‘Our community is terrified’: A faith leader talks about what it means to be a Palestinian Christian in the US
Pastor Khader Khalilia is one of the few Palestinian Christian faith leaders in the United States. He talks to The World’s host, Marco Werman, about what it’s been like to lead a church in the US, especially during the past nine months of war in Gaza.
He is from Bethlehem, in the West Bank, and came to the US in 2005 to attend divinity school.
Khalilia has led the evangelical church for a decade as one of the few Palestinian Christian faith leaders in the US and said that he speaks to his congregation about the plight of Palestinians. He also said that many people outside of his own congregation assume that all Palestinians are Muslim.
The World’s host, Marco Werman, spoke to him about what it’s been like to lead a church in the US, especially during the past nine months of the war in Gaza.
Marco Werman: Do you ever get surprised reactions from Americans when they learn you are a Palestinian Christian pastor?
Pastor Khader Khalilia: When people ask me, “When did you convert to Christianity,” I always look at my watch and say, “2,000 years ago on the day of Pentecost.” And I always remind people that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, my hometown.
People visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank, March 5, 2020.Mahmoud Illean/AP/File photo
So, a bit of a surprise for a lot of Americans, but your congregation at the Lutheran church in Brooklyn has learned from your own experience and background. I mean, Christian Palestinians do have a low profile, but it’s not an uncommon identity. There are like 160,000 Palestinians living in Israel and the Palestinian territories who are Christian, mostly in the West Bank, where you’re originally from. And you lived there until 2005. What made you leave?
I was invited by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to continue my theological education here in the United States, and the goal is to serve the Arab and Middle Eastern community. And I’m serving at an Anglo congregation, but we are also merging with Salam Arabic Lutheran Church. It is the first Arabic Lutheran congregation in North America, and we will have one congregation with two expressions: English and Arabic.
Our members are excited to be together as the body of Christ, and the body of Christ is always diverse and unique and this is who we are now. We’re going to become a multicultural, multi-ethnic congregation.
I should point out, as well, that you experienced the conflict firsthand in the West Bank when you lived there and came very close to losing your life. Can you can you tell us what happened?
Well, I came back [to my home], and I sat on the couch like a couch potato in my hometown of Beit Jala. And then, all of a sudden, I heard shooting. And then, a bullet passed my ear and I heard it, and then it hit a picture … that was hanging on the wall. And then, we had to lay on the ground, you know, and the shooting lasted for six hours, and we had moved from one corner to another. It was a very terrifying experience. At that time, I was protecting my younger brother. He was next to me. And when the shooting stopped, we went outside and we saw the bullets were made in the United States.
How do you share an experience like that with your congregants, I mean, given the politics of the moment, because I imagine it can get very charged very quickly?
My people are open-minded. I shared this story in one of my sermons actually. They are aware of what happened to me growing up in Palestine. I shared my life growing up under occupation. I talk about what’s happening to Palestinians on a daily basis.
I’m curious if you’ve noticed any changes in attitudes at your church since Oct. 7, when this latest conflict between Israel and Hamas started?
People were shocked to learn about what happened on Oct. 7, I have to say, but also they know Gaza has been under siege for 15 years. And they’ve been living in an open-air prison and, basically, the international community did not give a d— about what’s happening to the people in Gaza. And your listeners might know, like 60% of the population of Gaza is under the age of 18. And what we are witnessing happening there, it’s basically been displacement over displacement, destruction over destruction. And what’s happening now in Gaza is a genocide, and we are funding this genocide. The Biden administration is funding the genocide. And my people are very sympathetic to the families of the Israeli hostages and to those people who got killed on Oct. 7, but they also want to see Palestinians have their own self-determination and freedom and live as human beings.
An installation of a scene of the Nativity of Christ with a figure symbolizing baby Jesus lying amid the rubble, in reference to Gaza, inside an Evangelical Lutheran Church in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Dec. 10, 2023. World-famous Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem were put on hold due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.Mahmoud Illean/AP/File photo
Right now, if you can speak as a Christian Palestinian pastor in the US, what is the hardest part of your job?
The hardest part is basically, yes, I’m a pastor, and part of my job is to provide spiritual and emotional and psychological support. But I can tell you, people from the community have been coming to me, they are seeking counseling and guidance and help, and our community is terrified. We are witnessing the rise of hate against Arabs and Muslims and Muslim Americans, and nobody is doing anything to stop this hate, unfortunately. So, the hardest part is to be in people’s shoes and listen to them and provide emotional and psychological support.
And what do you think is the most satisfying part of the role you’ve taken on as a pastor and, kind of, de facto representative of Palestinian people? What’s something that you did not expect?
Well, I love my job as a pastor. I see this as a call to preach, to preach to the word, administer the sacraments and walk with people. Like, for example, I’m with 12 youth from my congregation in New Orleans attending an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America youth gathering, doing community service here, but also being together to pray, study and sing and dance and be together. So, I love what I’m doing as a pastor.
I’m wondering if there’s a cultural side to your role as pastor that you’ve been able to share with your church, something that distinguishes maybe Palestinian Christianity?
I always say the word marhaba in Arabic, which comes from the Syrian and Aramaic language of early Middle Eastern Christianity, and the word marhaba means, “God is love.” When I hang out with people I always see people, not as strangers, but as part of my family. And this is something unique about the Palestinian culture.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.