http://www.crosswalk.com/news/11560968/
West Ignoring 'Systematic Persecution' of Palestinian Christians
Julie Stahl
Jerusalem Bureau Chief
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - If Western governments do not address the
Muslim persecution and economic plight of Palestinian Arab
Christians, there won't be many Christians left in the Holy Land
within 15 years, an Israeli scholar said here.
Loss of employment, land seizures, attacks on churches, intimidation,
torture, beatings, kidnappings, forced marriage and sexual harassment
of Christian women are clear human rights violations that have
contributed to the exodus of Christians from the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, said Justus Reid Weiner, who spoke at the Jerusalem Center for
Public Affairs on Monday.
"Since the empowerment of the Palestinian Authority in 1995, the
systematic persecution [of Arab Christians] has been met with nearly
total silence," said Weiner, an international human rights lawyer and
scholar at the JCPA. "This silence has included the international
community, relevant NGO's (non-governmental organizations) and other
human rights activists and the media."
Christian Arabs are concentrated in and around Jerusalem and the West
Bank cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah. There also is a tiny Christian
community in the Gaza Strip -- about 3,000 Christians among 1.4
million Palestinians. Most are Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic,
Lutheran and other traditional denominations.
In Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, the Christian exodus has been
most acute. In 1990, 60 percent of the population there was
Christian. Today, some estimates say 20 percent or less of the city's
population is Christian.
Tens of thousands of Arab Christians have fled the West Bank and Gaza
Strip over the years. An estimated one thousand Christians have left
Bethlehem each year for the last seven years -- a period covering the
Palestinian uprising. There are between 10,000 and 13,000 Christians
remaining in the city.
Today, only 1.5 percent of the population in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip is Christian.
Church leaders blame the steady flow of emigration on Israeli
occupation and the security barrier. But, he said, church leaders,
who should be protecting their followers instead are being forced to
abandon them to "the forces of radical Islam."
Weiner said that Christians are often terrified to tell their
stories. He mentioned several prominent cases of persecution but
noted that these were only the tip of the iceberg.
In October, Rami Ayyad, who ran the Palestinian Bible Society in the
Gaza Strip, was kidnapped and murdered, reportedly because he would
not convert to Islam. (See earlier story)
Several weeks later, American-born Pastor Isa Bajali, who had been
doing humanitarian work in Ramallah for years, was threatened by a
P.A. official and others who allegedly tried to extort $30,000 from
him. (See earlier story)
In another earlier case, a 16-year-old Arab Christian, who held
American citizenship and was living with her family in Bethlehem was
kidnapped by a 23-year-old Muslim man, who claimed they would marry.
Her family was only able to secure her release with the intervention
of the U.S. diplomats. The incident received virtually no media
coverage, Weiner said.
According to Weiner, if Christian leaders and Western governments do
not work to change the situation, within 15 years there won't be a
Christian community here with schools, Bible study centers and shops.
Only a few clergymen and Western Christians will remain, he warned.
He suggested that providing professional employment for educated
Palestinian Christians could help.
David Parsons, spokesman for the International Christian Embassy in
Jerusalem, said that Christians from around the world are "largely
unaware" of the emigration of Christians from the Holy Land because
local clerics observe a "code of silence," refusing to speak out
against Muslim persecution.
"We have to understand that this is an ancient survival mechanism --
not to say anything bad about your Muslim neighbor, or it could cost
you," Parsons told Cybercast News Service.
When Western governments look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
they do not see the Christian element as a real factor, said Parsons,
but it certainly should be, he added.