On Sunday, “60 Minutes” aired a report on the plight of Christians in the Middle East. Was it on the Copts in Egypt? The destruction of Christian communities in Arab lands? Syrian Christians living in Bashar al-Assad’s slaughterhouse? Oh no. This was about Israel. As host Bob Simon put it, with only about 11,000 Christians left, “Religious leaders are afraid Jerusalem could become a museum, a spiritual theme park, a great place for tourists and pilgrims, but not for the Arab Christians whose roots date back to the church’s very beginnings.”
The fault, he claimed, lies with that dreaded wall. You know, the one Israel was forced to erect to stop wave after wave of terrorist bombings. So you see in defending itself, Israel has turned Bethlehem into “an open-air prison.” This, according to Simon, means: “For all Palestinians, just leaving Bethlehem is a struggle. Getting to Jerusalem, only seven miles away, whether it’s to pray, go to a doctor, visit family members or work, means going through this Israeli checkpoint. That can take hours, but before Palestinians can get even this far, they need a permit from the Israelis, which can take weeks or months to obtain and is frequently denied.”
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Michael Oren, remarked on the piece: “It seemed to me outrageous. Completely incomprehensible that at a time when these communities, Christian communities throughout the Middle East are being oppressed and massacred, when churches are being burnt, when one of the great stories in history is unfolding? I think it’s — I think it’s — I think you got me a little bit mystified.” (For some balance to the CBS hit piece, check out Oren’s Wall Street Journal op-ed from March.)
Categories: Americas, CHRISTIANITY, Citizenship, Ethiopia, Human Rights, Human values, Interfaith tolerance, Israel, Judaism, Religion, Religions
The ‘Christians for Israel’ Lobby in the US would do the Arab Christians a greater favor, if they would support THEM (The Arab Christians) rather than the Zionist Israelis.
I can say from the view of Jordan that the Christians in Jordan are totally free, favored in fact. New churches are being built in several locations and no body raises any objections or makes any fuss what so ever.
The joint bishops of the established churches even got the cooperation of the police to get some unwanted evangelical competition out of the country – well, they are back in after a short break…
Christians in Palestine did not emigrate because Christians in Egypt had a harder time than previously or because Churches were bombed in Iraq (by the way: so were mosques, and markets, and offices, and houses…).