Growing Up Christian in the Gaza Strip (Khalil Sayegh)

In this week's episode, Khalil Sayegh shares his experience as a Palestinian Christian. The territory of Palestine contains two regions: the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Though they share a people and a history, the two areas are separated by the country of Israel and are ruled by two different governments (the West Bank by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Gaza Strip by Hamas). Khalil discusses the modern political and religious dynamics at play in the Gaza Strip, including the relationships between Israel and Hamas and between Islam and Christianity. He also surveys Christianity in Palestine, from its use of Scripture to its approach to evangelism.

Khalil Sayegh is a Fellow at the Philos Project. He grew up in the Gaza Strip and currently lives in the West Bank. His public work focuses on challenging the negative perceptions of Jewish people in Palestinian society and promoting peace among the various religious groups in the region. He has studied at Bethlehem Bible College and American University.

Show notes:

• 0:00 Growing up in Gaza
• 1:54 War, mobility, and Christianity in Gaza
• 5:35 Sunni Islam and political parties
• 7:24 Gaza's Christian churches
• 9:15 Interactions between Christianity and Islam
• 11:03 Political power in Gaza
• 14:36 Christmas, Hamas, and public Christianity
• 16:27 Conditions for visiting the West Bank
• 19:30 Views of Christian Scripture in Palestine
• 26:11 Evangelism and responses to conversion
• 28:22 Cultural distinctives of the Palestinian church

Show notes by Micah Long