Posted on 11/12/2008 5:26:23 PM PST by SJackson
Palestinian Columnist: Muslims Are Harming Christian Culture
In his column in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, 'Abd Al-Nasser Al-Najjar criticized the persecution of Christians in Arab countries, with a particular emphasis on the Christian population of the Palestinian Authority. [1]
Following are excerpts from the article:
"In Iraq, a crime is currently being committed - another in a series of iniquities brought by the winds of change that came in the wake of the [U.S.] occupation, which sought to impregnate Iraq with the seed of democracy. [But] the [resulting] fetus emerged deformed and weird. The worst outcome of this situation is, possibly, the carnage against ethnic communities and minorities that has swept through Iraq. Neither Sunnis, nor Shi'ites, nor Christians, nor Kurds, nor Turkmen, nor [members of] other [groups] have managed to escape it.
"However, the string of murders and expulsions of Christians, which has been going on for several months, is by far the most grievous - [and] it [must be taken as] a warning that hostility and crimes against minorities may spread to the neighboring countries [as well].
"Christians are being persecuted not only in Iraq, but in most Arab countries, regardless of their numbers there. They are subjected to every possible kind of discrimination, as well as expulsion. The problem is that it is not only Arab officials who are remaining silent [in the face of these crimes] - [they do so] because their primitive mentality is centered on the cult of the ruler - but, alarmingly, so are Arab intellectuals, the elites, non-government organizations, and leaders of the private sector. All these groups look on at these unprecedented [acts of] folly without apprehending the danger with which these crimes are fraught.
"Statistics show that in 2005 the number of Christians in Iraq was as high as 800,000. By early 2008, it had dropped by half, [indicating] that 50 percent of Iraqi Christians had been expelled from their homes and lands.
"Today, this problem is also rampant in Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, and Palestine - and while the situation may be slightly different in Palestine, the trend is the same.
"Let us be honest with ourselves and courageously say out loud that Palestinian Christians are taking many severe blows, yet are suffering in silence so as not to attract attention. I do not refer here to the suffering caused by the occupation... but to actions of the past 20 years at least - that is, since the beginning of the occupation in 1967 - involving the confiscation of Christian property, especially in Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Al-Birah.
"What makes things worse is that those who are plundering [the Christians'] property are either powerful [in their own right] or are backed by various elements, among them high-ranking military officials or influential members of large clans.
"Attempts by the political leadership to partially rectify this situation have failed. Nor has the judiciary system been able to [resolve] many of the problems, which we still face today. Over the past few years, several of my Christian friends have told me of the harm they have suffered, including various threats, even death threats, for trying to gain access to their lands after they were taken over by influential Bethlehem residents.
"Furthermore, there has been an attempt to marginalize Christian culture in Palestine, even though it is rich and deeply rooted [there]. This began with [accusations] of unbelief [against Christians] - a move that ultimately harmed Palestinian society as a whole...
"Despite all the injustices [against the Christians], no one has seen or heard of any constructive action to curb it and to [defend] the Christians' rights - whether by the elites, by any of the three branches (executive, legislative, and judiciary), by non-government organizations, or even by the political factions themselves. [Such action should have been forthcoming] not out of kindness and compassion, but [due to] regarding Palestinian Christians as indigenous to this land, and [therefore] no different from us, with the same rights and obligations [as Muslims].
"But the most fundamental problem here may be related to culture. We continue to instill a horrific culture in our children, one that sees Christians as infidels... and as 'the other.' We need an injection of humanistic and national awakening; we must raise an outcry and stand up to restore the Christians' rights, of which they have been deprived - [and we must do this] in order to preserve the demographic balance, which will safeguard the unity of our homeland and the justness the Palestinian cause.
"[Let us] remember that the tribes of Arabia were Christian. The best writers and poets were Christian, as were [many] warriors and philosophers... It is they who bore the banner of pan-Arabism. The first Palestinian university was established by Christians.
"Enough [examples]! It is not words that we need, but progressive attitudes, and the truth, so that it can be presented to tyrannical rulers, and so that clerics and old men will not be the only Christians left in the Holy Land and in the city of [Jesus'] birth."
[1] Al-Ayyam (Palestinian Authority), October 25, 2008.
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Muslims harm everything they come in contact with.
The nerve of this fellow trying to condemn a cultural tradition that dates back centuries!
This guy better watch his back. Muslims don’t like people who tell the truth.
Yeah, I would definitely say killing them is harming the Christian culture.
Mr. Obvious, is that you?
Just face the truth - the reality is there are good Muslims and bad Muslims and there is no such thing as a winnable war in fleshly terms so forget your biggotry!!!! Abd Al-Nasser Al-Najjar is himself a Muslim - so get your facts straight! The article he wrote for the Palestinian daily newspaper is phenomenal and just goes to show that Muslims, like members of any other culture can also show solidarity with oppressed peoples - after all, in Eastern Europe, people of Islamic backgrounds also had to put up with oppressive circumstances, e.g. Albanians in the former Yugoslavia. Not all Muslims are terrorists - this is just the truth just as not all Afro-Americans live in the Bronx! I am in favour of a culturally diverse society where people are given the liberty to engage their own cultural traditions without the threats of harrassment or intimidation. Non-violent intercultural dialogue is the only way forward insofar as securing a more cohesive sociopolitical stability is concerned.
One of the guidelines for posting in this blog is “No racism”. This is what the forum will tell you after you have previewed your own comment before you click the “post comment” button. Why has the forum allowed the posting of such a biggoted statement that “Muslims harm everything they come into contact with”!???? To me, this statement is of the kind that Abd Al-Nasser Al-Najjar’s article was condemning, only his applied to Christians because in the instances he was iterating, Christians are the ones suffering racist abuse at the hands of self-interested elites. The fact is, the situation Christians face in Palestine is hinged on power-politics and is not really about Muslims vs Christians. Rather, it is about the top-bosses who want to stay in power so they will target anyone who looks to be a threat to their politicking. Often, these top-bosses are economically greedy, so their sequestering where they can of more resources including lands and territories that belong to the indigenous Christian population proves to them a move that can bolster their own agendas. Moreover Christian cultural values of community and egalitarianism tend to speak loud and clear (although more often than not, indirectly) to elements of corruption within the elite sectors, which then provokes these sectors into silencing the types of voices that naturally lend themselves to exposing unjust and illicit dealings within the state’s power-structure.
"Muslim" is not a "race."
Thank you George Bush and Condoleeza Rice for making Hamas “legitimate.”
Only fricken morons try to force democracy down the throats of Muslims. Look what we got with “Palestinian” elections.
If you haven’t EARNED freedom and a republican form of government, you don’t DESERVE it.
A serious error, matched by his dad's legitimization of Arafat, and Clintons (GWB too) refusal to recognize palestinian noncompliance with their agreements.
They sound like the Dems.
Islam may not necessarily be “a race” as most people use the term but “a culture” none the less, and one, like all human cultures, that deserves equal respect - just as you would want your own Anglo American culture to be treated? To slander any culture amounts to biggotry - so the phrase “no racism” used by the forum moderators refers to any form of xenophobia which means discrimination against a person or group thereof because of their cultural background, beliefs, or expression.
Nonsense. People don't choose their race. They do choose their culture. "Slander" is the purposeful expression of falsehoods, not the stating of facts or opinions. And you got the definition of "xenophobia" wrong. "Discrimination" used to thought of as a good thing; it implies wisdom and discernment. People can disrespect Anglo-American culture all they want. It's accomplishments stand on their own. Not all cultures are "equal" in worth or accomplishment. that's a simple fact that only the intellectually dishonest will deny.
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