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    PALESTINIAN CRIMES AGAINST CHRISTIAN ARABS AND THEIR MANIPULATION AGAINST ISRAEL
    by Justus Reid Weiner

    UPJF.org
    24/10/08
    France

    No. 72, 1 September 2008 / 1 Elul 5768 Palestinian Crimes against
    Christian Arabs and Their Manipulation against Israel Interview with
    Justus Reid Weiner Under the Palestinian regime Christian Arabs have
    been victims of frequent human rights abuses by Muslims. There are
    many examples of intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of
    churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment,
    economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual
    harassment, and extortion. Palestinian Authority (PA) officials are
    directly responsible for many of the human rights violations. Muslims
    who have converted to Christianity are in the greatest danger. They are
    often left defenseless against cruelty by Muslim fundamentalists. Some
    have been murdered.

    Christian Arabs also fall victim to the chaos and anarchy typical of PA
    rule. This situation is fostered by societal rigidity, criminal gangs,
    lack of education, absence of due process, incitement, unreliable
    courts, and the denial of these problems-all running counter to
    Israel's desire for a prosperous and stable neighbor.

    Muslim attitudes toward Christians and Jews are influenced by the
    concepts and prejudices about their inferiority that the practice of
    dhimmitude has spawned in Islamic society. As dhimmis, Christians
    living in Palestinian-controlled territories are not treated as
    equals of Muslims and are subjected to debilitating legal, political,
    cultural, and religious restrictions.

    The human rights violations against the Christian Arabs in the
    disputed territories are committed by Muslims. Yet for political and
    economic reasons many Palestinian Christian leaders blame Israel for
    these crimes rather than the actual perpetrators. This motif of the
    transference of blame has been adopted by several Christian leaders
    in the Western world. Others there who are aware of the PA's human
    rights abuses choose to remain silent.

    "The disputed territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been
    administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA)-and recently, in part,
    by Hamas. As a result of the Oslo peace process, the Palestinians were
    able to establish their own quasi-government. Under this regime the
    Christian Arabs in these territories have been victims of frequent
    human rights abuses including intimidation, beatings, land theft,
    firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of
    employment, economic boycott, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage,
    sexual harassment, and extortion.

    "Muslims who have converted to Christianity are the ones most in
    danger. They are often left defenseless against cruelty by Muslim
    fundamentalists. PA and Hamas officials are directly responsible for
    many of the human rights violations. Christian Arabs also fall victim
    to the chaos and anarchy that typifies PA rule."

    Justus Reid Weiner is an international human rights lawyer and a
    member of the Israel and New York bar associations. His professional
    publications have appeared in leading law journals and intellectual
    magazines. Weiner lectures widely abroad and in Israel and teaches
    international law and business courses at the Hebrew University
    of Jerusalem.

    He remarks: "The human rights crimes against the Christian Arabs in
    the disputed territories are committed by Muslims. Yet many Palestinian
    Christian leaders accuse Israel of these crimes rather than the actual
    perpetrators. This motif has been adopted by a variety of Christian
    leaders in the Western world. Others who are aware of the human rights
    crimes choose to remain silent about them."

    Dhimmitude and Persecution In Weiner's view the crimes committed
    against Christian Arabs result from a way of thinking that dates
    back to the earliest days of Islam. "Traditionally, Christians and
    Jews were given an inferior social status known as dhimmitude in
    Islam. The dhimma is a legal contract of submission that was imposed
    upon the indigenous non-Muslim populations in regions conquered by
    the spread of Islam. Although Jews and Christians were not forced to
    convert to Islam, they were not treated as the equals of Muslims.

    "As dhimmis, Jews and Christians were subjected to both legal and
    cultural restrictions under Islamic law.[1] For example, Muslims could
    ride horses whereas Christians and Jews were limited to donkeys. Or,
    Muslims were permitted to wear garments of fine cloth while Christians
    and Jews were only allowed to wear clothing made from coarse fabric.

    "To this day, Muslim attitudes toward Christians and Jews are
    influenced by the concepts and prejudices that dhimmitude has spawned
    in Islamic society. In Iraq, for example, the ancestral community
    of Chaldean Christians has recently become a target of vandalism,
    property theft, infringement of privacy, harassment, arbitrary and
    prolonged detention, kidnapping, rape, beatings, car bombings, torture,
    and even murder.

    "There are many examples of Christian suffering in Islamic
    countries. In November 2006, six Molotov cocktails damaged a Protestant
    place of worship in western Turkey, breaking windows and scorching the
    exterior of the building. This attack followed months of harassment of
    Christians in the town of Odemis, sixty-five miles east of Izmir. In
    a town near Mosul (in Iraq) in October 2006, a fifty-nine-year-old
    Syrian Orthodox priest named Father Boulos Iskander was beheaded. His
    kidnappers had demanded $40,000 USD and required that the priest's
    church publicly repudiate Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on Islam.[2] It
    is interesting that this demand was directed at an Orthodox Christian
    priest, who would have had nothing to do with any statement by the
    Catholic Pope.

    "In Egypt, in October 2006, a Christian teenager escaped her Muslim
    kidnappers hours after they had drugged her on a public bus. They
    threatened to rape her and convert her to Islam if her family didn't
    leave their Nile Delta city of El-Mahala el-Kobra. In a similar story,
    a fifteen-year-old escaped from being held captive in Cairo's southern
    suburb of Helwan while her captors were away breaking their Ramadan
    fast.[3]

    "Such attacks have evolved into an imminent crisis for the Christian
    minority in every Muslim-ruled country of the Middle East, North
    Africa, and Asia. Their Christian populations are in major decline,
    they are constantly under threat of violence, and there is a general
    feeling that they have no future. Some examples concern the Copts
    in Egypt and the Maronites in Lebanon. The scholarship of Nina Shea
    and Paul Marshall on the persecution of Christians in Islamic lands
    brings many proofs of this.[4]

    "Israel is the only exception in the Middle East where the Christian
    population since 1948 has increased. It has risen by more than 400
    percent. This also includes non-Arab Christians, such as Russian
    Christians who have come here as spouses of Jews and otherwise."

    Weiner adds: "Similar troubles as for the Christians have emerged for
    a whole range of nonconformists in the Islamic world. For example, in
    July 2005, two alleged homosexual teenage boys were publicly executed
    in Iran.[5] The threats are affecting many throughout the region,
    including owners of internet cafes, of restaurants or stores selling
    alcohol, land dealers, independent journalists, and even authors such
    as Salman Rushdie. The international human rights community has thus
    far done virtually nothing to protect such nonconformists."

    A Culture of Intolerance Weiner observes: "As dhimmis, Christians
    living in Palestinian-controlled territories are not treated as
    the equals of Muslims. They are subjected to debilitating legal,
    political, cultural, and religious restrictions. This has become a
    critical problem for the Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and
    Gaza. Muslim groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad have built a culture
    of hatred upon the age-old foundations of Islamic society. Moreover,
    the PA has adopted Islamic law into its draft constitution.

    "In 2006, Hassan El-Masalmeh, a member of the Bethlehem City
    Council and local Hamas leader, publicly advocated implementing a
    discriminatory tax on non-Muslim residents, known as al-jeziya. The
    Koran requires the imposition of this tax on all dhimmis. It legalizes
    the second-class status of such residents. El-Masalmeh stated that,
    'We in Hamas intend to implement this tax someday. We say it openly
    and we welcome everyone to Palestine, but only if they agree to live
    under our rules.' One example occurred in late 2007 when an evangelical
    pastor was forced to leave Ramallah under threats from Tanzim gunmen;
    soon after, his congregation dispersed. Clergy under threat by gunmen
    should at least make a good-faith effort to use their media connections
    to publicize their plight and thereby garner a degree of protection
    for themselves and their followers.

    "In such an environment, Christian Arabs have found themselves victims
    of prejudice and hate crimes. Tens of thousands of Palestinian
    Christians have left their ancestral homes and emigrated to North
    America, Central America, South America, Europe, and Australia. They
    flee to almost any country that will issue them a visa.

    "A majority of the Christians living under PA and Hamas rule are Greek
    Catholic or Greek Melkite. Others are Lutherans, Roman Catholics,
    Anglicans, Syriacs, Armenians, Copts, Maronites, Ethiopian Orthodox
    Christians, as well as several other denominations. The Palestinian
    Christian population has always been concentrated in and around the
    cities of Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem."

    Developments in Bethlehem "The demographics in these areas have
    changed drastically. Bethlehem is a prime example. Estimates show a
    sharp demographic Christian-Muslim shift. The Christian population
    went from an 80 percent majority in 1950, to a 60 percent majority
    in 1990, to approximately a 40 percent minority in 2000. Today the
    population of Christian Arabs in Bethlehem is hovering at about 15
    percent of the city's total population. It is estimated that for the
    past seven years over one thousand Christians have been emigrating
    from the Bethlehem area annually. At present an estimated ten to
    thirteen thousand Christians remain in the city.

    "Neither the Palestinian Christian leaders nor the PA want to reveal
    accurate statistics. That would mean the extent of the emigration
    would become publicly known. They would then have to face questions
    about the reasons for this decline."

    Weiner points out that Yasser Arafat determined the policy that led to
    this demographic shift. "After the PA gained control of Bethlehem it
    redistricted the municipal boundaries of the city. Arafat's motivation
    for the change was to ensure a Muslim majority in any elections to be
    held in the area. By doing so, he annexed an additional thirty thousand
    Muslims and a few thousand Muslim Bedouins in adjacent areas. This,
    combined with substantial Muslim immigration from the nearby city of
    Hebron, dramatically transformed the demographic reality.

    "Arafat also defied tradition by appointing a Muslim governor of the
    city. The Bethlehem City Council, which by Palestinian law must have
    a Christian majority, has been taken over by Muslims. Eight of the
    fifteen seats on the council are still reserved for Christians, but
    in the latest municipal elections of May 2005 a coalition with crucial
    support from Hamas emerged victorious.[6] Hamas today holds six of the
    fifteen council seats and their Christian allies hold four.[7] Arafat
    crowned his efforts when he converted the Greek Orthodox monastery next
    to the Church of Nativity into his official Bethlehem residence.[8]

    "The problems for Christians in Bethlehem are typical throughout
    the Middle East. The Lebanese Christian community faced similar
    problems during the 1980s. The assassinated Christian prime minister
    of Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel summed up the situation: 'A Christian,
    like a Jew . . . is not a full citizen and cannot exercise political
    rights in any of the countries which were once conquered by Islam.'[9]

    "In Palestinian society Christian Arabs have no voice and no
    protection. It is no wonder they have been leaving. Because of
    emigration-some of it dating back two or three generations-seventy
    percent of Christian Arabs who originally resided in the West Bank
    and Gaza now live abroad. Tens of thousands live in Sydney, Berlin,
    Santiago, Detroit, and Toronto. The emigration of Christian Arabs
    has multiplied over the last decade, with no end in sight.

    "It is currently estimated that the number of Christians living in
    Gaza totals only 1,500-3,000 amid 1.2 million Muslims.[10] Probably
    less than fifty thousand Christians remain in all of East Jerusalem,
    the West Bank, and Gaza together.

    "Taybeh, a village located deep in the West Bank, is the only
    all-Christian village left in the PA. As a result of the perpetual
    violence, many residents of Taybeh have gone abroad and only 1,300
    remain.[11] The situation of these Christians has become grim."

    The Abuse of Human Rights Before giving examples of human rights
    abuses against Christians in the PA, Weiner remarks: "Over this
    ten-year period, my research assistants and I have interviewed scores
    of Christian victims. Many of those interviewed were too terrified
    to tell their stories. In an effort to reassure them, I promised to
    conceal their real names, professions, and places of residence.

    "My first example concerns the routine extortion of Christian
    businessmen by PA officials and street thugs. It involves an Armenian
    Christian jewelry- store owner from Jerusalem. During a business trip
    to Gaza he was taken into custody and extorted by the Palestinian
    police. He showed the officers the necessary licenses and permits to
    sell his gold jewelry. Nevertheless, he was forced to hand over all
    his money and gold jewelry and was subsequently beaten for more than
    six hours.

    "After refusing the offer of the police to leave with half his gold,
    he was beaten for another two hours in the police station. His watch,
    his rings, half his gold jewelry, and the $6,000 USD he was carrying
    were taken from him before he was allowed to leave.

    "The Armenian complained to the PA's minister of industry and
    commerce. He was then told he had no recourse but to speak with
    Arafat. Further efforts were futile. As a Christian he didn't have
    the necessary connections to get back what was stolen from him in
    the police station. Nor were the perpetrators charged or punished."

    Kidnapping and Seduction of Christian Women "Incidents of Muslim men
    'seducing' or kidnapping Christian girls have caused growing anxiety
    among the Christian population. In May 2004, a sixteen-year-old
    Christian girl from Bethlehem, who was a U.S. citizen, went missing
    for five days. She was kidnapped by a twenty-three-year-old Muslim
    man. When the family lodged a complaint with the PA police, little
    was done to help them. The police accepted the testimony of the Muslim
    kidnapper at face value. He claimed that they wanted to get married.

    "The girl's family knew that the Muslim man had a brother who was a
    high-ranking officer in the PA security services. They feared that
    the PA police's unwillingness to act on the family's complaint was
    due to this officer's connections.

    "The kidnapper sought refuge in Hebron where he had an extended
    family. Because their families are large, it is easy for Muslims to get
    away with crimes against Christians who lack strength in numbers. In
    desperation the girl's family contacted the American Consulate in
    Jerusalem. Thanks to their intervention, the girl was rescued and
    left for the United States with her family.

    "When a crowd of Christian men tried to stage a demonstration outside
    the kidnapper's house, the Palestinian police-all of them Muslims-used
    excessive force against the demonstrators. They fired into the air
    in an attempt to disperse the crowd. At least thirty-five Christian
    men were injured. The episode received virtually no international
    media coverage."

    Weiner explains that this is far from being an isolated case:
    "A Muslim family appeared uninvited on the doorstep of a wealthy
    Christian family in the West Bank. They brought along a sheikh and
    demanded that the Christian family's daughter, known for her beauty,
    marry their son. The father of the Christian family asked for a
    two-day reprieve to think things over. The Muslim family agreed,
    but then apparently reconsidered. They reappeared-again uninvited-the
    following day. Their son was dressed up for his wedding, accompanied by
    the sheikh and fifteen Muslim men. To protect his family the Christian
    girl's father opened fire on the Muslim entourage, killing three and
    wounding ten. The girl's family immediately abandoned their home and
    fled abroad."

    Persecuting Converts to Christianity "In compliance with the sayings
    (Hadith) of the Prophet Muhammed, Muslim converts to Christianity
    are ruthlessly persecuted for changing their faith.[12] It is a
    common tactic to try to force Christians-by-choice to repudiate their
    beliefs.[13] One example involves two brothers whom I will call Saliba
    and Najib, both converts to Christianity from the northern West Bank.

    "After taking part in a Christian prayer session with German tourists,
    Najib received a summons to appear before the Palestinian secret
    police. During questioning he was accused of collaborating with Israeli
    and American intelligence. After the interrogation the Palestinian
    police placed a cardboard sign on his back upon which was written,
    'Najib the Christian.' Then he was told to 'curse Jesus.'

    "Najib was told by the secret police that from then on his life would
    be nothing but suffering. He was released at the end of the day and
    fled when Palestinian police came to his house to detain him for
    more questioning. As a fugitive from the PA, Najib made contact with
    Israelis who arranged for him to hide in a bomb shelter in a Jewish
    settlement. He ended up staying there for three years until he was
    granted asylum in Norway, where he lives today.

    "Najib's brother Saliba spent twenty-one months in a PA prison-from
    August 2000 to May 2002-after being arrested on fabricated charges. He
    was held for seven months in underground solitary confinement. Saliba
    testified to me and my assistants about his suffering in that jail:

    I was beaten with sticks; they stripped me naked and made me sit on
    bottles, and on the legs of chairs that they turned upside down, and
    many, many other sadistic things that I am even ashamed to say. Many
    times they allowed lynch mobs like the Al-Aksa Brigades to come in
    and pull prisoners out of the cells. They were taken out and shot on
    the spot, their bodies then dragged through the streets for all to see.

    Although complaints of Israeli misconduct are loudly voiced, Weiner
    is not aware of any such complaints about these examples of Muslim
    misconduct.

    "The PA had sentenced Saliba to be executed. However, before they could
    carry this out he and others were liberated from prison by the Israel
    Defense Forces, which entered the disputed territories in response
    to a wave of suicide bombings that had killed hundreds of Israelis.

    "After Saliba's liberation he was able to secure a temporary permit
    to live in Israel. However, he was unable to obtain similar permits
    for his wife and eight children. They remained behind in the disputed
    territories under constant threat of harassment. Today Saliba lives
    in the town of Ramle in Israel, unable to safely return to his family
    and hoping to find asylum in Norway to join his brother."

    The Murder of a Convert "Of another Christian convert, Ahmad El-Achwal,
    the real name can be given because he was murdered. He was married,
    a father of eight, and lived in the Askar refugee camp near the West
    Bank city of Nablus. The PA set out to make Ahmad's life unbearable
    after he became a Christian.

    "Ahmad was initially arrested on fabricated charges of stealing
    gold. The only gold in the entire family was his daughter's delicate
    necklace, which had been given to her for her birthday by her
    grandfather. The family still had the receipt from the store where
    it was purchased. Ahmad was kept in a tiny cell and regularly left
    without food or water for days on end. The torture he sustained during
    the interrogation required lengthy hospitalization.

    "When I interviewed Ahmad, he gave me photos of his injuries taken
    while he was recuperating in a hospital. It was clear that he had been
    tortured. Ahmad had suffered extensive and serious burns on his back,
    buttocks, and legs. The heated torture implement that was applied to
    his skin reminded me of similar medieval instruments.

    "After he was released from prison, Ahmad began to use his apartment
    as an informal church. He distributed booklets on Christianity and
    spoke to Palestinian Muslims about his newfound faith. Ahmad did this
    despite his fears of harassment and persecution.

    "Over a seven-year period, Palestinian security forces repeatedly
    arrested him and searched his home. Sometimes they confiscated his
    Bibles and other religious books. Ahmad was again imprisoned for
    various periods that, together, totaled over a year. Promises were
    made that if he reverted to Islam he would be freed from prison and
    given a senior job in the PA with a large office.

    "Not all his suffering emanated directly from the PA. Ahmad operated
    a falafel stand in Nablus. His Muslim landlord refused to continue
    renting it to him because of his conversion to Christianity. He
    then moved to Jerusalem to find work because of the ongoing
    harassment. However, when Ahmad went back to visit his family in
    Askar, he was beaten by a group of masked men. Palestinians affiliated
    with the PA security services also torched his car. His residence
    was firebombed. On 21 January 2004, Ahmad was shot dead by masked
    gunmen. His murderers have not been brought to justice."

    Yet Another Murder "Rami Khader Ayyad is another victim of murder
    motivated by religion. He lived in Gaza City with his two children and
    his wife, who was pregnant with their third. His Teachers Bookshop
    sold Bibles and Christian literature. Ayyad was associated with
    the Palestinian Bible Society, which promotes Christian presence in
    Muslim areas.

    "In April 2007, Ayyad's store was firebombed by a Muslim 'vice
    squad' that was attacking targets they connected with Western
    influence. According to Ayyad's family and neighbors, he had regularly
    received anonymous death threats from people angered by his missionary
    work.

    "Ayyad was abducted on the evening of 6 October 2007 after closing his
    store. He called his family to let them know he would be returning
    late in the evening.[14] Ayyad's lifeless body was found early the
    next morning with visible signs of torture, including a gunshot wound
    in the head and numerous stab wounds. Witnesses and security officials
    stated that they watched three armed men, two of them wearing masks,
    beat Ayyad repeatedly with clubs and the butts of their guns while
    accusing him of spreading Christianity in Gaza. These witnesses said
    that after the three men beat Ayyad, each of them shot him.

    "Sheikh Abu Saqer, leader of Gaza's Jihadia Salafiya Islamic program,
    asserted that while his group did not carry out the Ayyad murder,
    'Christians engaging in missionary activity in Gaza would be dealt
    with harshly.'"[15]

    Extortion Attempts "Pastor Isa Bajalia contacted me in autumn 2007. I
    had interviewed him four different times over the past eight or
    ten years. The pastor called me because of death threats he was
    receiving. If something were to happen to him, he wanted me to have
    a video testament explaining the true source of his demise. He is
    an understated individual who never before had revealed to me this
    sense of urgency concerning danger to his own life or anyone else's
    from his congregation.

    "Bajalia served for sixteen years in Ramallah and is primarily
    involved with counseling and humanitarian efforts in the area. Over
    two months before he called me Bajalia had been receiving threats to
    pay extortion money in the amount of $30,000 USD. They also demanded
    that he sign over a portion of his family land to their ownership.

    "The men threatening Bajalia intimidated him on a daily basis. Their
    harassment has made it impossible for Bajalia to function in his
    normal pastoral capacity in Ramallah. He was threatened as follows:
    'If you don't do what we want, we can get you no matter whether you
    are in the States or here.' They threatened to break his arms and legs
    and said to him, 'We will do to you what was done to Rami in Gaza.'

    "Pastor Bajalia was forced to disconnect his cell-phone line because
    of the relentless threatening calls. He knew that the men making
    the threats were capable of violence, so as a U.S. citizen he
    sought assistance from the American Consulate. Thereafter he also
    asked for help from three PA officials. They, however, demanded
    thousands of dollars to protect him. One of them offered, 'I'll be
    your bodyguard. Our group will back you up. We'll get this resolved
    for you; just give me $5,000.'

    "Pastor Bajalia explained to me how a few weeks before he was forced
    to leave Ramallah, one of those threatening him was closing in on his
    trail. About fifteen minutes after Bajalia departed a friend's house
    in Ramallah, a green-uniformed militiaman of the Tanzim-a violent,
    aggressive faction of the Fatah movement-showed up at the friend's
    house bearing a pistol.

    "Following continued and intensified threats of violence, Pastor
    Bajalia fled to the United States in fear for his life.[16] He stayed
    in Alabama for more than a month, thereafter returning in January
    2008 to Jerusalem. Bajalia is still extremely concerned that these
    men might locate him."

    More Harassment "Harassment of Christian Arabs is widespread under
    the Palestinian regime. On an ever-increasing scale, they have been
    losing their jobs, have had their land taken over by criminal gangs
    in cooperation with the PA Land Registration Office, and Christian
    women have resorted to wearing conservative Muslim women's garb so
    as not to be harassed.

    "Palestinian gunmen set fire to the YMCA in the West Bank city of
    Qalqilya. A seventy-six-year-old Greek Orthodox monk was beaten up
    in Bethlehem by Muslim villagers, his olive trees uprooted, and his
    monastery was defaced with graffiti depicting nuns being raped.

    "In February 2006, an explosive device blew off the doors of the
    Bible Society in Gaza. The attackers then moved on to the nearby Greek
    Orthodox Church, which they then shot up. Pamphlets were left at the
    bookshop threatening the landlord for dealing with 'infidels.' This
    was followed by the bombing of the bookshop in April 2007 along with
    three other Christian targets.[17]

    "In protest against the remarks by Pope Benedict XVI about Islam
    and the Prophet Muhammad in 2006, seven churches were attacked in
    the West Bank and Gaza by Palestinians carrying guns, firebombs, and
    lighter fluid. This included a shooting attack on a church facade in
    the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City as well as the firebombing of
    an Anglican church in the West Bank city of Nablus.

    "Since the election of the Hamas government in 2006, and the coup by
    which Hamas took over Gaza in June 2007, religious tension has only
    intensified. Hamas has enacted policies that are turning the PA into
    an Islamic theocracy, and the Christian religion and its followers
    are consistently discriminated against. The situation erupted on
    15 February 2008 when Muslim militants bombed the Gaza City YMCA
    library[18] and on 16 May when a bomb went off in a Christian
    school."[19]

    Hiding the Problems Weiner says he became aware of the many crimes
    against Christian Arabs under the Palestinian regime when, ten years
    ago, a Christian lay pastor said to him, "You're a human rights
    lawyer, what are you doing for the Christian Arabs?" Weiner replied
    that he was not doing anything for them as he was not aware they had
    any problems. The pastor then said: "Let me send you some people to
    interview and once you've done that make up your own mind."

    Weiner remarks: "That began my education process on this subject. The
    problem I had the most difficulty understanding was why the large,
    powerful, populous Christian world has permitted this to go on for
    so long. This is the more surprising as the PA is in such need of
    funds and political support. Ten years down the road I can only say
    that it is a sad testimony for contemporary Christianity.

    "I discovered a wide gap between the Palestinian Christian leadership
    and their flock. The former tended, for many years, to put on their
    nice robes and hats to meet Arafat for religious occasions. They are
    the same people who keep touring around the United States and being
    feted in different locations where they repeat the false story that
    everything is fine.

    "These patriarchs and archbishops of Christian Arab denominations who
    are currently deceiving the international community are self-interested
    people. They collaborate with the Muslim perpetrators of intimidation
    and violence. Against all evidence they claim that the Christians
    Arabs are living comfortable and prosperous lives. In fact the present
    situation is growing worse by the day."

    Putting Their People in Danger "These Christian leaders obfuscate the
    truth and put their own people in danger. This is often for personal
    benefit or due to intimidation. In the Palestinian areas the Anglican,
    Lutheran, Catholic, and many other leaders will all sing the tune
    of the Palestinian Authority-at least publicly. Others who are not
    senior will describe the reality in private because they live it."

    Weiner observes that a number of Palestinian Christian leaders deny
    the human rights crimes perpetrated against their flock. "Often
    in cooperation with the Palestinian leadership they claim that the
    situation is not bad for the Christian Arabs. In response to Rami
    Khader Ayyad's death, Monsignor Manual Masallam, head of Gaza's Roman
    Catholic community, asserted-against all the evidence-that the attack
    was not religiously motivated.

    "When asked if Christians in Gaza feel oppressed in their own cities,
    Musallam answered that, 'Palestinian Christians are not a religious
    community set apart.... Our relationship with Hamas is as people of
    one nation.' He also explicitly stated that Christian emigration has
    nothing to do with the Muslim population and that the Christians in
    Gaza still enjoy all the same rights as their Muslim neighbors.[20]

    "The dilemma is how to get the world to listen to and respect the
    experience and the warnings of the ordinary Christian, the ordinary
    priest and reverend, and to disregard the endorsements of the PA that
    are mouthed by their religious leaders.

    "In private a variety of Christians will tell you that they are
    suffering from the pressures by Muslims. In public these same people
    will berate Israel for the security fence and the occupation. It
    has become an old game and Israelis understand it. One wonders when
    foreign journalists and NGOs will finally start to understand it."

    The Verification Process As to the veracity of his information, Weiner
    explains: "I am often asked how I verify what I am told. The answer is
    that I began this work ten years ago. I now look at cases over time,
    having learned that witnesses usually become more candid as you get
    to know them better. One of the last questions in any interview is
    who else can confirm, reinforce, or explain further what the witness
    provided. The result is a fairly good perspective of the iceberg
    effect. In these cases one is seeing only a little bit of the crimes
    that go on under the Palestinian regime. People usually are afraid
    or intimidated and aren't willing to describe everything that happened.

    "Pretty much across the board the Christian Arabs that I interviewed
    were reticent to tell their story. I had to track them down and
    prove that I was a reliable person they could talk to. I also had to
    promise them to use a pseudonym and to change their city/town/village
    of residence.

    "There is a huge difference as compared to the human rights situation
    in Israel. When I worked at the Israeli Justice Ministry (1981-1994,
    as director of the Department of American Law and External Relations)
    we heard many human rights allegations against the government,
    the army, and the prison service. Often the people making these
    complaints, or the organizations representing them rushed to call
    press conferences. They were looking for an instant headline. With
    the Palestinian Christians everything that concerns human rights is
    hushed up."

    The Israeli Security Situation "Part of the Christian Palestinian
    emigration also stems from problems relating to Israel. There are two
    primary issues. The first is that the Israeli Interior Ministry has not
    been forthcoming enough in issuing visas to foreign Christian clergy
    wanting to come and work in Israel. It has become quite difficult for
    individuals to obtain visas to work in schools, embassies, or churches
    here in Israel, a point that has poisoned some clergy attitudes.

    "As a result of a new single-entry visa rule, Christian church workers
    currently in the country are also finding it difficult to travel
    between their parishes and their churches' offices in Jerusalem. Father
    Jack Abed, a parish priest of the Melkite Catholic community near
    Ramallah, claimed that these new rules violate understandings between
    Israel and the Vatican. He stated that: 'One of the agreements is the
    freedom of movement and worship. There is no freedom of movement if
    Israel wants to limit visas to a single entry.'[21]

    "These visa restrictions have resulted from the major security threats
    to Israel, some of which come from the Christian community itself. For
    example, Archimandrite Atallah Hanna, an Israeli Arab serving as the
    official spokesman of the Greek Orthodox Church in the Holy Land,
    is reported to have praised Palestinian suicide bombers as heroes in
    a closed-door meeting in Haifa. Hanna is quoted as stating, 'These
    martyrdom freedom fighters are the heroes of the people and we are
    proud of them.' According to the report, Hanna urged Christian Arabs
    to 'join the resistance against the Israeli occupation in all forms
    and methods.'[22] Hanna later denied having made these remarks.

    "A second issue that has increased the emigration of Palestinian
    Christians involves a combination of the building of the security fence
    and the political anarchy that plagues the Palestinian-controlled
    areas. Many Palestinian Christians point out that besides the
    disruptions from internal Palestinian instability and lawlessness,
    the economic hardship and unemployment is caused by the cutoff from
    outside aid due to Israeli security measures that bar most Palestinians
    from working inside Israel.[23] Villagers are allowed to cross the
    separation barriers only if they hold special permits."

    The International Christian Community Weiner states: "Many in the
    international Christian leaderships knowingly remain silent about the
    suffering of the Palestinian Christians. Others, rather than identify
    the true Palestinian perpetrators of crimes against their people,
    take the politically correct path by blaming Israel. All unrest
    and suffering in the region is routinely attributed to actions-or
    omissions-by Israel without acknowledging or condemning Muslim
    violence. In particular, church officials often criticize Israel
    for the decline in Christian populations in the West Bank and Gaza
    as well as for the hardships the Christian Arabs endure under Fatah
    and Hamas rule.

    "The Western Christian leaders who spread this message include leaders
    of American Episcopalians and Presbyterians. Thus the former leader
    of the Episcopal Church (USA), the Reverend Edmond L. Browning,
    frequently oversimplified the very intricate reality in the Middle
    East by implying that the conflict can be resolved by a few simple
    concessions by Israel. Meanwhile he and his church remained silent
    about the unique evil of suicide bombing and have yet to demand that
    Hamas recognize Israel or dismantle its terrorist infrastructure.[24]

    "Supplementing its well-known anti-Israel agenda, the Episcopal Church
    maintains strong ties with Friends of Sabeel-North America.[25] For
    example, Browning donated $10,000 to the organization. In addition,
    the Episcopal Church has passed resolutions pressing Motorola to
    prohibit sale of its products or the provision of services to persons
    living in the disputed territories. There was no parallel demand that
    Palestinians cease their terrorist violence. Nor were U.S. companies
    urged to ensure that what they sold to the Palestinians was not used
    in violent attacks on Israelis.

    "Among the other one-sided resolutions of the Episcopal Church was a
    condemnation of Israel's security barrier that was not accompanied
    by any parallel demand on the Palestinians to stop the terrorist
    attacks that prompted the construction of what is more accurately
    known as a fence. Leaders of other North American churches including
    the Methodists, the United Church of Christ, and the Lutherans have
    also gone to great lengths to offer up one-sided condemnations of
    Israeli policies.[26] Most of these perennial critics are linked to
    the Sabeel Center."

    Interview by Manfred Gerstenfeld

    * * *

    Notes [1] Bat Ye'or, Islam and Dhimmitude (Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh
    Dickinson University Press, 2001), 50. Dhimmis were treated as
    second-class citizens and were often discriminated against. Muhammad
    ordered and practiced ethnic cleansing by removing all Jews,
    Christians, and pagans from the Arabian Peninsula. Walid Shoebat, Why
    I Left Jihad: The Root of Terrorism and the Return of Radical Islam
    (Top Executive Media, 2005).

    [2] Jerusalem Post Christian Edition.

    [3] Ibid.

    [4] Paul Marshall and Lela Gilbert, Their Blood Cries Out (Nashville,
    TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007); Nina Shea, In the Lion's Den: A Shocking
    Account of Persecuted and Martyrdom of Christians Today and How We
    Should Respond (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2007).

    [5] "2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices," U.S. Department
    of State, released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor,
    6 March 2007, www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/.

    [6] Sandro Magister, "The Mayor of Bethlehem Is Christian, but It's
    Hamas That's in Charge," 21 May 2007, .

    [7] "Bethlehem Belongs to Hamas," Israel Today, 20 July 2005.

    [8] Aaron Klein, "Media's Two-Faced Christmas Coverage: Muslims Driving
    Christians out of Bethlehem, but Media Outlets Choose to Blame Israel,"
    Ynetnews, 24 December 2007.

    [9] Bat Ye'or, Islam and Dhimmitude, 247-48, cited in Jerusalem Post
    Christian Edition.

    [10] Julie Stahl, "Gaza Bible Society Surprised by Bomb Attack,"
    Cybercast News Service, 16 April 2007.

    [11] Isabel Kershner, "Palestinian Christians Look Back on a Year of
    Troubles," New York Times, 11 March 2007.

    [12] The highest of Islamic sources unequivocally calls for the
    killing of converts. This came from the Hadith (sayings) of the Prophet
    Muhammad. Ruth Gledhill, "Whoever Changes His Islamic Religion-Kill
    Him," Times Online, 21 March 2006.

    [13] In the case of a Christian Arab named Aiman, such incentives
    (release from custody, a job, an office) were offered. He recalled:
    "The jailors demanded that I revert back to Islam...go to a religious
    Islamic school in Saudi Arabia or Gaza...and then go up to the minaret
    and say: 'Allah is great and God has no son' over the loudspeaker...and
    to confess the names and addresses of the people that I had converted,
    or were involved in evangelism."

    [14] "Palestinian Christian Activist Killed in Gaza," Kuwaiti Times,
    8 October 2007.

    [15] Eric Young, "Witnesses: Slain Palestinian Was Tortured for
    Spreading Christianity," Christian Post, 11 October 2007.

    [16] He was also visiting a seriously ill relative there.

    [17] Stahl, "Gaza Bible Society."

    [18] "Militants Bomb Gaza YMCA Library," BBC News, 15 February 2008

    [19] Associated Press, "Bomb Explodes at Christian School," JPost.com,
    17 May 2008.

    [20] Mohammad Omer, "Coexistence in Gaza," The Electronic Intifada,
    28 November 2007.

    [21] Associated Press, "Israel Rescinds Arab Christian Clergy Travel
    Rights in West Bank," Haaretz, 27 October 2007 (last update).

    [22] Khaled Abu Toameh, "Greek Orthodox Church Spokesman Says Suicide
    Bombers Are 'Heroes,'" Jerusalem Post, 12 January 2003.

    [23] Kershner, "Palestinian Christians."

    [24] Brian J. Grieves, No Outcasts: The Public Witness of Edmond
    L. Browning (Cincinnati: Forward Movement, 1997).

    [25] According to their website, Friends of Sabeel-North America
    (FOSNA) works in the United States and Canada to support the
    vision of Jerusalem-based Sabeel, a Christian liberation-theology
    organization. FOSNA cultivates the support of American churches through
    cosponsored regional educational conferences, alternative pilgrimage,
    witness trips, and international gatherings in the Holy Land.

    [26] Daniel Pipes, "Christianity Dying in Its Birthplace," New York
    Sun, 13 September 2005".

    * * *

    Justus Reid Weiner is an international human rights lawyer, a member
    of the Israel and New York bar associations, and a fellow of the
    Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He received his Juris Doctor
    degree from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California,
    Berkeley. Weiner's professional publications have appeared in leading
    law journals and intellectual magazines. He is currently a fellow in
    residence at the JCPA and an adjunct lecturer at the Hebrew University
    of Jerusalem. Weiner was formerly a visiting assistant professor at
    the School of Law, Boston University.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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