Michael Oren wrote as follows in the Wall Street Journal The Church [of the Nativity] in Bethlehem had survived more than 1000 years, through wars and conquests, but its future now seemed in jeopardy. Spray-painted all over its ancient stone walls were Arabic letters for Hamas. The year was 1994 and the city was about to pass from Israeli to Palestinian control. I was meeting with the church’s clergy as an Israeli government adviser on inter-religious affairs. They were despondent but too frightened to file a complaint. The same Hamas thugs who had desecrated their sanctuary were liable to take their lives. Dwindling Christian life across the Arab Middle East The trauma of those priests is now commonplace among Middle Eastern Christians. Their share of the region’s population has plunged from 20% a century ago to less than 5% today and it is falling.
As 800,000 Jews were once expelled from Arab countries, so are Christians being forced from lands which they have inhabited for centuries. By contrast, Israel’s Christian population has increased by 1000% since 1948 The only place in the Middle East where Christians aren’t endangered but flourishing is Israel. Since Israel’s founding in 1948, its Christian communities (including Russian and Greek Orthodox, Catholics, Armenians and Protestants) have expanded more than 1000%. Israeli Arab Christians are on average more affluent than Israeli Jews and better-educated, even scoring higher in their SATs. This does not mean that Israeli Christians do not occasionally encounter intolerance. (See Beyond Images Briefing 311 – Shared humanity in Jerusalem: an open letter to Christians). But in contrast to elsewhere in the Middle East where hatred of Christians is ignored or encouraged, Israel remains committed to its Declaration of Independence pledge to “ensure the complete equality of all its citizens irrespective of religion”. It guarantees free access to all Christian holy places, which are under the exclusive aegis of Christian clergy. When Muslims tried to erect a mosque near the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Israeli government interceded to preserve the sanctity of the shrine. Israel abounds with such sites (for example Capernaum, the Hill of the Beatitudes, the birth place of St John the Baptist) but the [territory of the] state of Israel constitutes only part of the Holy Land. The rest, according to Jewish and Christian tradition, is in Gaza and the West Bank. Christians in those areas suffer the same plight as their co-religionists throughout the region. The diminishing Christian population of Gaza and the West Bank Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007 (see Beyond Images Briefing 198 – The Hamas takeover of Gaza: quickly forgotten facts), half the Christian community has fled. Christmas decorations and public displays of crucifixes are forbidden. In a December 2010 broadcast, Hamas officials exhorted Muslims to slaughter their Christian neighbours. Rami Ayad, owner of Gaza’s only Christian bookstore, was murdered, his store reduced to ash. This is the same Hamas with which the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank has recently signed a unity pact. Little wonder, then, that the West Bank is also haemhorraging Christians. Once 15% of the population, Christians now make up less than 2%. Some have attributed the flight to Israeli policies that allegedly deny Christians economic opportunities, stunt demographic growth, and impede access to the holy sites of Jerusalem. In fact, most West Bank Christians live in cities such as Nablus, Jericho and Ramallah, which are under Palestinian Authority control. All those cities have experienced marked economic growth and a sharp population increase – but only among [Palestinian] Muslims [not among the Palestinian Christian population]. Israel, in spite of its need to safeguard the borders from terrorists, allows holiday access to Jerusalem’s churches to Christians from both the West Bank and Gaza. In Jerusalem, the number of Arabs – among them Christians – has tripled since the city’s unification by Israel in 1967 (see Beyond Images Briefing 254 – Jerusalem: the battle over facts, history and context). Bethlehem, and why Christians are leaving the West Bank There must be another reason, then, for the West Bank’s Christian exodus. The answer lies in Bethlehem. Under Israeli auspices, the city’s Christian population grew by 57%. But under the Palestinian Authority since 1995, those numbers have plummeted. Palestinian gunmen seized Christian homes [in Beit Jalla, South of Jerusalem – Beyond Images] compelling Israel to build a protective barrier between them and Jewish neighbourhoods, and then occupied the Church of the Nativity, looting it and using it as a latrine. Today, Christians comprise a mere one-fifth of their holy city’s population. (see Beyond Images Briefing 163 – The Christians of Bethlehem: intimidation by Muslim extremists) - End article Richard Stearns: ‘Dark Easter’ for Palestinian Christians? Within weeks, Michael Oren’s voice was heard publicly again on this theme. On 4 April 2012 an opinion article appeared in the Washington Post newspaper by Richard Stearns, who is the US President of the humanitarian group World Vision. In the article, Stearns alleged that only 2000 Palestinian Christians had been permitted to go to Jerusalem for Easter, from over 20,000 applicants. The article was called ‘A dark Easter for Palestinian Christians’. Oren responded the next day, issuing a public statement accusing Stearns of defaming Israel and promoting complete falsehoods. Here is Oren’s statement: “The claims made in a recent article by Richard Stearns (“A dark Easter for Palestinian Christians”) are completely without foundation and libellous to the State of Israel. Israel has provided more than 20,000 permits this year for Palestinian Christians to enter Jerusalem for the Good Friday and Easter holidays. Five-hundred similar permits have also been issued to the remaining Christians of Gaza, though the area is under the control of the terrorist organisation Hamas. Israel, the only Middle Eastern country with a growing and thriving Christian population, remains committed to maintaining its superb relations with Christians communities worldwide. Though we face serious and continuing defence challenges, we uphold the principle of free access to the Holy places to all religions. On this year, as in all previous years, we wish Christians throughout the world a joyous holiday.....” Some related Beyond Images Briefings Briefing 163 – 18 December 2005 Briefing 311 – April 2012 Israel Accused: 70 Concise Responses
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