In a statement shared with the SACBC Communications Office, an ecumenical group advocating for justice in Palestine addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent speech at the UN General Assembly. “Decades of Israeli occupation, causing harsh living conditions, provoked many Christians and Muslims to emigrate and this reality continues until today,” say the ecumenical leaders. The statement stresses that the decline of Bethlehem’s Christian population is caused by Israeli occupation, not the PA. Christians and Muslims continue to live together, sharing struggles under occupation while seeking equality, justice, and peace. Hundreds have left Bethlehem in the past months because of the ongoing ravages of Israeli occupation and military violence. The leaders insist Netanyahu does not represent Palestinian Christians and call on the international community to focus on the occupation as the root cause of suffering.