Future Scenarios for Palestine/Israel

[Marc39]

Arab-American Joe Farah: The Truth About Christians In Palestine...

There's a new propaganda effort under way designed to convince churches in the U.S. that Israel, not Yasser Arafat's the Palestinian Authority and the Arab states, is victimizing Christians in the Middle East.

The proposition would be laughable if it were not so well organized and ingeniously conceived and diabolically executed.

A group called the Holy Land Trust is currently organizing tours of large evangelical churches in the U.S. and spreading venomous lies about Israel and obscuring the outrageous persecution of Christians within the Palestinian Authority.

The lies this group tells in the name of Christianity are big and bold. They include the standard lines about Jews robbing the homes of Arabs, stealing their land and brutalizing them in a repressive state of military occupation. These so-called Christians even rationalize terrorism.

I've dealt with the myths many times in the past. But, for the sake of those U.S. churches being hoodwinked by this sophisticated, slick and well-funded propaganda campaign of the Holy Land Trust, let me today give you a glimpse of the truth about the plight of Christians in the Islamicized land of "Palestine" today.

Arafat's Islamo-fascist storm troopers have shown nothing but contempt for Christians and their holy sites – particularly in the last five or six years.

In 1997, Arafat turned the Greek Orthodox monastery in Bethlehem into his own personal residence during visits to that city. The same year, the Palestine Liberation Organization seized Abraham's Oak Russian Holy Trinity Monastery in Hebron, evicting monks and nuns.

When the Arab uprising of September 2000 began, Arafat's Tanzim terrorist forces chose the Christian town of Beit Jala as an outpost from which its snipers shot at Jerusalem. They hid themselves in Christian homes, hotels, schools and churches so that return fire from Israel would rain death and destruction on Christians.

Last year, about 150 armed PA terrorists took over Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, holding 40 Christian clergy and nuns hostage, while firing out at surrounding Israeli forces. Rather than risk the lives of the captives and the destruction of the historic church, Israel negotiated the release of the terrorists – but the church was irreparably scarred. The terrorists stole gold, prayer books, crosses and anything else that was not nailed down.

If you want to see the dramatic story of this occupation, watch the remarkable documentary "Holyland: Christians in Peril."

About the same time, Palestinian terrorists took over St. Mary's Church in Bethlehem, holding a priest and several nuns against their will. Again, the terrorists used the church to fire out at Israeli troops, who were ordered not to fire on the Christian church.

Even in Jerusalem, where Israel permits the Palestinian Authority-appointed Waqf autonomy over the Temple Mount, Christians as well as Jews are prohibited from entering the site holy to both faiths.

Christian cemeteries are defaced in the areas under control by the PA. Anti-Christian graffiti, such as "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people," is commonplace. Christian businesses are burned. Christian women are raped. There is no legal recourse for the victims in this budding Islamic state.

As far back as 1997, the London Times observed: "Life in Bethlehem has become insufferable for many members of the dwindling Christian minorities. Increasing Muslim-Christian tensions have left some Christians reluctant to celebrate Christmas in the town at the heart of the story of Christ's birth."

As a result of the intimidation, the harassment and the persecution of Christians in "Palestine," Christians are fleeing for their very lives. They are abandoning their homes, their churches and their businesses.

This is the stark truth of the Arab and Muslim occupation of what were formerly Christian towns in Judea and Samaria.

Israel's only role in this crime was in negotiating, under intense international pressure, the so-called "peace" treaties that allowed these atrocities to happen – that, in fact, made them inevitable.

So, if the Holy Land Trust brings its traveling road show to your church, arm yourself with the facts, and tell the deceivers to take a hike.

The truth about Christians in 'Palestine'

 

[P F Tinmore]

Arab-American Joe Farah: The Truth About Christians In Palestine...

There's a new propaganda effort under way designed to convince churches in the U.S. that Israel, not Yasser Arafat's the Palestinian Authority and the Arab states, is victimizing Christians in the Middle East.

The proposition would be laughable if it were not so well organized and ingeniously conceived and diabolically executed.

A group called the Holy Land Trust is currently organizing tours of large evangelical churches in the U.S. and spreading venomous lies about Israel and obscuring the outrageous persecution of Christians within the Palestinian Authority.

The lies this group tells in the name of Christianity are big and bold. They include the standard lines about Jews robbing the homes of Arabs, stealing their land and brutalizing them in a repressive state of military occupation. These so-called Christians even rationalize terrorism.

I've dealt with the myths many times in the past. But, for the sake of those U.S. churches being hoodwinked by this sophisticated, slick and well-funded propaganda campaign of the Holy Land Trust, let me today give you a glimpse of the truth about the plight of Christians in the Islamicized land of "Palestine" today.

Arafat's Islamo-fascist storm troopers have shown nothing but contempt for Christians and their holy sites – particularly in the last five or six years.

In 1997, Arafat turned the Greek Orthodox monastery in Bethlehem into his own personal residence during visits to that city. The same year, the Palestine Liberation Organization seized Abraham's Oak Russian Holy Trinity Monastery in Hebron, evicting monks and nuns.

When the Arab uprising of September 2000 began, Arafat's Tanzim terrorist forces chose the Christian town of Beit Jala as an outpost from which its snipers shot at Jerusalem. They hid themselves in Christian homes, hotels, schools and churches so that return fire from Israel would rain death and destruction on Christians.

Last year, about 150 armed PA terrorists took over Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, holding 40 Christian clergy and nuns hostage, while firing out at surrounding Israeli forces. Rather than risk the lives of the captives and the destruction of the historic church, Israel negotiated the release of the terrorists – but the church was irreparably scarred. The terrorists stole gold, prayer books, crosses and anything else that was not nailed down.

If you want to see the dramatic story of this occupation, watch the remarkable documentary "Holyland: Christians in Peril."

About the same time, Palestinian terrorists took over St. Mary's Church in Bethlehem, holding a priest and several nuns against their will. Again, the terrorists used the church to fire out at Israeli troops, who were ordered not to fire on the Christian church.

Even in Jerusalem, where Israel permits the Palestinian Authority-appointed Waqf autonomy over the Temple Mount, Christians as well as Jews are prohibited from entering the site holy to both faiths.

Christian cemeteries are defaced in the areas under control by the PA. Anti-Christian graffiti, such as "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people," is commonplace. Christian businesses are burned. Christian women are raped. There is no legal recourse for the victims in this budding Islamic state.

As far back as 1997, the London Times observed: "Life in Bethlehem has become insufferable for many members of the dwindling Christian minorities. Increasing Muslim-Christian tensions have left some Christians reluctant to celebrate Christmas in the town at the heart of the story of Christ's birth."

As a result of the intimidation, the harassment and the persecution of Christians in "Palestine," Christians are fleeing for their very lives. They are abandoning their homes, their churches and their businesses.

This is the stark truth of the Arab and Muslim occupation of what were formerly Christian towns in Judea and Samaria.

Israel's only role in this crime was in negotiating, under intense international pressure, the so-called "peace" treaties that allowed these atrocities to happen – that, in fact, made them inevitable.

So, if the Holy Land Trust brings its traveling road show to your church, arm yourself with the facts, and tell the deceivers to take a hike.

The truth about Christians in 'Palestine'

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xHU2xrnvZA]YouTube - One on One - Hanan Ashrawi - 26 Sep 09 - Part 1[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuNVwCiU1SM&feature=channel]YouTube - One on One - Hanan Ashrawi - 26 Sep 09 - Part 2[/ame]

 

[Marc39]

Wall Street Journal
The Forgotten Palestinian Refugees
Even in Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians are suffering under Muslim intolerance

Meet Mr. Ibrahim (a pseudonym to protect him from reprisals), a 23-year old Palestinian refugee living in the West Bank. Unlike those descendents of refugees born in United Nations camps, Mr. Ibrahim fled his birthplace just two years ago. And he wasn't running away from Israelis, but from his Palestinian brethren in Gaza.

Mr. Ibrahim's crime in that Hamas-ruled territory was to be a Christian, a transgression he compounded in the Islamists' eyes by writing love poems.

"Muslims tied to Hamas tried to take me twice," says Mr. Ibrahim, and he didn't want to find out what they'd do to him if they ever kidnapped him. He hasn't seen his family since Christmas 2007 and is afraid even to talk to them on the phone.

Speaking to a group of foreign journalists in the Bethlehem Bible College where he is studying theology, Mr. Ibrahim describes a life of fear in Gaza. "My sister is under a lot of pressure to wear a headscarf. People are turning more and more to Islamic fundamentalism and the situation for Christians is very difficult," he says.

In 2007, one year after the Hamas takeover, the owner of Gaza's only Christian bookstore was abducted and murdered. Christian shops and schools have been firebombed. Little wonder that most of Mr. Ibrahim's Christian friends have also left Gaza.

On the rare occasion that Western media cover the plight of Christians in the Palestinian territories, it is often to denounce Israel and its security barrier. Yet until Palestinian terrorist groups turned Bethlehem into a safe haven for suicide bombers, Bethlehemites were free to enter Israel, just as many Israelis routinely visited Bethlehem.

The other truth usually ignored by the Western press is that the barrier helped restore calm and security not just in Israel, but also in the West Bank including Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity, which Palestinian gunmen stormed and defiled in 2002 to escape from Israeli security forces, is now filled again with tourists and pilgrims from around the world.

But even here in Jesus' birthplace, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Christians live on a knife's edge. Mr. Ibrahim tells me that Muslims often stand in front of the gate of the Bible College and read from the Quran to intimidate Christian students. Other Muslims like to roll out their prayer rugs right in Manger Square.

Asked about why Muslims would pray so close to one of Christianity's holiest sites, Pastor Alex Awad, dean of students at the Bible College, diplomatically advises me to pose this question to the Muslims themselves. Mindful of his community's precarious situation, he is at pains to stress that whatever problems Christians may have with their Muslim neighbors, it's not the PA's fault.

"Muslims and Christians live here in relative harmony," he tells reporters, only to add that Christians "feel the pressure of Islam . . . There is intimidation and fanaticism but these are little instances and there is no general persecution."

Samir Qumsieh, the founder of what he says is the holy land's only Christian TV station, also stresses that there is no "Christian suffering" and that the Christians' problems are not orchestrated by the PA. Yet his stories of land theft, beatings and intimidation make one wonder why, if the PA doesn't approve of such injustices, it is doing so little to stop it?

Christians have only recently begun to talk about how Muslim gangs simply come and take possession of Christian-owned land while the Palestinian security services, almost exclusively staffed by Muslims, stand by. Mr. Qumsieh's own home was firebombed three years ago. The perpetrators were never caught.

"We have never suffered as we are suffering now," Mr. Qumsieh confesses, violating his own introductory warning to the assorted foreign correspondents in his office not to use the word "suffering."

Always a minority religion among the predominantly Muslim Palestinians, Christians are, Mr. Qumsieh says, "melting away," even in Bethlehem. While they represented about 80% of the city's population 60 years ago, their numbers are now down to about 20%, a result not just of Muslims' higher birth rates but also widespread Christian emigration. "Our future as a Christian community here is gloomy," Mr. Qumsieh says.

Palestinian plight not attributable to Israel barely seems to register in the West's collective conscience. As Christians around the world remember Jesus' birth, perhaps we can think of Mr. Ibrahim and those Christians still suffering in Gaza and Bethlehem.

Daniel Schwammenthal: Bethlehem's Persecuted Christians - WSJ.com

 

[P F Tinmore]

Wall Street Journal
The Forgotten Palestinian Refugees
Even in Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians are suffering under Muslim intolerance

Meet Mr. Ibrahim (a pseudonym to protect him from reprisals), a 23-year old Palestinian refugee living in the West Bank. Unlike those descendents of refugees born in United Nations camps, Mr. Ibrahim fled his birthplace just two years ago. And he wasn't running away from Israelis, but from his Palestinian brethren in Gaza.

Mr. Ibrahim's crime in that Hamas-ruled territory was to be a Christian, a transgression he compounded in the Islamists' eyes by writing love poems.

"Muslims tied to Hamas tried to take me twice," says Mr. Ibrahim, and he didn't want to find out what they'd do to him if they ever kidnapped him. He hasn't seen his family since Christmas 2007 and is afraid even to talk to them on the phone.

Speaking to a group of foreign journalists in the Bethlehem Bible College where he is studying theology, Mr. Ibrahim describes a life of fear in Gaza. "My sister is under a lot of pressure to wear a headscarf. People are turning more and more to Islamic fundamentalism and the situation for Christians is very difficult," he says.

In 2007, one year after the Hamas takeover, the owner of Gaza's only Christian bookstore was abducted and murdered. Christian shops and schools have been firebombed. Little wonder that most of Mr. Ibrahim's Christian friends have also left Gaza.

On the rare occasion that Western media cover the plight of Christians in the Palestinian territories, it is often to denounce Israel and its security barrier. Yet until Palestinian terrorist groups turned Bethlehem into a safe haven for suicide bombers, Bethlehemites were free to enter Israel, just as many Israelis routinely visited Bethlehem.

The other truth usually ignored by the Western press is that the barrier helped restore calm and security not just in Israel, but also in the West Bank including Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity, which Palestinian gunmen stormed and defiled in 2002 to escape from Israeli security forces, is now filled again with tourists and pilgrims from around the world.

But even here in Jesus' birthplace, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Christians live on a knife's edge. Mr. Ibrahim tells me that Muslims often stand in front of the gate of the Bible College and read from the Quran to intimidate Christian students. Other Muslims like to roll out their prayer rugs right in Manger Square.

Asked about why Muslims would pray so close to one of Christianity's holiest sites, Pastor Alex Awad, dean of students at the Bible College, diplomatically advises me to pose this question to the Muslims themselves. Mindful of his community's precarious situation, he is at pains to stress that whatever problems Christians may have with their Muslim neighbors, it's not the PA's fault.

"Muslims and Christians live here in relative harmony," he tells reporters, only to add that Christians "feel the pressure of Islam . . . There is intimidation and fanaticism but these are little instances and there is no general persecution."

Samir Qumsieh, the founder of what he says is the holy land's only Christian TV station, also stresses that there is no "Christian suffering" and that the Christians' problems are not orchestrated by the PA. Yet his stories of land theft, beatings and intimidation make one wonder why, if the PA doesn't approve of such injustices, it is doing so little to stop it?

Christians have only recently begun to talk about how Muslim gangs simply come and take possession of Christian-owned land while the Palestinian security services, almost exclusively staffed by Muslims, stand by. Mr. Qumsieh's own home was firebombed three years ago. The perpetrators were never caught.

"We have never suffered as we are suffering now," Mr. Qumsieh confesses, violating his own introductory warning to the assorted foreign correspondents in his office not to use the word "suffering."

Always a minority religion among the predominantly Muslim Palestinians, Christians are, Mr. Qumsieh says, "melting away," even in Bethlehem. While they represented about 80% of the city's population 60 years ago, their numbers are now down to about 20%, a result not just of Muslims' higher birth rates but also widespread Christian emigration. "Our future as a Christian community here is gloomy," Mr. Qumsieh says.

Palestinian plight not attributable to Israel barely seems to register in the West's collective conscience. As Christians around the world remember Jesus' birth, perhaps we can think of Mr. Ibrahim and those Christians still suffering in Gaza and Bethlehem.

Daniel Schwammenthal: Bethlehem's Persecuted Christians - WSJ.com

All your posts about Christians are by Jews.

 

[Marc39]

Wall Street Journal
The Forgotten Palestinian Refugees
Even in Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians are suffering under Muslim intolerance

Meet Mr. Ibrahim (a pseudonym to protect him from reprisals), a 23-year old Palestinian refugee living in the West Bank. Unlike those descendents of refugees born in United Nations camps, Mr. Ibrahim fled his birthplace just two years ago. And he wasn't running away from Israelis, but from his Palestinian brethren in Gaza.

Mr. Ibrahim's crime in that Hamas-ruled territory was to be a Christian, a transgression he compounded in the Islamists' eyes by writing love poems.

"Muslims tied to Hamas tried to take me twice," says Mr. Ibrahim, and he didn't want to find out what they'd do to him if they ever kidnapped him. He hasn't seen his family since Christmas 2007 and is afraid even to talk to them on the phone.

Speaking to a group of foreign journalists in the Bethlehem Bible College where he is studying theology, Mr. Ibrahim describes a life of fear in Gaza. "My sister is under a lot of pressure to wear a headscarf. People are turning more and more to Islamic fundamentalism and the situation for Christians is very difficult," he says.

In 2007, one year after the Hamas takeover, the owner of Gaza's only Christian bookstore was abducted and murdered. Christian shops and schools have been firebombed. Little wonder that most of Mr. Ibrahim's Christian friends have also left Gaza.

On the rare occasion that Western media cover the plight of Christians in the Palestinian territories, it is often to denounce Israel and its security barrier. Yet until Palestinian terrorist groups turned Bethlehem into a safe haven for suicide bombers, Bethlehemites were free to enter Israel, just as many Israelis routinely visited Bethlehem.

The other truth usually ignored by the Western press is that the barrier helped restore calm and security not just in Israel, but also in the West Bank including Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity, which Palestinian gunmen stormed and defiled in 2002 to escape from Israeli security forces, is now filled again with tourists and pilgrims from around the world.

But even here in Jesus' birthplace, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Christians live on a knife's edge. Mr. Ibrahim tells me that Muslims often stand in front of the gate of the Bible College and read from the Quran to intimidate Christian students. Other Muslims like to roll out their prayer rugs right in Manger Square.

Asked about why Muslims would pray so close to one of Christianity's holiest sites, Pastor Alex Awad, dean of students at the Bible College, diplomatically advises me to pose this question to the Muslims themselves. Mindful of his community's precarious situation, he is at pains to stress that whatever problems Christians may have with their Muslim neighbors, it's not the PA's fault.

"Muslims and Christians live here in relative harmony," he tells reporters, only to add that Christians "feel the pressure of Islam . . . There is intimidation and fanaticism but these are little instances and there is no general persecution."

Samir Qumsieh, the founder of what he says is the holy land's only Christian TV station, also stresses that there is no "Christian suffering" and that the Christians' problems are not orchestrated by the PA. Yet his stories of land theft, beatings and intimidation make one wonder why, if the PA doesn't approve of such injustices, it is doing so little to stop it?

Christians have only recently begun to talk about how Muslim gangs simply come and take possession of Christian-owned land while the Palestinian security services, almost exclusively staffed by Muslims, stand by. Mr. Qumsieh's own home was firebombed three years ago. The perpetrators were never caught.

"We have never suffered as we are suffering now," Mr. Qumsieh confesses, violating his own introductory warning to the assorted foreign correspondents in his office not to use the word "suffering."

Always a minority religion among the predominantly Muslim Palestinians, Christians are, Mr. Qumsieh says, "melting away," even in Bethlehem. While they represented about 80% of the city's population 60 years ago, their numbers are now down to about 20%, a result not just of Muslims' higher birth rates but also widespread Christian emigration. "Our future as a Christian community here is gloomy," Mr. Qumsieh says.

Palestinian plight not attributable to Israel barely seems to register in the West's collective conscience. As Christians around the world remember Jesus' birth, perhaps we can think of Mr. Ibrahim and those Christians still suffering in Gaza and Bethlehem.

Daniel Schwammenthal: Bethlehem's Persecuted Christians - WSJ.com

All your posts about Christians are by Jews.

Jews are very smart.
You, not so much.

 

[P F Tinmore]

Wall Street Journal
The Forgotten Palestinian Refugees
Even in Bethlehem, Palestinian Christians are suffering under Muslim intolerance

Daniel Schwammenthal: Bethlehem's Persecuted Christians - WSJ.com

All your posts about Christians are by Jews.

Jews are very smart.
You, not so much.

Smart is not the issue. Lies are the issue.

 

[Marc39]

All your posts about Christians are by Jews.

Jews are very smart.
You, not so much.

Smart is not the issue. Lies are the issue.

You lie.

 

[P F Tinmore]

Jews are very smart.
You, not so much.

Smart is not the issue. Lies are the issue.

You lie.

You have never proven me wrong on anything.

You just call names and claim victory.

 

[Marc39]

Smart is not the issue. Lies are the issue.

You lie.

You have never proven me wrong on anything.

You just call names and claim victory.

LOL. If I had a penny for each time I have proven you wrong, I could buy another house.

You are the Forum Dunce.

 

[P F Tinmore]

You lie.

You have never proven me wrong on anything.

You just call names and claim victory.

LOL. If I had a penny for each time I have proven you wrong, I could buy another house.

You are the Forum Dunce.

You couldn't put a down payment on an outhouse.

 

[Marc39]

You have never proven me wrong on anything.

You just call names and claim victory.

LOL. If I had a penny for each time I have proven you wrong, I could buy another house.

You are the Forum Dunce.

You couldn't put a down payment on an outhouse.

You're The Forum Dunce.

 

[P F Tinmore]

LOL. If I had a penny for each time I have proven you wrong, I could buy another house.

You are the Forum Dunce.

You couldn't put a down payment on an outhouse.

You're The Forum Dunce.

I think you have mentioned that before.

 

[Marc39]

You couldn't put a down payment on an outhouse.

You're The Forum Dunce.

I think you have mentioned that before.

You think? D'oh!
You are The Forum Dunce.