Christians Under Attack

A recent report suggests that – even before the current Palestinian election results – persecution against Palestinian Christian believers has been getting worse.

All that remains of 14 homes set a blaze in the West Bank Village of Taybeh, in the Judea-Samaria/West Bank area, is charred ruin.

An angry Muslim mob from a neighboring village attacked the Christian town last September. They said they were “revenging the dishonor of a Muslim woman” allegedly impregnated by her Christian employer from Taybeh.

Taybeh is the only village completely inhabited by Christians—about 2,000 of them—in Judea-Samaria/West Bank.

The village was originally called Ephraim and is mentioned in the Old Testament. It is also spoken of in the New Testament, in the Gospel of John, as a village where Jesus stayed.

The Mayor of Taybeh is David Khoury. Khoury says the attack would not have occurred if Taybeh were a Muslim village instead of a Christian one.

Khoury said, "This [has] happened many times between a Muslim and a Muslim; and what they did, most times, was just marry the girl off. Had they given us a chance, to prove this pregnancy was [really] the man from Taybeh, or not, maybe we would have married him off to that girl."

The attack on the village of Taybeh is one more example of the precarious position of Christians in the Judea-Samaria/West Bank area and indeed throughout the Middle East.

International Human Rights Attorney Justus Weiner has researched the plight of Palestinian Christians for more than 8 years. His findngs were recently published by the Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs.

Weiner says Palestinian Christians are now living in fear because persecution against them is actually increasing.

He said specifically, "I think the situation has been on a steep downhill, for at least 12 years, since Israel withdrew from the Palestinian populated areas of the Judea-Samaria/West Bank and Gaza. The Christians fear for their own lives, they fear for their own family, they fear for the future of their community."

Christians are a community that many believe will be marginalized as the Palestinians move toward statehood.

A Palestinian eyewitness suggests that marginalization of Christians has already begun. We'll call her Hannan. We've hidden her identity to protect her from retribution.

Hannan says Christians are now being treated as ‘second class citizens’ in the Holy Land because Islamists dominate the Palestinian authority.

“Now,” said Hannan, “all the leadership, and the people in authority, are Muslims. And they force their laws, their teaching, their Koran, everything—In the courts, in the schools, everywhere. They threaten people, and people are afraid to say no."

Western leaders used to say the elections scheduled for January, 2006 prove the Palestinians are committed to establishing a democratic society. But the draft Palestinian constitution shows a government consigned to institutionalizing Islam over any other religion, even over secularism.

The draft constitution pledges to guarantee freedom of worship. But in fact, Islam is stated as “the official religion of Palestine,” so Sharia law is stated as the primary source of legislation.

Under Sharia law, any Muslim who leaves Islam and chooses to convert to another faith must be killed.

So it was for Ahmad El-Achwal who owned a falafel stand. This father of eight children chose to convert to Christianity and even held regular Bible studies in his home. He suffered repeated arrests and torture at the hands of Palestinian authority police.

Lawyer Weiner met and interviewed Achwal prior to his death in January, 2004.

Weiner said that, "He showed me, at the time, the results of his—what were then recent—arrests. The arrest results included burns all over his body where hot pieces of sheet metal were taken from a fire and touched to his skin. And on January 21st, 2004, someone knocked on the door. He opened the door and was met with a hail of bullets. Thus, he was shot dead in the entrance to his apartment."

Political instability, economic hardship, and violations of their human rights have caused a mass exodus of Christians from Judea-Samaria/the West Bank and even throughout the Middle East.

One recent study shows the Christian presence in Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian authority has declined from a population of 26.4 % in 1914 to less than 10% today.

The city of Bethlehem—the birthplace of Jesus—used to be a Christian city. Several decades ago, it was perhaps over 80% Christian. Today, the Christian population has declined to less than 15%.

While Christian numbers may be fewer, and persecution against them is increasing, thousands of Christians have chosen to remain in the Holy Land—and some are quietly leading Muslims who want to know Him, to Christ.

We’ll call him Nadeem. For his safety, we have also masked his identity.
‘Nadeem’ said, "When the person's faith is true, and they realize that their suffering doesn't go unnoticed by God, and they see that they're doing something for the cause of Christ and furthering His Kingdom—then they grow, with more courage. And, so, the work goes on."

In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul said those who live a Godly life in Christ will be persecuted. Nearly 2000 years later, those words describe the situation of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land. There, persecution is now a way of life.