Exodus of the Palestinian Christians

[coda]

Exodus of the Palestinian Christians

By Abe W. Ata

October 25, 2003—The Palestinian Christian is an endangered species. When the modern state of Israel was established there were about 400,000 of us. Two years ago the number was down to 80,000. Now it's down to 60,000. At that rate, in a few years there will be none of us left

<snip>

So why are Palestinian Christians abandoning their homeland?

We have lost hope, that's why. We are treated as non-people. Few outside the Middle East even know we exist, and those who do, conveniently forget.

I refer, of course, to the American Religious Right. They see the modern Israel as a harbinger of the Second Coming, at which time Christians will go to Paradise, and all others (presumably including Jews) to Hell. To this end they lend military and moral support to Israel.

<snip>

Less well known are the views of the American Religious Right. Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) said: 'God Appeared to Abraham and said: "I am giving you this land, the West Bank. This is not a political battle at all. It is a contest over whether or not the word of God is true.'

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) was even more forthright: 'I'm content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank . . . I happen to believe that the Palestinians should leave.'



<snip>


So why do American Christians stand by while their leaders advocate the expulsion of fellow Christians? Could it be that they do not know that the Holy Land has been a home to Christians since, well . . . since Christ?



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more.....


http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/102503Ata/102503ata.html

[madrchsod]

1. yes, soon there

will be no christians in the birthplace of jesus. it won`t be the arab tribes that have driven them out but the tribes of judea. interesting development in the thousands of years of history of these lands and tribes....

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

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[Cassandra]

24. Please explain...

what the tribes of Judea have to do with this story.

[sushi]

2. Very good question

It's possible they're not well-informed. It's surprising how many people think of the Palestinians as a bunch of Muslim terrorists.

[Lefty48197]

3. We must guarantee their right of return to their homeland

It's a sad sad story about all the Christians who had to leave that region because they would be killed for their religious beliefs. Will Yassar Arafat allow the Christians to return to Ramallah? (It's a rhetorical question. The answer is obviously "no")

[sushi]

4. I doubt the answer is "no"

Arafat is not against Christians. Hanan Ashrawi, a Christian, speaks for the PA.

[bemildred]

5. That seems to be correct.

PNA is secular, it's Hamas et. al. that are fundy oriented.

[Darranar]

6. Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade is also secular...

which is why I think that if Arafat IS helping terrorists, examining that group closesly would give the most information...

[bemildred]

7. I don't think anyone in his right mind would think that

Arafat is not with the terrorists at least in spirit, one
might argue about how much he can do in practice. It would be
passing strange don't you think for him to be rooting for the
IDF and the GOI?

[Darranar]

8. I doubt he's actively aiding them...

and you can't persecute someone for their beliefs.

[bemildred]

9. I don't think it matters much.

Although I agree that persecuting Arafat is a useless exercise.
It surely does not seem to have lead to much improvement in the last
few years.

I think arguing about Arafat and how bad he is or is not is a form
of mental masturbation (no offense intended to you); it's just
ludicrous in the present situation to expect that he is supposed to
be worrying a lot about alleviating the level of stress inside the
green line.

IIRC al-aqsa is a Fatah-related group.

[Darranar]

10. The problem I have with Arafat-bashers...

is that they often blame everything (or almost everything) on him.

That is simply untrue, which is why i argue with them.

[bemildred]

11. Fight the good fight, don't let me stop you.

I was not intent on any criticism.

[drdon326]

13. This is what you said 4 days ago....re:arafat

"Because he tolerates terrorism;

Because he does little to stop anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli bigotry appearing in official PA news sources;

Because he has been reluctant to actively negotiate for peace;

Because he undermines moderates who might actually pose a hope for peace;

Because he brutalizes his own people;

Because he, very simply, only cares about his own power and not about the welfare of his people."

i agree

[Darranar]

14. I think he's an obstacle to peace...

I don't think he's to blame for everything, or nearly everything, though.

[rini]

19. If that is the case

how many other horrific, objectionable, illegal, and murderous things did you leave off your list for which the weasel is not to blame? Must be one hell of a list!

[sushi]

15. I think

even if Arafat wanted to stop the suicide bombers, and how do we know he doesn't now, he can't. They ignore him. I also think the more the IDF hits back double hard the more Palestinians are with the suicide bombers in spirit.

[Jack Rabbit]

16. Mme Arafat is a Christian

Arafat himself is a Muslim, although not considered devout.

[sushi]

17. And he married a Christian,

who converted to Islam.

[rini]

18. Now

if I read this post correctly, since the PA took control of Bethlehem, Christians are leaving and their numbers are shrinking. How the hell can any sane person blame Israel and the Jews?

[drdon326]

20. Brace yourself.

lol

[jplawne]

21. Immigrants are great voters

Rini: it is not important that Israel's critics can actually prove anything. It is only important that they know how to twist language, make assumptions, and fabricate data to demonize Israel at every turn and not hold Palestinians to any kind of moral, ethical, or civic responsibility.

Refugees/immigrants are like farmers, or 'the market' in that to clear through all the noise about what people want, just look at what people do. Do farmers sow or do they kill their milking cows for meat. The justification for the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq aside, the best indication of if things are better in ways that matter to people is if there is a net decrease or increase in fight. Turns out that the massive refugee camps set up in Pakistan and Syria went unused as hundreds of thousands returned home and few fled. Iraqis and Afghanis have spoken despite the interview with ‘Arab Street’

Though a very small minority of Arabs are Christians, Christian-Arabs make up the largest part of the Arab-American community in the US. Seems to me Arab-Christians have voted on Muslim treatment with their feet

[rini]

23. very well put my friend

n/t

[jplawne]

22. Immigrants are great voters

Rini: it is not important that Israel's critics can actually prove anything. It is only important that they know how to twist language, make assumptions, and fabricate data to demonize Israel at every turn and not hold Palestinians to any kind of moral, ethical, or civic responsibility.

Refugees/immigrants are like farmers, or 'the market' in that to clear through all the noise about what people want, just look at what people do. Do farmers sow or do they kill their milking cows for meat. The justification for the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq aside, the best indication of if things are better in ways that matter to people is if there is a net decrease or increase in fight. Turns out that the massive refugee camps set up in Pakistan and Syria went unused as hundreds of thousands returned home and few fled. Iraqis and Afghanis have spoken despite the interview with ‘Arab Street’

Though a very small minority of Arabs are Christians, Christian-Arabs make up the largest part of the Arab-American community in the US. Seems to me Arab-Christians have voted on Muslim treatment with their feet