If a Church Only Matters When It’s Not in Palestine, What Are You Really Defending?
If your concern for persecuted Christians disappears when those Christians are Palestinian, what exactly are you defending?
The Night Saint Porphyrius Was Hit
On October 19, 2023, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a building inside the compound of Saint Porphyrius, Gaza’s oldest active church. Civilians who had sought shelter there were killed. These were people looking for somewhere safe, believing that a church compound might offer protection when their homes could not.
What the Record Shows
Saint Porphyrius is a Greek Orthodox church in the Zaytun Quarter of Gaza’s Old City. A church has stood on the site since AD 425, and the current building was constructed by the Crusaders in the 1150s or 1160s — which is why it is often described as one of the oldest churches in the world, and the oldest still in use in Gaza.
On the night of October 19, 2023, roughly 450 Palestinian residents — mainly Christians — were sheltering in the compound. An Israeli airstrike destroyed a building in the compound where two halls were being used by refugees, including children and babies. Eighteen Palestinian civilians were killed and between 12 and at least 20 were injured. The church building itself was not damaged — it was the compound building, full of sheltering families, that took the hit.
Israel said it had been targeting a Hamas command centre in the area. Amnesty International’s investigation said it found no indication that the building that was struck constituted a military objective. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the strike in the strongest terms.
Selective Compassion Is Not a Principle
Some church leaders spoke out. But anyone who regularly demands outrage over attacks on Christians should ask themselves whether they showed that same concern for the families in Gaza.
Their Palestinian identity did not make their faith less real. Their location did not make their children less innocent. And their deaths should never become something to explain away because condemning the strike would challenge a political allegiance.
You cannot claim to defend religious freedom while deciding which worshippers deserve your sympathy.
If a church matters to you everywhere except Palestine, the problem is your selective compassion.
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