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At FrontPage, Jamie Glazov interviews Justus Weiner of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs about the plight of Christians in the Holy Land and Weiner's new book Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society.
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Justus Reid Weiner, a Scholar-in-Residence at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, an independent policy studies center. He currently teaches courses on human rights and international law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His main research field is the human rights challenges facing Arab Christians. He is the author of the new book, "Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society".FP: Justus Reid Weiner, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Weiner: Thank you Jamie.
FP: First things first, what motivated you to write this book?
Weiner: My initial interest in human rights began at the age of 10 or 11 when my great-grandfather, then almost 90, came for an extended visit. Jacob, who spoke with a heavy Yiddish accent and was missing the index finger on his right hand, regaled me with stories about his childhood in Odessa during the reign of the Czar. He described what it was like for Jews living in fear of pogroms in which the police looked the other way as drunken anti-Semites roamed the streets murdering any Jews they came across. I was embarrassed to ask him what happened to his finger, but Jacob told me anyway. Like in other Jewish families, Jacob's parents feared the Czar's conscription gangs who, without asking for permission, would kidnap boys of 12 and ship them off to serve in Siberia or the Far East. The term of service was 20 years and few ever returned to their families. To prevent this, Jacob's parents got him drunk and took him to the butcher who chopped off his trigger finger, rendering him unsuitable for army service. As I was then almost the age at which Jacob lost his index finger, I had nightmares about what he told me.
My specific interest in the plight of Christians living in Palestinian society is more recent. Eight years ago I met a Christian pastor who, knowing that I was a human rights lawyer, urged me to investigate the human rights abuses directed at Muslims who converted to Christianity. I knew nothing about this, and frankly doubted that anyone would victimize the adherents of the world's largest religion. But as I began to interview people most were reluctant to even meet me. If they agreed to reveal what they had suffered, they insisted that I refer to them by a pseudonym.
FP: Why do you think there has been an increase in Islamic fundamentalism in Palestinian society?Weiner: The increase is a regional phenomenon. Indeed it would be hard to find any predominantly Muslim country in the Middle East, North Africa or even into Asia, where Islamic fundamentalism is not on the rise.
FP: Tell us about the persecution of Palestinian Christians and why their persecution became so much worse since the Oslo peace process began.
Weiner: These are acutely trying times for the Christian remnant residing in areas ‘governed’ by the Palestinian Authority. Tens of thousands have abandoned their holy sites and ancestral properties to live abroad, while those that remain do so as a beleaguered and dwindling minority. They have faced virtually uninterrupted persecution during the decade since the Oslo peace process began, living amidst a Muslim population that is increasingly xenophobic and restless. Chaos, nepotism, and corruption are endemic. Their plight is, in part, attributable to the influence of Muslim religious law (Sharia) on the inner workings of the Palestinian Authority. Moreover, the Christians have been abandoned by their religious leaders who, instead of protecting them, have chosen to curry favor with the Palestinian leadership.
My new book reveals and analyzes why this persecution, largely ignored by the international community, the media, and even the human rights organizations, has metastasized to the extent that it threatens the very existence of this 2000-year-old community. If current demographic trends continue Bethlehem runs the risk, in another 15 years, of becoming a Christian theme park for tourists -- with no "real" living Christians.
FP: Christian Palestinian women have suffered terribly. Can you tell us some of the details of their plight?
Weiner: Christian women suffer rampant sexual harassment, rape and even forced marriage. For example, Islamic militants have attempted to force Christian women wearing modern, revealing clothing to conform to the strict, modest Muslim dress code. In addition, Muslim men have attempted to rape Christian women, sometimes achieving their objective. These victims may, ironically, end up marrying the man who raped them because in their society they are regarded as unclean for marriage purposes.
Christian men risk being jailed when they intervene to rescue Christian women being attacked or insulted. The Muslim perpetrators get off scot-free because they have family members in the upper echelon of one (or more) of the 12 "security" forces.
FP: Why does the international community ignore the plight of Palestinian Christians?
Weiner: This is something I have never fully understood. This is a human rights issue par excellance, not merely a Christian issue.
Perhaps a partial answer is simple ignorance -- as only of late have a few courageous Christians begun to complain to the media and human rights groups. Scholars are beginning to address this tragedy as well. But really, there can be no justification, just excuses.
FP: Islamic militants want Christian women to dress more modestly yet at the same time they engage in sexual crimes (i.e. rape) against them. Isn’t there some kind of pathological contradiction here in terms of what sexual morality is? So it is supposedly wrong for a woman to wear what she wants, but it is somehow ok to rape her? What gives here? And what kind of God does a person believe in when he is raping a woman and thinks that God is happy with, and supportive of, what he is doing?
Weiner: Yes, Islamic militants frequently complain that Christian women dress immodestly and they use that “justification” to harass, or in some cases, even to rape them. And this phenomenon is not by any means unique to the West Bank and Gaza – it has been addressed in articles from far-flung countries with substantial Muslim immigration such as Australia and Norway.
While some Muslim men may truly be offended by women’s revealing modern fashion, Islamic law no doubt provides others with a handy excuse for criminal conduct. Of course Western courts would never accept the argument that women who don’t wear the veil are announcing to the world that they are sluts or even prostitutes. In Western jurisprudence such a “justification” would simply not be tolerated.
By way of background, the Qur’an (Islam’s holy book) is rife with gender and religious discrimination. Thus, for example, Muhammad taught that women are inferior to men, their testimony in court carries less weight, and their inheritance rights are halved. Marriage (or sexual relations) between Christian men and Muslim women is prohibited, and punishable by death. But a Muslim man is allowed to marry a Christian woman, even if he has abducted and raped her. Moreover, their offspring would be forced to accept Islam, and the woman would have no say if her husband engaged in polygamy by marring up to three additional wives.
Historically Christian women taken captive by Muslims in warfare have been enslaved or worse. And even when there is no conflict, legally speaking it is virtually impossible to convict a Muslim man of raping a Christian woman. This follows from the fact that testimony of non-Muslim witnesses inadmissible in Muslim courts. Furthermore, it is most unlikely that the Christian rape victim with be able to find four male Muslims willing to testify on her behalf that they had witnessed the penetration. Indeed, even leveling such a charge can backfire on the victim. That is, if a woman levels a charge of rape against a Muslim man and cannot prove it, she runs the risk of being severely punished for fornication or adultery, both ruthlessly punished by Islamic law.
FP: If the Palestinians received their own state, what kind of state do you think it would be? Would democratic rights be respected? How would Christians exist in such a state?
Weiner: Your question is profound. It forces me to think and worry. Certainly precedent is not encouraging. Former Chairman Yasser Arafat's (and current leader Mahmoud Abbas’s) commitment to democratic values was/is vague at best. The Palestinian Authority’s indoctrination of Palestinian children, from a very young age, to hate and kill Christians and Jews, for example, directly contributes to a culture that produces suicide bombers and cheers on September 11.
Moreover, the testimonies provided in my new book make it pointedly clear that lawlessness and anarchy have swept the West Bank and Gaza Strip in recent years. Gangs of Muslim thugs and thieves have created what a former Palestinian Cabinet Minister described as “total chaos.” It is essential that the Palestinian Authority arrest these militants who, in their range of mafia-like conduct, frequently abuse and intimidate Christians.
But let’s think optimistically for a moment. Clearly, if the Palestinian Authority's were to adopt sound human rights policies and practices it would contribute immeasurably to the survival of the Christians, not to mention the success of any future peace process. Christian Palestinians' expectations regarding an improvement in their personal liberty deserves to be met, and should not be limited to empty promises and rhetoric.
FP: What can we do to help Christians being persecuted by Palestinians?
Weiner: In essence, the U.S. statute known as the International Religious Freedom Act was intended to enable the President and the State Department to use incentives and pressures to improve the lives of groups like the Palestinian Christians. But regrettably, because the U.S. wants to maintain friendly relations with countries that are crucial to its national security and policy interests, President George W. Bush may choose largely symbolic steps to oppose religious persecution abroad.
President Bush however, has made the support and spread of religious and political freedoms a cornerstone of his foreign policy during his second term. Clear evidence of this comes from Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's trip to China earlier this year, during which she made a highly publicized visit to a church. In remarks she made to the press following her visit, Secretary Rice described how "religious communities are not a threat to transitioning societies; in fact, they are very often... a force for good, for stability and for compassion in societies that are undergoing rapid change." If the Bush Administration were to target the Palestinian Authority explicitly with its stated policy - which makes religious freedom part of the Bush Doctrine of democratization – it could only improve the situation for Palestinian Christians.
The United Nations is less likely to perform a useful role. The UN’s feeble response to the gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Palestinian Authority further exemplifies the extent to which the desire for peace between Israel and the Palestinians supercedes the basic rights of individuals, especially the Christian minority, living under the Palestinian Authority. That is, he UN has taken the posture of compromising its role as protector of human rights in order to maintain a political role in negotiating peace.
Unfortunately, through the discretionary use of its own human rights doctrine, the UN has sacrificed not just its legitimacy and objectivity, but the human rights of minority groups such as the Palestinian Christians.
I am not suggesting that human rights concerns should trump considerations of peace making, national security or economic stability, but rather that the necessity of the realization that peace, national security, and economic stability often depend directly on the respect for human rights. This situation must be recognized by those who would otherwise willfully ignore the plight of Palestinian Christians in the name of peace. There cannot be peace in the Middle East until the Palestinians respect the rights of their internal minorities. This is no less important a prerequisite to negotiations than the oft-repeated demands of a cessation of terror.
The future of the Palestinian Christian community and any other religious minority living under the PA will rest on the potential for religious tolerance and the rejection of fundamentalist and archaic attitudes towards non-Muslims. As long as the constitution of the PA reflects the principles of Sharia law, it seems as though the emergence of religious tolerance will remain highly unlikely. As long as the PA continues to shirk its agreed-upon commitments to uphold the principles of religious freedom, the Palestinian Christians will continue to suffer. Furthermore, as long as the international community continues to ignore the human rights problems in the Palestinian territories, there will be no chance for a proper liberal democracy to emerge upon completion of the peace process. Instead, the world will be left with yet another Middle Eastern autocracy that abuses the most basic human rights values without regard for international norms.
FP: Justus Weiner, thank you for joining us today.
Weiner: Thanks for the opportunity.
Posted by Robert at December 23, 2005 8:59 AM
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For bloggers who don't know of Justus Reid Weiner, he's the fellow who investigated and uncovered Ed Said's rather overblown claims of Palestinian "citizenship". I'm sure this article will be worth reading every word, as Weiner takes the exacting approach of trained and scholarly lawyer (which he is) in presenting well-founded facts, identifying issues and articulating arguments.
On the other hand, Deutche Velle's English language broadcast, as re-broadcast by CBC Radio gave the usual account of the poor Arab residents of Bethlehem "living in the largest open air prison because of the 'Wall'" without a single reference to Muslim attacks on the Christian community as well as the continual launch of terror attacks on Israel that led to the construction of the barrier in the first place.
Posted by: waterdragon52![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 23, 2005 9:39 AM
Boxter, I dislike Islam, too. However, many Muslims are indeed leaving it. Further, while the Qu'ran and Hadith stink, few Muslims know and understand them.
As for the article, the persecution of Christians by Muslim Arabs in the PA territories is indeed deplorable. Maybe a lobbying effort to deny funding to the PA, some fact-finding tours, and throwing a few feminists at the problem might help.
Posted by: Kepha at December 23, 2005 2:39 PM
It must be a lonely existance being a Copt or christian in Judea or Samaria.
Posted by: biorabbi at December 23, 2005 6:10 PM
My sympathies are with the Christians living in the Holy Land. However, they have been their own worst enemies so often, blaming everything on the Israelis and not speaking of the Islamic monsters in their midst. It seems hard to find a Christian who has left the Holy Land to speak the truth as to what is really happening there and why the Christian have almost disappeared. The Christians in the diaspora must speak out for their families and friends still there.
Posted by: maryrose at December 23, 2005 8:44 PM
"Islamic militants want Christian women to dress more modestly yet at the same time they engage in sexual crimes (i.e. rape) against them.."
It is a common error to think that Muslims are virtuous and their women modest because they wear the hijab.
The fact is that Muslims are not interested in virtue and morality, for very rarely they are taught the ten commandments, instead they all know the five pillars of islam, which only promote their religion and its rituals.
The hijab in present times is only a powerful symbol of islamic militancy. Rather than being meant for modesty, it is a tool to intimidate the women not wearing it.
In present days many whores find it convenient to wear the hijab in Muslim countries and societies. Prostitutes are asked no questions when they wear hijab and it is very convenient to hide their activity.
Posted by: rocky at December 23, 2005 9:44 PM
I know I sound like a broken record here always returning to the same theme, but:
The only hope for the Holy Land's Christians is to assert their own militant nationalism. Bethlehem, Ramallah, Zababdeh, Nazareth, etc. are Christian towns and Christians must assert their right to govern these areas according to our own traditions and laws. Only then will our sacred sites be secure and our women and children safe from the Mulsim hordes.
This Christian nationalism should not be limited to the Holy Land. Lebanon must become a Christian state. Assyria should be an independent Christian nation. And the Copts should have absolute sovereign autonomy within Egypt.
It is time that the world's Catholic and Orthodox Christians take the position that an attack on one Christian is an attack on all of us. We should also answer the Muslim umma by a formal declaration that any territory that was Christian at any time in the past is part of our "umma" and should be returned to Christendom.
We can have a jihad too!
Posted by: Provoslavni at December 23, 2005 10:37 PM
"Bethlehem, Ramallah, Zababdeh, Nazareth, etc. are Christian towns..."
-- from a posting above
Not any more they aren't. Muslim Arabs are outbreeding them, and making life as unpleasant and physically dangerous for the local Christians, no matter how much those locals parrot the Muslim party line (not all, but many, do). Bethlehem is now what? 30% Muslim? Think if the Christian population of Lebanon, and what has happened to it over the past 50 years. Why should it be different in Bethlehem, or Ramallah, or elsewhere? These are not "Christian towns" but towns where the Christian presence, now make up less than 2% of those still under the "Palestinian" Authority (or "Authority")in the West Bank. As for Gaza -- don't even ask.
It would be interesting to show graphically how all over the Muslim countries the percentage of non-Muslims in the general population has gone steadily down. Hindus were 15% of te population of Pakistan (then West Pakistan) and are now 1/10th that; they were over 30% of the population of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) and are now 8%. The Christians in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan have gone steadily down, and in North Africa, and of course in the "Palestinian" held lands that, if the Israelis had had any sense, they would never have surrendered, and if the countries that were once considered the product of a Christian heritage had had any sense, they would not only not have pressured Israel to give up those lands, but moved heaven and earth to persuade the Israelis not to give an inch -- and possibly, to help repopulate them with Christians either from the Middle East or elsewhere, to preserve a Christian presence, ideally a non-Arab Christain presence.
Posted by: Hugh at December 23, 2005 10:53 PM
High,
Since 1967, the Christian population has declined at a rate unprecedented since the original Muslim conquest. And this was under Israeli occupation. Now the Muslim PA comes into power (again, thanks to the Israelis) to finish the slow genocide of the Christians.
If I seem harsh on the Israelis, It is because they are the only ones in a position to do something. We can't expect anything from the PA because their interests are Islamic. But Israel has a moral foundation as well as a self-interest in preventing the Muslim destruction of these historic Christian communities.
We can never expect better from Muslims, but we can hope that the Israeli government will be proactive in these areas and change its current policies.
Why the Israelis? Because they are the only ones who can. To the shame of the West, there is no Christian solitarity. In the 1800s, the French took on the role of "Protectors of the Maronites" in its relations with the Turks. The Russians did the same for the Orthodox (even going to war with the Turks over the issue). Today, the Christians of the Middle East have no one to defend them.
Posted by: Provoslavni at December 24, 2005 1:33 AM
"to finish the slow genocide of the Christians."
-- from a posting above
The word "genocide" does not apply here. It certainly does not apply to the Israelis, who have scrupulously protected Christian sites and have made them accessible, save on those occasions when Muslim "Palestiinian" terorrists have used them as places from which either to conduct attacks, or to flee from the Israelis after conducting such attacks, knowing full well that the Israelis, unlike the Muslims who in every way (some too disgusting to go into) desecreated the Church of the Nativity, will not enter churches but will subject the terrorists within to a siege. And that is exactly what happened.
I would be interested in your figures on the Christian population of certain areas, and when the decline occurred, and for what reasons. Feel free to post data -- numbers, percentages, and so on -- right here, along with the sources of that data, so it can all be checked. And when Christian Arabs flee from what was once held by Jordan before 1967, either to Israel or to Western countires, ask exactly why. Is it because of "Israeli" persecution, or past, present, and future worries about the circumambient Muslims, and a desire to get out while the getting is good. But first, let's have your figures.
Let's take Bethlehem, and Nazareth. Tell me exactly what the Christian populations were in 1948, and then in 1967, and then whenever the first was put under P.A. rule (Nazareth was always part of Israel).
I'll wait right here for the figures, and the analysis.
at December 24, 2005 6:56 PM
Christians, and to a lesser extent Jews, have been emigrating from the Middle East since the 19th century. Eddie Said's father came to the USA before World War One and was a US citizen. I question pravo's claim that Christians were leaving Judea-Samaria/West Bank/ at a higher rate after the 6 Day War than during Jordanian rule. Further, I remember being in the Marrakesh restaurant in Jerusalem [owned by a Jew from Marrakesh with whom I was somewhat acquainted] in the Spring of 1988, near the start of the first so-called "intifada." There were Christian Arabs from Bethlehem at another table who spoke with us about the situation and were very visibly concerned. I know from other sources that already in that period Hamas and Fatah were harassing Bethlehem Christians, trying especially to get possession of real estate there, in one case burning down the house of a Christian who refused to sell. So I would say that the Christian Arabs were not so pro-PLO or pro-Muslim [not speaking of their leadership], but since the Western powers would not speak out or intervene on their behalf, and since Israeli intervention on their behalf would have either painted them as collaborators with Israel or have been condemned by Western govts [yes!], then they were in a difficult position indeed. As for rates of Christian abandonment of Bethlehem, I tell pravoslavni that the highest rate has been since arafat and the PLO took over Bethlehem in December 1995. By the way, recall that bill Clinton asked then PM shimon Peres why he didn't expedite Israel's departure from Bethlehem and other cities in Judea-Samaria. Pravo also has an unrealistic view of "Israeli control" of the situation, whereas the EU, the USA, and Saudi Arabia have much more influence on what the "palestinian authority" does. Pravo should investigate the Western "human rights" and "humanitarian" outfits operating out of Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem and what influence they have on encouraging hamas' jihad, on selling the rights of local Christians, etc.
Posted by: Eliyahu at December 25, 2005 6:44 AM
l am always perplexed at the attacks by the leftist media on Israel, US policy, when not one of them speaks up for women's rights and issues in Muslim states, and no condemnation of Muslilm killings.
the media looks for victims, but it seems they are always siding with the onces doing the crimes!
at December 25, 2005 12:50 PM
Hugh:
Th Webster's dictionary defines genocide as"
"the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group"
This definition does apply to dhimmis living under Islam. Look at the Zoroastrians of Persia, The Christians of Anatolia, Meroe, or Carthage, the Jews of Arabia, and the Buddists of Cenral Asia. This was cerainly deliberate and systematic as Islam deeks to destroy all cultural, religious, and political systems other than its own.
Of course, this doesn't apply to the Israelis, except as regards their short-sighted failure to stop it, and also as Israel bears a moral responsibilty for returning these historic Christian areas to Muslim control.
You wrote: "I would be interested in your figures on the Christian population of certain areas, and when the decline occurred, and for what reasons."
Percentages mean little when comparing the Christian population to Jewish and Muslim demographics. Jews from all over the world claim the “right of return,” while Muslims have very large families (and sometimes multiple wives). Christians are caught in the middle.
Nevertheless, here are some statistics from the Bethlehem Project of the Religious Freedom Coalition about Christian Demographics in Israel, including East Jerusalem but not the West Bank or Gaza.
"The 1931 Census lists 80,500 Christian Arabs out of 850,000 (10%). 2003 Israeli statistics list 116,000 Christians out of 1.3 million total Arabs. Note that an increasing number of Jewish immigrants (especially Russian and Ethiopian) are also Christians." so this actual population growth does not represent the numbers of indigenous Christians in Israel proper.
"Over 90 percent of the Christians who resided in the state of Israel following the 1948 war were Arabs, while the rest belonged mainly to the Armenian and Syrian churches (or Western staff of denominational churches). The Israeli statistical abstracts of the early 1990s showed a considerable increase in the Christian population due to immigration. This new phenomenon corresponded with the waves of immigration to Israel from the ex-Soviet Union states, which included unprecedented numbers of Christians or non-Jewish family members of immigrants, who accompanied their Jewish relatives to Israel in accordance with the Law of Return. A correlation exists between the total annual growth of Christians in Israel and the peak years of immigration from the former Soviet Union and to a certain extent from Ethiopia.
Hence, the numbers of non-Arab Christians grew disproportionately due to immigration in the 1990s. From 1998 onwards the statistical abstracts started registering those immigrants of the ex-Soviet union countries who were not accepted as Jews by the Orthodox Jewish establishment or declared themselves as not belonging to any religion, under the rubric of "religion unclassified." This latter group outnumbered the total number of Christians in Israel in 1998" (Israel Central Bureau of Statistics).
While the total Christian population in Israel, has grown. the proportion of the Christians in the total Israeli-Arab population itself decreased from 21 percent in 1949 to 13 percent in 1990, and to less than 10 percent at the end of 1998. This decline has been due mainly to the higher birthrate of the Muslims and the continuous emigration of the Christians.
In Nazareth, Christians went from 60 percent of the population in 1946 to 40 percent in 1983. Jerusalem Christians in 1922 slightly outnumbered Muslims (15,000 versus 13,000);[2] today, they number under 2 percent of the city's population.
"There's no denying that large numbers of Christian Arabs have left the territories during the Israeli administration. In 1992, it was reported that some 40 per cent of ethnic Christian Arabs in Judea-Samaria (about 18,000) had left the region since 1967." (Christian Action For Israel Backgrounder)
Bethlehem was 85% Christian in 1948, but today is only 20% and shrinking fast.
The Christian population of Nablus is now down to only 700 people.
There are now less than 100 Christians in Burqin and less than 100 in Tubas and only 55 in Jalame.
Some good news: Two-thirds of the residents of Zababdeh, seven miles southeast of Jenin, are still Christian, belonging to four churches. The founding of the nearby Arab-American University in 2000 has meant economic and demographic growth, adding 1,000 students to the town's population of 3,000.
---
So what can be done?
1. Several hundred Palestinian Christians have applied for Israeli citizenship since the Oslo Accords were signed. Israel needs to move quickly to approve their applications.
2. Israel needs to grant all Palestinian Christians travel passes so they can travel and work and guarantee that no Christian will lose his home without full compensation.
Right now, Christians are losing their homes, not just to PA thugs, but also to Israel's security wall. An example is Yaqub Kassis. Last year, the Israeli army moved to demolish Mr Kasis’s home in Beit Sahour, a suburb of Bethlehem with a large Christian population, to make way for the fence leaving Kassis and his family homeless. Mr Kassis used to work in Israel, but since the Israeli military closures that have been imposed during the intifada, he has been unemployed. Mr Kassis lived on land that was given free for new housing by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He invested his savings in the cooperative that built his home.
The Israeli army has ordered that only Palestinians with permits can live between the fence and the Green Line. These permits will be issued at the discretion of the Israeli army. But the order exempts not only Israeli citizens but anyone of Jewish origin." It is actions like this that cause Christians to believe they are caught between two equally hostile enemies and, if possible, leave. Mr Kassis has relatives who have already left. Most of his friends have left too. It seems everyone in Beit Sahour knows someone who has left. As many as 1,000 families have left Beit Sahour since September 2000 (peuplesmonde).
Israel alone can change this policy. There should be separate for identities for Christians and Muslims. Christians should be able to freely cross the border, work, shop, and study on both sides of the line.
3. Israel needs to write the separate legal status for Christians into any future agreements with the PA. It is a shame on all parties that the rights of religious minorities was not made an issue at Oslo or Camp David. This must change immediately.
All future negotiations MUST recognize the existence and rights of THREE distinct commununities, not just two.
Posted by: Provoslavni at December 25, 2005 4:04 PM
Eliyahu,
As usual, we end up having the same general goals but differ on the facts about how to get there.
There is no doubt that the conditions of the intifada, has been the final push toward the destruction of the historic Christian nation in Judea and Samaria. However, it was the short-sighted policies of the Israeli governmemnts that helped create this situation (the mosque in Nazareth is an example).
If you read my post above to Hugh, I go into some details, I don't need to repeat here.
You wrote: "the Christian Arabs were not so pro-PLO or pro-Muslim [not speaking of their leadership], but since the Western powers would not speak out or intervene on their behalf, and since Israeli intervention on their behalf would have either painted them as collaborators with Israel or have been condemned by Western govts [yes!], then they were in a difficult position indeed"
Here we are in ABSOLUTE AGREEMENT.You have stated the situation as clearly and precisely about a people caught in the middle. That is why I call on Israel to be pro-active. By law (dating from the Jordanian era) Bethlehem must have a Christian mayor and council majority. How long before the PA revokes this?
The rights of the Christians and other minorities must be written into any future agreements with the PA with internationally enforced guarantees. Israel also needs to immediately re-classify the Christians as a unique and separate community, like was done with the Samaritans.
An interesting but forgotten fact is there was never any concept of a Palestinian nation among Muslims. Their self-identity was simply as Arabs. Even the Nazi Caliph wannabe, Faisal Husseini, spoke of "Filistin" only as a province of a greater Arab nation.
Under the British mandate period from 1918 to 1948, the term "Palestinian" usually referred to anyone native to Palestine, whatever religion they may be (Muslim, Christian, Druze, Jew, etc.).
In December 1920, the Second Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations, passed a resolution calling for an independent Palestine; they then wrote a long letter to the League of Nations about "Palestine, land of Miracles and the supernatural, and the cradle of religions", demanding that a "National Government be created which shall be responsible to a Parliament elected by the Palestinian People, who existed in Palestine before the war."
This document was almost exclusively the work of Christians and recieved almost no support from Muslims.
So it was the Christians who first articulated Palestinian nationalism. It as hijacked by Fatah and the other Muslims. Unfortunately, the real nationalism of Habash was undermined by their bizarre dependence on far left ideologies to gain external support.
Today, the pan-Islamic character of the PLO/PA is becoming obvious. That's why a recognition of Christians as a unique national minority is their only hope for survival. A revival of this kind of non-Islamic Palestinian nationalism is in Israel's interests as well.
Posted by: Provoslavni at December 25, 2005 4:48 PM
Eliyahu,
Sorry, I meant Haj Amin al-Husseini not Faisal Husseini, although the distinction is only one of generation.
Posted by: Provoslavni at December 25, 2005 5:39 PM
Pravo,
as to the situation of Arabic-speaking Christians in the Land of Israel, I will go into it another time. As to Faisal Husseini, his father was `Abdul-Qader al-Husayni [Husseini], who was a nephew of the British-appointed mufti, Haj Amin el-Husseini [Husayni]. Hence, two generations. It's the same family of course, who often held high office under the Ottoman empire and were large landowners, often extorting money from the Jewish and Christian dhimmis. That's probably why the late unlamented Faisal was considered a "partner for peace" by so-called "leftists." He at least once called himself "a peace activist."
at December 26, 2005 5:35 AM
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