Jerusalem Bishops and Palestinian National Identity

There were three bishops of Jerusalem in 1900. Two of them were concerned with Pilgrims, Monks and Palestinians. The third, established under 19th C, was concerned with tourists (sometimes starting to become pilgrims if they were High Church), with missionaries, and with Jews. Newman left the Anglican Church when that one was established: "If Canterbury can be in Jerusalem, then Rome can be in England." The older two are obviously the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem.

Here is a video trying to explain the problem, and more than once it insists on Palestine having been underdeveloped and underpopulated and poor (as if that meant it had to give way to developed, populous and rich immigrants):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=_ZY8m0cm1oY

"Palestinians were never designated by the Ottoman Empire as possessing any distinctive Palestinian identity."

Has the author of the video any idea of what "national identities" were under the Ottoman Empire?

You were a Turk officially if you were a Muslim, I pretty much suppose. Meaning, as I still just suppose, there was no juridic distinction between Turkish, Bosniak, Arabic or Kurdish Muslims, only a popular one. You were - and here I am certain - an Armenian officially if you were an Armenian Apostolic Christian. You were a Greek if you were a Christian under the Patriarch of Constantinople. You were a Jew if you believed Torah and Talmud, or in the case of Hassidim, Torah without Talmud. Possibly also if you belonged to Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem.

Catholic and Orthodox were also recognised nationalities. Palestinians were divided into Turks under the Mufti of Jerusalem, Catholics and Orthodox, each under their own bishop of Jerusalem.

"6 Jews dead" (Jerusalem 1920)

The same year as Chesterton published The New Jerusalem. He does not mention the massacre, probably because it happened after he had left.

He does mention there is a problem. He mentions a demonstration with the slogan "Christians and Moslems are brothers".

Obviously the Christians in that rally were Palestinians of Catholic and Orthodox confessions.

Of lately some Moslems have not been treating Christians as brothers. Have the Jews started treating them - as in Palestianian Christians - like that?

Hans-Georg Lundahl
BpI, Georges Pompidou
31-V-2013
Visitation of the BVM
to St Elisabeth