Christian Palestinians in Britain

Abstract

This study seeks to address a gap in the literature with regard to the Christian Palestinians. As members of a very small minority, they are often overlooked by the media and the academic community. While this is changing to some extent for Christian Palestinians in the Middle East, there is scant literature that considers their lives in the ‘West’ and almost none on their experiences in Britain. This thesis considers how Christian Palestinians have adapted to life in London, including an analysis of the individual experiences of both Christian Palestinians and Muslim Palestinians. Interviews with respondents focused on their English language abilities, educational achievements, attitudes to intermarriage, and their sense of belonging. These aspects were chosen because they offer an insight into respondents’ private and public lives, a distinction that is particularly important in the study of integration and assimilation. Through the assessment of these attributes, this research seeks to redefine the way that assimilation has been viewed and argues that a more comprehensive study of assimilation must include not only an analysis of whether migrants have adopted a characteristic of the host nation’s population, but also an analysis of whether they have adopted the sentiments their native born counterparts have attached to them.