About a thousand Christians from Jifna now live in California. Other once-Christian towns have already become mostly Muslim, including Bethlehem. Bethlehem residents claim there are more Bethlehem Christians in Santiago, Chile, than the 20,000 or so still here. Analysts give a number of reasons for their emigration. Like other Palestinians, the Christians in the West Bank have faced Israeli occupation that has choked off commerce and prompted violent uprisings.
Christians have more money and contacts abroad, easing emigration.
As an example of their bind between two stronger powers, Christians in the Israeli city of Nazareth were infuriated last year when Israel approved plans for a mosque near the plaza of the Basilica of the Annunciation. The church is where tradition states that the Virgin Mary was told she would give birth to the son of God. It appeared that Muslim activists, staging weeks of protests, had strong-armed the Israeli government over the objections of the local Christians. While few Christians claim they are victims of official persecution, they do claim that they have trouble getting jobs or buying land from Muslims. Sometimes, they say, they are called heretics, by Muslims.