Arab Christians: Israel only state worth fighting for

[Roudy]

If this isn't a sign that Israel is an "apartheid state" I don't know what is!

Saturday, July 13, 2013
Arab Christians: Israel only state worth fighting for

The pro-Israel Arab Christians of Nazareth are becoming increasingly bold in their stance, and even dared to hold a public gathering late last month to toast the achievements of their new forum whose goal is convincing more young Arabs to join the army, as reported by Israel’s Ma’ariv newspaper.

“We chose to hold the conference to demonstrate that nothing will deter us,” forum spokesman Moran Khaloul told the newspaper. “We don’t live in Syria, where Christians are not allowed to speak…or in Iraq, where churches are bombed. We live in a Jewish state, which is democratic and free. As Israeli Christians we see ourselves as part of this state and not as part of those who oppose it.”

Khaloul said that until now, many in the community had been too afraid to speak out, but that was going to change. Many are now even referring to themselves openly as “Israeli Christians.”

Ali, an organizer for the forum, noted that local Arabs see what is happening across the Middle East and realize that Israel is the only place in the region where Christians can feel safe and belong. “That’s why more and more of us are realizing that there is no other country here that is worth fighting for,” he added.

Some went even deeper in their reasoning for joining the army of the Jewish state.

Henry Zahav, a 12th grader who intends to join the IDF gave this moving answer when asked byMa’ariv why he made that decision: “Ultimately, from a religious point of view, we are one. Jesus was a Jew, his mother was a Jew, and his 12 disciples were Jews.

 

[toastman]

Great article, thanks for sharing

 

[ForeverYoung436]

If this isn't a sign that Israel is an "apartheid state" I don't know what is!

Saturday, July 13, 2013
Arab Christians: Israel only state worth fighting for

The pro-Israel Arab Christians of Nazareth are becoming increasingly bold in their stance, and even dared to hold a public gathering late last month to toast the achievements of their new forum whose goal is convincing more young Arabs to join the army, as reported by Israel’s Ma’ariv newspaper.

“We chose to hold the conference to demonstrate that nothing will deter us,” forum spokesman Moran Khaloul told the newspaper. “We don’t live in Syria, where Christians are not allowed to speak…or in Iraq, where churches are bombed. We live in a Jewish state, which is democratic and free. As Israeli Christians we see ourselves as part of this state and not as part of those who oppose it.”

Khaloul said that until now, many in the community had been too afraid to speak out, but that was going to change. Many are now even referring to themselves openly as “Israeli Christians.”

Ali, an organizer for the forum, noted that local Arabs see what is happening across the Middle East and realize that Israel is the only place in the region where Christians can feel safe and belong. “That’s why more and more of us are realizing that there is no other country here that is worth fighting for,” he added.

Some went even deeper in their reasoning for joining the army of the Jewish state.

Henry Zahav, a 12th grader who intends to join the IDF gave this moving answer when asked byMa’ariv why he made that decision: “Ultimately, from a religious point of view, we are one. Jesus was a Jew, his mother was a Jew, and his 12 disciples were Jews.

Well, I hope that Tinmore and Sherri read this post since they are under the impression that Christians are being persecuted unbearably, in Israel.

 

[Lipush]

The Christian Arabs are a great community, it is their own politics and leaders in the Arab Knesset parties that insist on separating them from the Israeli Jewish community, against their will. The Arab MKs see their involvements and loyalty to Israel as betrayal, and force them to become Pariahs in their own country.

Sad to see this.

Good to see that they are fighting back

 

[Granny]

I'm not sure whether I've misread something or I'm just plain dumb - if there are Arab Christians living in Israel, who are pro-Israeli, serve in the Israel military and encourage their children to also join, how does that make Israel an apartheid state?

 

[Gardener]

most arab chirtsians support palestine not Israel.

 

[Lipush]

I'm not sure whether I've misread something or I'm just plain dumb - if there are Arab Christians living in Israel, who are pro-Israeli, serve in the Israel military and encourage their children to also join, how does that make Israel an apartheid state?

Shhhhhhhhhhhh....you're not supposed to ask that!


Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

[Lipush]

most arab chirtsians support palestine not Israel.

Most Arab Christians believe the Arabs MK are ruining their lives, don't care about them, and gain only by slandering Israel.

I have been around MANY Christian Arabs, and they feel very much loyal to the state.

What you say is wishful thinking of Anti-Zionists.

Thankfully, I happen to know better.

 

[ForeverYoung436]

most arab chirtsians support palestine not Israel.

And how do you know this? Have you ever been to either Israel or the West Bank?

 

[Gardener]

Arab Christians dont support Palestine.

I will tellyou why. Israel refuses to allow back even Palestinian refugees who are Christians.

and Israel defends Israelis who spit on and do grafitti to Christians in Jerusalem.

 

[MHunterB]

most arab chirtsians support palestine not Israel.

This may be true of the Christian Arabs elsewhere in the ME, but not of the Christian community within Israel - where they are citizens and vote, hold office, etc......

Israel is already a majority-Arab nation: over half of the Jewish Israelis are Arabs (Mizrachim), that's about 40% of the total Israeli population - and then there are the 20% who are Christian, Druze, or Muslim Arabs.

 

[Roudy]

most arab chirtsians support palestine not Israel.

This may be true of the Christian Arabs elsewhere in the ME, but not of the Christian community within Israel - where they are citizens and vote, hold office, etc......

Israel is already a majority-Arab nation: over half of the Jewish Israelis are Arabs (Mizrachim), that's about 40% of the total Israeli population - and then there are the 20% who are Christian, Druze, or Muslim Arabs.

I doubt any Arab Christians support Palestine except some in Gaza or West Bank and they do that not because they really do, but because they are afraid of the Arabs thugs who will kill them if they don't.

 

[Roudy]

Yeah, I mean what's there not to love?

While Muslims have responded with deadly outrage to the
now-retracted report by Newsweek of alleged Quran
desecration by U.S. interrogators, there was little
outcry three years ago when Islamic terrorists holed up
in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity reportedly used
the Bible as toilet paper.

Catholic priests in the church marking the spot where
Jesus was believed to have been born said that during
the five-week siege, Palestinians tore up some Bibles
for toilet paper and removed many valuable sacramental
objects, according to a May 15, 2002, report by the
Washington Times.

 

[Intense]

Thread Cleaned. Reminder. Zone 2 Posting Rules Enforced here.

 

[Gardener]

if they had to make a choice Christain Palesitinians would of course choose Palestine.

Palestine is their people and their heritage.

 

[Hossfly]

if they had to make a choice Christain Palesitinians would of course choose Palestine.

Palestine is their people and their heritage.

Perhaps you had better ask them, Gardener, where they feel safer and where they can practice their religious beliefs in peace.

 

[Gardener]

In a 2007 letter from Congressman Henry Hyde to President George W. Bush, Hyde stated that "the Christian community is being crushed in the mill of the bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and that expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were "irreversibly damaging the dwindling Christian community

Palestinian Christians - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Custodian of the Holy Land, a senior Catholic spokesman, has stated that police inaction and an educational culture that encourages Jewish children to treat Christians with "contempt" has made life increasingly "intolerable" for many Christians. Fr Pizzaballa's statement came after pro-settler extremists attacked a Trappist monastery in the town of Latroun, setting fire to its door, and covering walls with anti-Christian graffiti denouncing Christ as a "monkey". The incident followed a series of acts of arson and vandalism, in 2012, targeting places of Christian worship, including Jerusalem's 11th century Monastery of the Cross, where slogans such as "Death to Christians" and other offensive graffiti were daubed on its walls. According to an article in the Telegraph, Christian leaders feel that the most important issue that Israel has failed to address is the practice of some ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools to teach children that it is a religious obligation to abuse anyone in Holy Orders they encounter in public, such that Ultra-Orthodox Jews, including children as young as eight, spit at members of the clergy on a daily basis.[26]

After Pope Benedict XVI's comments on Islam in September 2006, five churches not affiliated with either Catholicism or the Pope—among them an Anglican and an Orthodox church—were firebombed and shot at in the West Bank and Gaza. A group called "Lions of Monotheism" claimed responsibility.[27] Former Palestinian Prime Minister and current Hamas leader Ismail Haniya condemned the attacks, and police presence was elevated in Bethlehem, which has a sizable Christian community.[28]

Armenians in Jerusalem, identified as Palestinian Christians or Israeli-Armenians, have also been attacked and received threats from Jewish extremists; Christians and clergy have been spat at, and one Armenian Archbishop was beaten and his centuries old cross broken. In September 2009, two Armenian Christian clergy were expelled after a brawl erupted with a Jewish extremist for spitting on holy Christian objects.[29]

In February 2009, a group of Christian activists within the West Bank wrote an open letter asking Pope Benedict XVI to postpone his scheduled trip to Israel unless the government changes its treatment.[30] They highlighted improved access to places of worship and ending the taxation of church properties as key concerns.[30] The Pope began his five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories on Sunday, 10 May, planning to express support for the region's Christians.[21] In response to Palestinian public statements, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor criticized the political polarization of the papal visit, remarking that "t will serve the cause of peace much better if this visit is taken for what it is, a pilgrimage, a visit for the cause of peace and unity

 

[Hossfly]

In a 2007 letter from Congressman Henry Hyde to President George W. Bush, Hyde stated that "the Christian community is being crushed in the mill of the bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and that expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were "irreversibly damaging the dwindling Christian community

Palestinian Christians - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Custodian of the Holy Land, a senior Catholic spokesman, has stated that police inaction and an educational culture that encourages Jewish children to treat Christians with "contempt" has made life increasingly "intolerable" for many Christians. Fr Pizzaballa's statement came after pro-settler extremists attacked a Trappist monastery in the town of Latroun, setting fire to its door, and covering walls with anti-Christian graffiti denouncing Christ as a "monkey". The incident followed a series of acts of arson and vandalism, in 2012, targeting places of Christian worship, including Jerusalem's 11th century Monastery of the Cross, where slogans such as "Death to Christians" and other offensive graffiti were daubed on its walls. According to an article in the Telegraph, Christian leaders feel that the most important issue that Israel has failed to address is the practice of some ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools to teach children that it is a religious obligation to abuse anyone in Holy Orders they encounter in public, such that Ultra-Orthodox Jews, including children as young as eight, spit at members of the clergy on a daily basis.[26]

After Pope Benedict XVI's comments on Islam in September 2006, five churches not affiliated with either Catholicism or the Pope—among them an Anglican and an Orthodox church—were firebombed and shot at in the West Bank and Gaza. A group called "Lions of Monotheism" claimed responsibility.[27] Former Palestinian Prime Minister and current Hamas leader Ismail Haniya condemned the attacks, and police presence was elevated in Bethlehem, which has a sizable Christian community.[28]

Armenians in Jerusalem, identified as Palestinian Christians or Israeli-Armenians, have also been attacked and received threats from Jewish extremists; Christians and clergy have been spat at, and one Armenian Archbishop was beaten and his centuries old cross broken. In September 2009, two Armenian Christian clergy were expelled after a brawl erupted with a Jewish extremist for spitting on holy Christian objects.[29]

In February 2009, a group of Christian activists within the West Bank wrote an open letter asking Pope Benedict XVI to postpone his scheduled trip to Israel unless the government changes its treatment.[30] They highlighted improved access to places of worship and ending the taxation of church properties as key concerns.[30] The Pope began his five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories on Sunday, 10 May, planning to express support for the region's Christians.[21] In response to Palestinian public statements, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor criticized the political polarization of the papal visit, remarking that "t will serve the cause of peace much better if this visit is taken for what it is, a pilgrimage, a visit for the cause of peace and unity

Why, Gardener, I think everyone realizes that there are Christians, even pastors and priests, who are anti-Semitic. Why just depend just on Wikipedia where people can put in anything they want and research what some of the Christians in Bethlehem have said? To the last Christian in Bethlehem, please turn off the lights. Meanwhile, given what we see the Muslims doing to the Christians today in the Muslim world, it would be ludicrous to think that the Muslims in Palestinians really hard the Christians in high regard. By the way, Gardener, you can contact the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem and ask them how their fellow Christians think about the Muslims and the Jews. You can probably find their E-mail address on their website.

 

[MHunterB]

if they had to make a choice Christain Palesitinians would of course choose Palestine.

Palestine is their people and their heritage.

Perhaps it's better to let the Christian Arab citizens of Israel speak for themselves - as they do in the article?

 

[LuckyDuck01!]

While I favor Israel in the ongoing strife over there, I doubt that the Arab Christians could hold the highest office in Israel, as that would be reserved solely for the Jews. So, it's not total freedom, just simulated freedom, which is better than they would get than if under Islamic rule.