"The systematic persecution of Christian Arabs living in Palestinian areas is being met with nearly total silence by the international community, human rights activists, the media and NGOs." — Justus Reid Weiner, International Christian Embassy, Jerusalem, Israel, August 20, 2013.
"There are incidents happening constantly... Most times, it is a case of the Muslim community overpowering the minority, which is the Christian community." — Christian Arab, quoted on condition of anonymity, Israel365News, November 21, 2022.
"The leaders of the Christian community in the West Bank are reluctant to hold the Palestinian Authority and their Muslim neighbors responsible for the attacks. They are afraid of retribution and prefer to toe the official line of holding Israel solely responsible for the misery of the Christian minority." — Khaled Abu Toameh, October 31, 2022.
"The only thing that interests the PA is that events of this kind not be leaked to the media. Fatah regularly exerts heavy pressure on Christians not to report the acts of violence and vandalism from which they frequently suffer, as such publicity could damage the PA's image as an actor capable of protecting the lives and property of the Christian minority under its rule.
Even less does the PA want to be depicted as a radical entity that persecutes religious minorities. That image could have negative repercussions for the massive international, and particularly European, aid the PA receives." — Dr Edy Cohen, "The Persecution of Christians in the Palestinian Authority," BESA Center, May 27, 2019.
"The fact that the Palestinian Authority continues to make sure that there is a Christian mayor in Bethlehem is only window dressing... It's a show used to convince the world that Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christianity is still a Christian town. It is not Christian. It is Muslim in every regard." — Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, November 21, 2022.
This Christmas, it is important to remember that, due to ongoing but silenced persecution, Christianity is on the verge of disappearing in the place of its birth -- Bethlehem, the scene of the Nativity. It is a silence that gives the Christmas song "Silent Night," an ominous meaning.
Why is the persecution of Christians in Bethlehem and other areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority so unreported or under-reported? "The attacks by Muslims on Christians are often ignored by the international community and media, who seem to speak out only when they can find a way to blame Israel," according to journalist Khaled Abu Toameh.
After noting that there "has been a marked uptick in religiously motivated attacks by Palestinian Muslims on Christians in Bethlehem," a report from November 21 offers these examples:
"Just over two weeks ago, a Muslim man was accused of harassing young Christian women at a Forefathers Orthodox Church in Beit Sahour near the city of Bethlehem. Soon after, the church was attacked by a large mob of Palestinian men who hurled rocks at the building while congregants cowered inside. Several of the congregants were injured in the attack.
The Palestinian Authority, responsible for security in the area, did nothing.
In October, unidentified gunmen shot at the Christian-owned Bethlehem Hotel after a video on social media associated the hotel with a display that included cardboard cutouts of a Star of David and a Menorah. ...
No arrests were made in connection with the shooting.
Perhaps the greatest shock to the community came in April when the Palestinian evangelical pastor, Johnny Shahwan, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority security forces on charges of 'promoting normalization' with Israel. ...
In January, a large group of masked men carrying sticks and iron bars attacked Christian brothers, Daoud and Daher Nassar, on their farm near Bethlehem. The Palestinian courts have been working to confiscate the farm that has been owned by the family since the Ottoman Empire."
The persecution of Palestinian Christians is, in fact, a longstanding problem, according to Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation:
"Unfortunately, these recent attacks against churches are not new. Christians have been under attack in Bethlehem for many, many years. There have been bombings. There are near-constant physical attacks against Christians. They're going on a regular basis, ever since the Palestinian Authority took over."
According to Kamal Tarazi, a Christian man who fled from the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip in 2007, "The moment they [Hamas] took control [of Gaza], they started persecuting us, ruining our churches and forcing Christians to convert to Islam." Before fleeing, Tarazi tried to resist the Islamist takeover, and called on Muslims and Christians to unite against Hamas. As a result, "I was jailed several times," he said. "Do you know what a Hamas prison is? It is pure torture."
Numbers confirm that Christians living under the Palestinian Authority (PA) are experiencing continual ill-treatment that Muslims do not. In 1947, Christians made up 85% of the population of Bethlehem, an ancient Christian stronghold. By 2016, Christians had declined to only 16% of the population.
"In a society where Arab Christians have no voice and no protection it is no surprise that they are leaving," noted Justus Reid Weiner, a lawyer acquainted with the region.
"The systematic persecution of Christian Arabs living in Palestinian areas is being met with nearly total silence by the international community, human rights activists, the media and NGOs."
Incidents of persecution are never reported by international media. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Christian Arab resident of Bethlehem emphasized that all of the most recent instances listed above were underreported even within Israel itself, before adding:
"This needs to be heard for the purpose of educating the Jewish world and the Christian world about the state of Bethlehem.
For the full article in pdf, please click here:
Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Defenders of the West: The Christian Heroes Who Stood Against Islam, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Follow Raymond Ibrahim on Twitter and Facebook
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Pictured: The Church of the Nativity in the Bethlehem. (Photo by Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty Images)
Comments