Free Republic

Picture: Fr. Fahim Abdelmaseh, Bishop Giacinto-Bulos(center), and Catholic Arab students On Wednesday, the 27th of May 2015, at 11:00 AM, an unprecedented demonstration will be held in the plaza in front of the Lev Ram building in Jerusalem (Ministry of Education headquarters) by the Christian Schools in Israel against the policy of the Ministry of Education. Participants in the demonstration will include clergymen (Bishops, Priests, Nuns, and Pastors) in addition to parents of children in Christian schools throughout the country. The Christian schools in the country consist of more than 30,000 students, almost equally divided between Christians and Muslims....

Israel’s Knesset on Monday signed into law a bill that legally distinguishes between local Christians and the bulk of the Arabic-speaking population, which is primarily Muslim. The stated goal of the law is to boost Christian employment rights by recognizing them as an independent minority, and thereby granting them separate representation on local councils and employment committees. Israeli Arab (mostly Muslim) members of Knesset blasted the new law, insisting it would undermine Arab identity in the Holy Land. But beyond the increased employment rights, that is precisely the point for many Arabic-speaking Christians in Israel.