Fears of a Hamas government imposing an Islamic state and Shariah Law upon Palestinians have so far proved unfounded. In a report from Bethlehem, broadcast on the BBC Sunday programme, the now tiny Christian Palestinian minority, reduced in recent years from 12% to 2% of the population, shows little apprehension about the newly elected government. The Hamas Cabinet includes one Christian Minister, and they are currently looking to appoint a Minister of Christian Affairs. This broadcast makes clear that it is the oppressive restrictions of the Israeli occupation, and not difficultiers with Muslim neighbours, that has driven 400 Christian families from Bethlehem to join the Palestinian diaspora since the Second Intifada began.
Read more about the Christian response to the recent elections in an article by Naim Ateek, Director of the Palestinian Christian Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre, entitled Palestinian Elections: A Christian Perspective