Christmas was celebrated in various cities across Israel on Saturday, highlighting bridges built between Jewish and Christian communities by organizations such as the Jerusalemite Initiative.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The non-profit organization, established in 2017, was formed to empower Arabic-speaking Christian Israelis in the Jewish state.
Elias Zarina, the cofounder of the Jerusalemite Initiative, spoke with Emily Frances of the i24NEWS magazine Holy Land Uncovered on the subject.
"The Jerusalemite Initiative is an organization that works for the local community of Christians in Israel, especially in Jerusalem," Zarina explained.
"We are Jews and Christians working side by side, focusing on the goal of integrating Christians" in Israel, he said.
He noted that the lack of education of the Hebrew language among the community is "the barrier between local Christians and Israeli society," so the NGO focuses on that issue.
Christians make up roughly two percent of Israel's population (177,000 people) as of 2019.
Around 78% of these people are Arab Christians.
"For me, as an Israeli Christian, I'm living in Israel with an Israeli ID… I'm Christian Arabic-speaking, but not really Palestinian," Zarina said.
"If I search for where I came from… I find that my roots come from Judaism. If I deny Judaism, I will also deny Christianity," he explained.
Christian Israelis are historically bound with their brethren in neighboring Lebanon and Syria and with Christian Palestinians.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
There is a conflict inside the community. There is a pro-Palestine side that believes in the Palestinian nation," Zarina described.
"Then there is my side, which believes we need and should live together here as citizens in the State of Israel," he said.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
