Elias Najjar, a Palestinian Christian leader in the West Bank with whom I’ve worked for years, carries a legacy shaped by displacement. His grandparents fled their home in Jaffa amid the violence surrounding the creation of the state of Israel and the onset of the Nakba. In May 1948, his family found temporary refuge in Gaza, only to be uprooted again in 2007 by extreme hardship, eventually resettling in the West Bank. Like countless Palestinian families, their story is a portrait of quiet endurance across generations.
The Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” refers to the 1948 displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians and the destruction of more than 400 villages during the Arab-Israeli war. Many became refugees in neighboring countries or across historic Palestine. That same year, the U.S. became the first nation to recognize the new state of Israel and has remained one of its closest allies.
The terror of the Nakba and Najjar’s story should cause us to ask moral questions. It should also push Christians to wrestle with this question specifically: How long can a people be denied hope before their right to live in peace is finally acknowledged?
On May 15, Palestinians around the world will mark Nakba Day to remember the catastrophic events of Palestinian mass displacement. In years past, this day has largely flown under the radar. But this year feels different. After the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and in the wake of the state of Israel’s mass killing of Palestinian men, women, and children along with the staggering destruction of Gaza, the world can no longer look away. The question now is whether it will summon the courage to act.
As awareness of the Nakba spreads, it challenges narratives that have long overlooked Palestinian suffering. In my ministry across the U.S. and abroad, I’ve seen faithful, conservative churches begin to confront this history — and even reexamine theologies that have ignored the plight of Palestinians. Nakba Day is no longer just a memorial; it has become a moment of moral reckoning for many beyond Palestine.
What’s becoming increasingly clear is this: Without dignity for Palestinians, there can be no lasting peace. A growing number of Americans — from senators to students, pastors to pundits — have begun to understand that the future of the region depends not on military dominance, but on the recognition of Palestinian humanity and the fulfillment of their right to self-determination.
Across political, generational, and religious lines, a quiet but undeniable consensus is taking shape in the United States: The plight of the Palestinians can no longer be dismissed or ignored.
On Feb. 17, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Israel’s staunchest defenders, stood in Tel Aviv and issued a sobering warning. Leading a bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators, Graham declared that “Israel has won the war on theground but lost it on television” across the Arab world. He went on to say, “Israel will destroy Hamas, but Hamas will come back unless the Palestinians have something to live for.” Graham was not reversing his support for Israel but putting forth the argument that military victories are hollow without moral legitimacy, and regional stability is impossible without dignity for the Palestinians.
Across campuses in the United States, students are rising in protest. Many are Jewish. Many are Christian. Many are neither. But all are sounding the same alarm: The status quo is untenable, and the moral cost of silence is too high.
These young people aren’t motivated by antisemitism — as some allege — but by a desire to see an immediate ceasefire, increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, and an end to what they perceive as a disproportionate Israeli military response to the October 7 attacks. This isn’t antisemitism, it’s a shift away from support that is shaped by partisan politics and a shift toward support that is shaped by principle.
At the Jewish News Syndicate’s Summit in Jerusalem, Norm Coleman, a former U.S. senator and chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, warned, “We’re losing the digital war.” He was suggesting that Israel was losing the narrative battleground of social media, where Gen Z increasingly rejects one-sided frames. In April 2025, a Pew Research poll found that 53% of U.S. adults now express an unfavorable view of Israel. No messaging strategy can overcome what people are now witnessing for themselves.
Even prominent conservatives such as Tucker Carlson, who interviewed evangelical Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac, have appeared more willing to learn about the oppressive realities facing Palestinian Christians. I personally know about these oppressive realities as members of my own family live in Bethlehem, and members of my wife’s extended family live in Gaza. That such concern is now emerging from conservative circles may signal a broader reckoning with a system that is increasingly difficult to defend.
I’ve had many evangelical pastors confide that they’re rethinking their end-times theology, though they hesitate to say so publicly for fear of causing division in their churches. Some are shaken by the mass suffering of innocent Palestinians. Others return from trips to Bethlehem deeply moved, having walked through checkpoints and having heard firsthand stories from Palestinian Christians about the painful realities they face on a daily basis.
This awakening extends beyond the U.S. In Israel, human rights organizations such as B’Tselem and others have long warned that the occupation threatens Israel’s future. In the U.S., Jewish advocacy organizations such as IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace are mobilizing thousands in support of Palestinian rights. Their advocacy affirms that standing with Palestinians is not a betrayal of Jewish values, it’s an expression of them.
Palestinians and Israelis will remain in the land between the river and the sea. The question is not whether both parties will remain, but how they will achieve peaceful coexistence. Neither Israeli military force nor Palestinian armed resistance has brought peace. As a Christian, I reject the use of armed resistance, as it has only deepened the cycle of suffering and delayed the pursuit of a just and lasting resolution. I don’t often find myself agreeing with Graham’s foreign policy views, but on this point, he was right: Unless Palestinians are given hope for their future, the cycle of suffering will not end.
As May 15 approaches, we’re not only remembering history, we’re facing a moral crossroads. The truth is turning the tide. The question is not whether the world will see the suffering of Palestinians, but whether we will act in time to shape a future worthy of the Israeli and Palestinian people.
Dr. Fares Abraham, a Palestinian-American born in Bethlehem, is the founder and CEO of Levant Ministries. He serves as an Adjunct Faculty at Liberty University. Follow him on Instagram @faresabraham.
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!
