The Martyrs’ Cross

Bethlehem Christians Appeal to “Deaf Ears”

Bethlehem Christians have broken their silence over the crisis they face living in the birthplace of Jesus. The media story, written by senior journalist Khalid Abu Toameh, was published today [Thursday, January 25] by The Jerusalem Post.

Last month, we reported the increased suffering the Christians were facing. International human rights lawyer Justus Weiner spoke about the nightlong threatening phone calls they received. “We know where you are. We’re going to kill you;” such threats are causing mounting fear within the Christian minority.

Bethlehem Christians were too intimidated to speak out. They fear retaliation by their Muslim neighbors, and they know they will be accused of collaborating with Israel. Now they say they have protested to the Vatican, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen], Church leaders, and European governments, but Toameh reports, “Their appeals have fallen on deaf ears.”

The position has become so critical that Christians agreed to being named as they voiced their predicament. “The situation is very dangerous,” said Said Qumsiyeh, owner of the Beit Sahur-based, private Shepherd TV station. “I believe that 15 years from now, there will be no Christians left in Bethlehem. Then you will need a torch to find a Christian here,” he told Toumeh.

Qumsiyeh has spoken out before. His house was recently attacked by fire-bombs, and he has been the subject of numerous death threats. He told of a monk who was “roughed up” for trying to protect land seized from Christians. He described a “land mafia,” which has plundered land owned by Christians.

Another Christian couple woke one morning to find their land fenced off. “A lawyer and an official with the Palestinian Authority just came and took our land,” Georgette Lama, 69, told The Jerusalem Post. When her husband, 72, protested, he was severely beaten and threatened with guns.

“My husband is after heart surgery, and they still beat him,” Georgette said. In a poignant statement, she added, “Most Christians are afraid to speak, but I don’t care because we have nothing to lose.”

This is a disgraceful story. At Bridges for Peace, we have written, spoken, and taught about it for several years, but it seems to continue to “fall on deaf ears.” When Dr Rice visits the region, could she inquire about this human rights abuse? Could your local congressman or parliamentarian add some weight to the cries of the Bethlehem Christians?

Pray about the action you can initiate to find an ear that will hear.

(By Ron Ross, Bridges for Peace, January 25, 2007)

Prayer Focus
Pray that the lies and deception in Palestinian society will be exposed, and that people will seek the truth diligently. Pray for Christians in Bethlehem who are being persecuted.

Scripture
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12).

how still we see thee lie…

This line will soon have to change for our Brothers and Sisters fleeing Bethlehem. The body of Messiah in Bethlehem will, one day, no longer have a place to lay its head.
According to Justus Reid Weiner:

“Palestinian Christians have a higher rate of emigration compared to Palestinian Muslims and the Christian population of the West Bank and Gaza has plunged from about 20 percent after World War II to less than 1.7 percent now. Tens of thousands have abandoned their holy sites and ancestral properties to live abroad.”

Why are they fleeing? According to Weiner’s report:

“From Christian Arabs under the thumb of the PA, I have heard testimony of forced marriages of Christian women to Muslim men, death threats against Christians for distributing the Bible to willing Muslims, and Christian women intimidated into wearing traditional ultra-modest Islamic clothing. Churches have been firebombed (most recently in Nablus, Tubas, and Gaza when the Pope made his controversial remarks) and/or shot up repeatedly. And this is the tip of the iceberg.” Read More.

Further more when Bridges for Peace interviewed Weiner he described:

“…phone threats made to Christian Arabs during the night: “We know who you are. We know where you live, and Sharia law tells us to kill you infidels.” Sharia or Islamic law forms the constitution of the Hamas government. “Many Christian Arabs have fled the territories; those who remain are sitting on their suitcases,” Weiner told me.“

Recently, we had a comment posted to our site. I allowed the comment to be posted because there is some truth to what was being said. However, it is only a partial truth. To blame Israel and the Religious Right for all of the Palestinian troubles is ridiculous.

What caused the problems at other times in history?

The problem with half-truths is that they can be what we call “white lies.” Our hope is that by sharing both sides we can then reach a better truth. We aren’t deceived into believing that Israel hasn’t caused some problems no more than we are deceived into believing that they have cause all the problems. In other words: Islam (extremism?) can’t live with People of the Book – Jews or Christians – peaceably. And even if all Jews and Christians did everything that the governments of the world asked of them they would still find themselves in a war with Islam.

Surah 9.29 says:

Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture [ed. note: Jew and Christians] as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth [ed. note: Islam], until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.

Only if Islam is the ruling class can the Muslim allow for other religions to exist. Although, even then the others aren’t without penalty. The only lasting peace that we can expect to receive from Islam is the peace that comes from conversion to Islam.
That is false peace.

Please pray for the Palestinian Christians.
Pray they will find their voice and speak out against failures of the Palestinian Muslims and Israel equally.
Pray that they will stand strong through the heat of the day.
Pray that they will not be disbursed throughout the world.
Pray.

Hello Friends,
The following excerpt was in my inbox this morning, felt impressed to pass it on:

Raising the call for Christians to love our Muslim neighbors.
Australia (MNN) — Two pastors in Australia are still awaiting the decision from the court of appeals. Under Victoria’s religious hatred law, Daniel Scot and Danny Nalliah were convicted of vilifying Muslims in a 2002 seminar about Islam. MNN had the opportunity to interview Pastor Daniel Scot at a recent U-S conference. Regarding the vilification case against him, Scot says, “In Australia, I may be put in jail. But I am happy to go to jail because it’s not a new thing for Christians to be sent to jail, and for the sake of Christ if I’m put in jail for telling the truth about what is in the Qur’an and Hadith and how Mohammad used to live. That’s something which I’m not ashamed of. And I will keep doing it.” For Scot, telling the truth about Islam and encouraging Christians to love Muslims is his main ministry. But he says more Christians need to answer the call. “We have very few people who are working among Muslims, so we need to pray that God will raise more people who will have a heart to reach out to Muslim people and really love and care for them. That’s very important.”
Full story: http://www.MNNonline.org/article/9141

Raynna

Many, in Islam, are saying that their “recent” hostility is because of the Jewish people. They also blame it on the “crusaders” (American aggression).

But what about those Christians in Islamic countries who are just trying to eke out a life in safety and in worship of the One they believe lived 2000 years ago. What about those who haven’t raised their fists (or voices for that matter) in defiance of Mohammed or Islam. Instead they are doing everything they can just to maintain life where their families have lived for (in some cases) generation-upon-generation? What have they done?

Sadly, they are seen as instruments that will hurt the “outsiders” and therein lies the crunch. Because the West is called, “Christian” (propaganda) those who hate us find the nearest Christian(s) and beat them or burn their houses of worship. It is because the name of Christ ties us. They are beaten, but, too often, we feel no pain.

Are we at fault for their suffering? No, we are at fault for missing their suffering – for not suffering with them, in prayer. We did not cause it; Islam would find some other excuse to torture them. What we did cause was that they aren’t remembered in our worship times or in our prayers. We forgot them. May God have mercy and grant us times of remembrance.

I recently ran across an article that I want to share with you here.

Any amount of reading about Islam and you will run into the statement that Islam is a Religion of Peace and that it is tolerant. I guess it all depends on what peace and tolerance means.

Islam will be at peace when the world believes as it does and there is no one else to kill. Then it will tolerate whatever is said. Palestinians open fire inside Nablus church

I guess it’s a good thing that the Jews and Christians don’t act like this every time their key figures are attacked.

Please, pray for the “Palestinian” Christians.

Jay