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Christians facing persecution in the Holy Land. In the first part of this article, which I have not reproduced below, you will find Christians saying that everything is wonderful between them and the Muslims. But the record is clear, highlighting the fact that here again Christians in the Middle East know what they have to say to get along, however divorced from reality those statements are. From the Jerusalem Post:
In another case, a 60-year-old Christian man was briefly detained by one of the Palestinian security forces because he had forbidden his daughter to date a Muslim security officer. Other Christians who tried to stop Fatah gunmen in Beit Jala from firing into the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo in the first years of the intifada later reported that they had been beaten or threatened by the gunmen.The same gunmen are also responsible for the rape and murder of two Christian teenage sisters from the Amr family. The assailants then claimed that the sisters had been murdered because they were "prostitutes" and had been "collaborating" with Israeli security forces - a claim that has been strongly denied by the victims' relatives and many residents of the town. "The gangsters murdered the two sisters so that they would not tell anyone about the rape," says a family member. "Some of the murderers were later killed by the Israeli army, but others are now living in Europe after they had sought refuge in the Church of Nativity. It's absurd that Muslim men who rape and murder Christian girls are given political asylum in Christian countries like Ireland, Spain and Italy."
Last week Beit Jala was once again the scene of religious tensions after a Christian woman complained that she had been harassed by Muslim men from the village of Beit Awwa in the Hebron area. "Such incidents have become a daily phenomenon," says Mary, who runs a small grocery in the town. "Many Christian families have sent their daughters abroad for fear they would come under attack by Muslim men."
Earlier this year tensions between Muslims and Christians in Bethlehem reached a peak after a Christian family complained that their 16-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by a Muslim man. Following the intervention of senior Palestinian officials and Muslim leaders, the girl was reunited with her family after spending a few days in a village near Hebron. With the help of American diplomats, the girl was flown immediately to the US to begin a new life with relatives and friends.
Some Christians point a finger at the foreign media and diplomatic missions in Israel, accusing them of ignoring their predicament for "political" reasons. "Although most of the foreign journalists and diplomats are Christians, they don't seem to pay enough attention to what's happening to the Christians in Bethlehem," says Bishara, a Christian tourist guide. "They're obviously afraid of damaging their relations with the Palestinian Authority."
While it's almost impossible to find a Christian who's prepared to go public in airing such grievances, Samir Qumsiyeh, a journalist from Beit Sahur, is a notable exception. Last month he was quoted by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera as saying that Christians were being subjected to rape, kidnapping, extortion and expropriation of land and property.
Qumsiyeh, who was not available this week for an interview because he was out of the country, heads a local TV station called Al-Mahd [Nativity]. In a daring step, Qumsiyeh drew up a list of 93 cases of anti-Christian violence between 2000 and 2004.
"This file is incomplete and it's not up-to-date," he told the Italian newspaper. "Look at the case of Rawan William Mansour, a 17-year-old girl from Bet Sahur. She was raped two years ago by four members of Fatah. Even though the family protested, none of the four was ever arrested. Because of the shame her family was forced to move to Jordan.
"Almost all 140 cases of expropriation of land in the last three years were committed by militant Islamic groups and members of the Palestinian police." Qumsiyeh said he was now preparing a book on the conditions of the Christian minority. "I will call it 'Racism in Action,'" he says. "The racism against us is gaining pace in staggering ways. In 1950 the Christian population in Bethlehem was 75%. Today we have hardly more than 12% Christians. If the situation continues, we won't be here any more in 20 years."
Posted by Robert at October 23, 2005 7:56 AM
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http://www.persecution.org/newsite/newsdetail.php?newscode=1467
Posted by: leavingtheleft![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 23, 2005 8:05 AM
I wish people of good faith had been with me to hear the relentless litany of historical distortions and slander. Michael Tarazi, a Harvard-educated attorney and former advisor to Palestinian leaders, accused Israel of starting all the Arab-Israeli wars, saying Israel probably withdrew from Gaza because Israel has, "depleted all the usable drinking water."
http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/6883.htm
at October 23, 2005 8:11 AM
Another Christian-Muslim divide is opening up in the British city of Birmingham.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4368636.stm
All of your read-between-the-lines skills are required to decipher what went on in the Lozells area of Birmingham last night. The BBC and the rest of the British multi-culti dhimmi press aren't going to tell you the truth any time soon.
As far as I can tell this happened:
Muslim youths gang raped a 14 year old black Jamaican girl. The girl, being an illegal immigrant, didn't want to report the rape to the authorities. A community leader meeting was held in black church to "diffuse tensions". A roaming mob of Jihadi youths (always described in the dhimmi press as South Asians to give the impresssion they might also be Hindus) goes on the rampage to protect their honour. A man (not described as South Asian) is stabbed to death.
It's not clear whether the man killed by the Muslim mob is a black man. If it is a black man, there sure will be more "tensions" in that area of the city soon.
Posted by: 1630r at October 23, 2005 8:23 AM
1630 - we shouldn't really pre-judge this case, as we don't yet know all the facts. On the general point, though, about the term 'South Asian', more usually 'Asian' being used when 'Muslim' would be more accurate, you are quite correct.
In British English, for those not in the know, 'Asian' generally denotes people from the Indian sub-continent. I believe that in American English it also covers South East Asia, those whom in less politically correct days, we used to call 'Orientals'.
Posted by: Interested at October 23, 2005 8:30 AM
Interested,
Yes, you are right - my mistake. The Independent identifies the mob as "Afro-Caribbean youths" (I haven't been watching the television reports). But it is so difficult to tell what happened in any race hate crime that doesn't involve a white attacker and a minority victim. The press report these stories in an entirely different way.
Posted by: 1630r at October 23, 2005 8:54 AM
Until recently all racism was assumed to be white versus black and Asian. It is only recently that other types of racism, often far more acute, have even been noticed.
Two Pakistani friends of mine made mixed marriages. When one married a white man, the family was not pleased. But when the other married a black man, all hell broke loose, and she's still paying for it.
Posted by: Interested at October 23, 2005 9:09 AM
The Independent identifies the mob as "Afro-Caribbean youths"
Remember one of the 7/7 bombers, Jermaine Lindsay, was a black Jamaican convert to Islam.
Posted by: Dr. Pepper at October 23, 2005 2:10 PM
For more on this story read The Custody Must Be Doubled in the Holy Land
The Christians of Bethlehem and Palestine are in greater and greater danger. The Custodian of the Holy Places accuses the Islamic extremists and the Palestinian Authority, "which is doing little or nothing."
In addition to recounting the same incidents as reported in the Jerusalem Post, the article contains the following:
These and other incidents reported in the dossier confirm a reality already emphasized by other observers: the distinct increase in Muslim hostility toward Christians in the Holy Land that has taken place since the outbreak of the second intifada at the end of the year 2000.A recent and direct documentation of this crescendo of hostility is found in a book by Elisa Pinna, an expert on international religious questions for the news agency ANSA: "Tramonto del cristianesimo in Palestina [The Twilight of Christianity in Palestine]," published in March of 2005.
The turning point – Elisa Pinna explains – came with the introduction of a new element into the second intifada: Islamic fundamentalism.
Previously, the Palestinian movement was of a predominantly nationalistic character. And this character was due in large part to the contribution of Christian Arabs belonging to a refined and Westernized élite, which was not without tinges of Marxism. The guerilla leaders George Habbash, Wadi Haddad, and George Hawatmeh were Christians. But the leading proponents of the moderate and pragmatic wing, which supported the Oslo accords, were also Christian: Hanan Ashwari, Hanna Seniora, and Afif Safia.
But now the latter of these figures are in the shadows and under threat. Even the death of Yasser Arafat has worked to the disadvantage of the Christians.
Another part of the article exemplifies a (un?)remarkable parallel to another thread on JW concerning the fate of orphans of the recent Asian quake.
In Bethlehem, there is a Christian institute called "La Crèche" (The Manger), which cares for newborns abandoned by their parents. "They are the offspring of illegal relations cut off violently by the sharia, the Islamic law that reigns supreme in the refugee camps," the institute's directors explained to Elisa Pinna. "Their number is growing. None of these children can be adopted by couples outside the country. It is prohibited; the Palestinian Authority doesn't want it. They must remain here, in Bethlehem. They must remain Palestinian and Muslim."
There is a second article that highlights the difference between Christian-Muslim relations and Christian-Hebrew relations.
Posted by: Lisa at October 23, 2005 2:54 PM
From people who were in contact with Bethlehem Christians before the area was handed over to Arafat rule in late 1995 by pm Shimon Peres, I have heard that many of the Bethlehem Christians did not want to be ruled by Arafat. In fact, harassment of Bethlehem Christians by Palestinian Authority forces started in 1994, as far as I know, when Arafat's terrorist entity was established only in Gaza and Jericho, not yet in Bethlehem. But the PA police were allowed to roam freely and exercise control over Arabs in Bethlehem too. Peres gave full control over Bethlehem to Arafat's PA after Pres. Clinton had pressured him on this matter at the Rabin funeral in November 1995. The history of this country since the Oslo accords in 1993 has been a series of tragedies and suffering.
As to Michael Tarazi, he is a shameless liar. He has no compunctions about telling the most bizarre, outlandish lies. Since he has a perfect American accent, he is probably more credible than his fellow PLO/PA liars, Hanan Ashrawi, Erekat, Hassan Abdul-Rahman, etc. I heard him claim once on TV that, as a Christian, he could not vote in an Israeli election. In fact, not only do Christian citizens vote, but some are members of Knesset [the Israeli parliament](Bishara, Mahoul, etc.), judges, government officials of high rank (Oscar Rizk), etc. Now, not only does the kind of lies told by Tarazi and other PA/PLO spokesmen mean that the PA/PLO does not want peace with Israel, but rather that they want to destroy Israel. Further, the several Arab Christians among these lying PLO/PA spokesmen are endangering their fellow Arab Christians by their activities [by encouraging the Islamic forces, whether in Fatah or Hamas, by covering up for these forces in the West, and thereby helping them take more territory from Israel through Western pressure, etc.].
Posted by: Eliyahu at October 24, 2005 7:13 AM
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