Chris Bandak ( ar, كريس البندك; born January 13, 1979) is a Palestinian militant, who was convicted in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

for shooting at Israeli motorists, during the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...

. He is a Greek Orthodox Christian.

Life

Bandak was born into a Palestinian Christian family on January 13, 1979, in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

. He was born near the

Church of the Nativity The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity,; ar, كَنِيسَةُ ٱلْمَهْد; el, Βασιλική της Γεννήσεως; hy, Սուրբ Ծննդեան տաճար; la, Basilica Nativitatis is a basilica located in B ...

, said to mark the birthplace of

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, and his parents gave him the name Chris through its association with messiahship and since they believe Jesus to be of Palestinian descent as well as a savior of the Palestinians. He has an older brother named Khader. Chris' mother abandoned them when he was one years old. He was reportedly a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the

Tanzim ''Tanzim'' ( ar, تنظيم ', "Organization") is a militant faction of the Palestinian Fatah movement. Overview The Tanzim militia, founded in 1995 by Yasser Arafat and other Fatah leaders to counter Palestinian Islamism, is widely consider ...

, both resistance wings of the

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

movement. As a result of conviction for crimes related to this involvement he was imprisoned by Israel on February 6, 2003.A Season in Bethlehem: Unholy War in a Sacred Place, Joshua Hammer - 2004 He was released in 2011 as part of an exchange for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandak, Chris Palestinian militants Palestinian Christians Living people 20th-century criminals Eastern Orthodox Christians from Palestine Palestinian assassins Palestinian people convicted of murder Palestinian people imprisoned by Israel Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem People from Bethlehem 1979 births