WHAT DO PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS FEAR?

The Melbourne Age published an opinion piece by a Palestinian Christian Abe Ata today. Entitled "Christians are vanishing from the land of their origin" it expresses the author's concern at the declining number of Christians living under the Palestine Authority rule.

The author blames the Israelis for this as much as Hamas or the Palestine Authority. There's no mention of the fact that after the formation of the Hamas government, a fatwa was issued against the YMCA in the West Bank town of Qalqilya. Unknown gunmen set fire to the building in September. No mention of the violent attacks against Christian holy sites in the PA territories in recent years including a grenade attack on the oldest church in Gaza and the burning to the ground of a 170-year-old church in Tulkarm. No mention of Hamas' failure to honour a promise of funding for the City of Bethlehem's Christmas celebrations.

No money?

Of course not.

Hamas is using what money it can smuggle into its coffers to build up its weapons supplies, to pay its own bureaucrats and to develop its worldwide propaganda network. The Palestinian PR machine even managed to convince the Archbishop of Canterbury to scapegoat Israel for the appalling situation of Christians under PA rule - even when no evidence exists to support such claims. The truth lies more closely in views expressed by Tony Pearce, Pastor of The Bridge Christian Fellowship as quoted by Melanie Phillips in her Diary. Responding to Rowan Williams' attack on Israel he wrote:-

"Dear Dr. Williams,

I have read the article in ‘The Tablet’ in which you speak about people leaving Bethlehem in large numbers and then ask the question: ‘I would like to know how much it matters to the Israeli Government to have Christian communities in the Holy Land. Are they an embarrassment or are they part of a solution? That’s a question.’

No doubt the Israelis have already given you their answer, perhaps informing you that the Christian Arab population within the pre 1967 borders of Israel has grown from approximately 34,000 in 1948 to nearly 130,000 in 2005. Ironically this is the only part of the Middle East where the Christian population is growing.

You should really have asked the Palestinian Authority how much it matters to them that there are Christian communities in their territory. The main reason for the departure of Christians from PA administered territories is the religious persecution, murder and land grabs which stems from the increased Islamisation of the region. This is the result of the PA adopting Muslim religious law in the territories in contrast to Israel which safeguards the religious freedom on its citizens.

You have nothing to say about the likes of George Rabie, featured in a recent article in the Mail on Sunday who is a taxi driver from Bethlehem and was beaten up by Muslims using his cab when they discovered he is a Christian. He said 'Every day, I experience discrimination. It is a type of racism. We are a minority so we are an easier target. Many extremists from the villages are coming into Bethlehem.'

Nor have you championed the cause of those who have been subjected to forced marriages of Christian women to Muslim men, received death threats for distributing the Bible to willing Muslims, or been intimidated into wearing traditional ultra-modest Islamic clothing. Nor have you written about the churches which have been firebombed by Muslim extremists protesting against the remarks of the Pope (most recently in Nablus, Tubas, and Gaza). Nor about the situation in which Christian Arabs have found their land expropriated by Muslims or been forced to pay bribes to win the freedom of family members jailed on trumped-up charges.
All of this is the main reason why Christian Arabs have been selling or abandoning homes and businesses, seeking to escape the chaos and corruption of the PA and move to Israel, Europe, South America, North America, or wherever they can get a visa.

Why do you have nothing to say about any of this in The Tablet or other public media? Of course you do not need to answer. We all know. No one in public life dares to make any comment even mildly critical of Islamic behaviour. On the other hand Israeli Jews are an easy target. In this way we in the west are already submitting to Islamic demands and behaving like ‘dhimmi’ citizens subject to the rule of the mosque. I find this utterly shameful and a betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ."

He’s right.

Israelis are an easy target, aren't they?

It's always Israel and it's always the "occupation".

The perfect excuse for everything.

But why are Palestinian Christians leaving PA areas in preference for Israel and why do the Christians of Bethlehem fear Moslem terror (read it here - you won’t find it in tomorrow’s Melbourne Age)?