The Antonian Charitable Society – Bethlehem was founded in 1913, and it is considered one of the first charitable societies that was established in the city of Bethlehem and in Palestine at a time when livelihoods were narrow and people’s conditions deteriorated and their economic conditions deteriorated, which called many families and individuals to migrate in search of livelihood and to escape the difficult living conditions that Palestine lived before the First World War, and those circumstances were an incentive for a number of Bethlehem youth to establish the association because of their belief in joint work in order to serve the community, help the poor and the needy, and provide social and charitable services under the slogan “in the service of God and man.” This slogan, which the Society sought and is still seeking to achieve through its work and the social services it provides to the individual and society, and to help and support the parish priest in its time, the late Father Francisco Alibo, FRANCISCO ALEPPO, played a leading role in establishing the Society in the name of the Brotherhood of St. Anthony of Padwani, following the footsteps and teachings of its patron saint, St. This brotherhood soon became a charitable organization thanks to its activity and the concerted efforts of its organizers. They registered it as an association at the end of the Ottoman era. The founders’ motto was to work “in the service of God and man.” Both for the individual and for the community.

The Society continued to provide its services tirelessly despite the ban imposed by the Mandate government on charitable societies operating in Palestine in 1917, but this did not prevent or discourage young people from continuing to provide their services. In the year 1921, the Mandate government opened the door to charitable societies by reconciling their conditions, reactivating their activities and registering them, which called on those in charge of the association to re-register it as an Ottoman association. and its prosperity.