birthplace and his home in Beit Jala and says that the population of Zababdeh now exceeds five thousand. “It is true that there is a decline in many surrounding cities and villages, but the majority of the Christian residents of Jenin and Tubas and surrounding villages have their homes and lands and move to live in Zababdeh, two-thirds of whose residents are Christian Palestinians.”

According to  Reverend, Issawi, there are only 350 people left in the city of Jenin, in Tubas, only 50 people, in Burqin 50, and in Kafr Qoud and Al-Jalameh, there are only 30 people each of them. There is one Christian family in the village of Deir Ghazal, while the Christians of Jaba’ sold their lands and homes and moved, like others, to Zababdeh.

Rev.  Atallah runs the Tabitha Charitable Foundation in Palestine, a foreign (Dutch) foundation registered with the Palestinian National Authority, in 2007, providing humanitarian and spiritual services to young men and women in Zababdeh.

Reverend Issawi says, “The project, the Zababdeh Community Center, started as a dream, followed by prayers, and now it has turned into a three-story center that provides a range of services and activities throughout the year, especially in the summer.” The center includes a guest house consisting of 11 rooms, and it is currently being furnished through a local carpentry shop. The Center also includes a nursery, which can be turned into a kindergarten and a playground for children.

Reverend Atallah says that the work in Zababdeh was difficult at first, as there was an attack by some who believed that the aim of the Center was to establish a new church in the town.

“There are four churches in Zababdeh, and they are sufficient. Our goal was not to add a new church. Some doubts persisted for a while, but now there is a conviction that our goal is to serve the sons and daughters of our town, nothing more. Relations with Christian and Muslim clerics and the relationship with the Palestinian government are “excellent,” he said.

The Center provides in-kind aid on Christian occasions. Volunteers visit the needy and hold a monthly meeting for women, in addition to permanent work with the town’s children and youth.

Last week, the Center completed a summer camp, which is the seventh in the Center’s life. 98 children aged 6-11 from Zababdeh participated. Rev. Atallah says “The camp was successful in all respects, and this was evidenced by the testimonies we heard from the parents about the love of the children participating in the camp.”

The working day in the camp was divided into four segments, starting with a spiritual session, followed by eating sandwiches and refreshments, then an art and sports session, and ending with a science and experiments session.

Eight volunteers from Zababdeh and six volunteers from Galilee participated in the training.

Eman Hanna and interaction with the people of Galilee

Eman Hanna from Nazareth talked about the work in Zababdeh saying it was extremely important to her and the volunteers who come from Nazareth and other cities of Galilee to serve. “Our hearts are with our people in the Palestinian territories.”

After graduating from France in theology, music, and Christian education,  Eman and her husband, Fadi,  worked since 1993 in the Bethlehem and Beit Jala regions with children. They worked with the Child Evangelism mission, and they focuses on children from generation six years up to the age of 16.

During their work in Beit Jala and Jerusalem, Eman, and Fadi got to know Pastor Atallah and his wife Hilda, and they were invited to cooperate with the Center in Zababdeh. “We started serving children and women, and we used the center for training. Relationships with women deepened, as we began to hear about their aches and pains. We pray with them and explain to them how the Lord Jesus can help in treating aches and pains.”

The activity carried out by Eman and the volunteers was not a one-way effort. Eman says, “The service provided an opportunity to get acquainted with the pain and afflictions of our people in Palestine, and we return daily and we conveyed this suffering and prayer requests to our churches.

Eman feels a special passion for the women in Zababdeh, as she notices how sad, tired, and frustrated they are. “We discovered that many of the women are tired, work is scarce, and the need is great. They are confined and imprisoned with their children. We notice despair and the absence of any sense that they have their own independence and self-esteem. They do not care about themselves and feel that they are victims. I try to convince them to take time off and have their own independent personality.”

Eman and Pastor Atallah are considering arranging trips to Galilee, but they are faced with problems and complications from the Israeli occupation, including the need for those who wish to obtain a travel permit to first obtain a magnetic card. Pastor Atallah says that during Christian holidays the Israelis provide permits for Christians, but for the rest of the year the occupation places a quota of how many Christian Palestinians will get a visit permit.” Sometimes we ask for permits and the Israeli side tells us that the quota for your Christians has been exhausted!!

Reverend Issawi feels that the relationship between Nazareth and Zababdeh has become strong, and there are long-term relationships, and groups have been formed on WhatsApp, during which constant communication takes place. “Our people in Nazareth sympathize with us and noticed the suffering of the workers and the political situation in general. They know about the checkpoints, the difficulties of movement, and the absence of any horizon for the future.”

Despite his position as a representative of the Dutch Tabitha Center in Palestine, Pastor Atallah does not receive a salary and works voluntarily. He hopes that the activity and work will reach the stage of appointing local leaders to manage the center, expand services and manage guest rooms that may provide a small income to continue the work of the Center.

Reverend Issawi notes that when the “service began in Zababdeh, the churches boycotted us, but when I met with them and they heard my ideas and that we do not intend to open a church and our work has proven the truth of our words, the attack has stopped. the biggest evidence is the turnout of women, families, and most importantly children from all church backgrounds to participate in the activities run by the Center despite the fact that other churches also carry out similar activities. We have built bridges with everyone inside Zababdeh and with our people in Nazareth, and we hope that relations and frameworks of communication with everyone will continue and increase. Our goal is only to serve, and we have no other goal.”–