Heart and Soul: Last Christians of Gaza

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 June 2024

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

George Antone is a member of the only Roman Catholic Church in Gaza, part of a dwindling Christian community whose roots in this area, go back to the 4th Century. When war broke out in October 2023, he is convinced that staying in Gaza City is the right option - for safety and to continue bearing witness to Jesus in this part of the world. His is the first family to move into the compound of the Holy Family Church and he helps lead the parish through the next months as they suffer deaths of loved ones, near starvation and destruction of their homes. Throughout it all, he keeps in contact with BBC Producer Catherine Murray sending her WhatsApp messages from a warzone.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm Catherine Murray.
0:07.0	The man you can hear praying is George Anton, a 43 year old Palestinian.
0:16.4	He's standing on the altar of the Holy Family Church, the only Roman Catholic parish in Gaza.
0:24.0	George took refuge in the church compound in Gaza City eight months ago,
0:30.0	ignoring warnings to leave the north, leading a community of more than 500 people who stayed too.
0:37.0	Together, they sheltered from the Israeli military action that came after the devastating killings and kidnappings by Hamas on October the 7th.
0:49.0	George refused to leave because he's one of the last Christians of Gaza and he's been
0:55.6	telling his story to me. It's a story of faith and hope amidst destruction and loss.
1:03.7	If we have left the church, this church will be very much destroyed
1:09.3	and there will be no existence for the church anymore. You know, there is no rise, there is no wheat flower. I
1:15.7	ask them, do you want to stay with me and my wife and my children they told me
1:20.5	either we go together or we die together.
1:23.6	This is very important.
1:25.2	We will face a very dangerous hunger.
1:28.5	Our children will die and the old people here will die.
1:32.2	Everybody will die here. So please help us.
1:37.0	It's a story and didn't set out to follow, but George's feet gripped me from the first text he ever sent on October the 10th, the day this news broke.
1:49.0	The Israeli military has told the entire population in the north of the Gaza Strip to move for their own safety.
1:55.0	More than a million Palestinians, including all those living in Gaza City, are affected.
2:00.0	Israel has deployed tanks on Gaza's boundaries as it prepares for a possible ground offensive
2:05.3	in response to Saturday's wave of killings and hostage taking by Hamas.
2:09.8	Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus is a spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.