The war of 1948, after which Israel declared independence in most of historic Palestine, saw the flight, and in some cases, expulsion and massacre, of thousands of Palestinians, Christians and Muslims alike. When Israel occupied Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip in 1967, conditions deteriorated further. Israel has maintained military closures in the West Bank that strangled the Palestinian economy. The lack of opportunities, combined with the psychological distress of living under military occupation, has prompted many more Christians to leave their homeland. Although emigration has increased among Palestinians in general, the Christian population has declined more rapidly than that of Muslims.
Christians tend to exhibit a lower birthrate than the Palestinian population at large.
Furthermore, Western missionary educational institutions have contributed to a highly educated Christian population that is well poised for a move to Europe or North America, where Palestinians can find employment in their fields and adjust relatively smoothly to life in the West. Despite their minority status in Palestinian society, Christian Palestinians have historically maintained excellent relations with their Muslim neighbors. Christians fully identify with their Palestinian identities, and their psychological trauma at the loss of their homeland was as deep as that of all other Palestinians. Christians and Muslims have struggled together in the Palestinian nationalist movement, and these shared experiences have fomented cooperation, solidarity and unity among the two faith groups. Isolated incidences of discrimination or tension between Christians and Muslims have occurred, but generally the press that these cases receive grossly exaggerates the actual conflicts.