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.”