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Bethlehem Christians fear neighbors
Jerusalem Post ^ | 1-25-07 | KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Posted on 01/25/2007 5:54:39 AM PST by SJackson

A number of Christian families have finally decided to break their silence and talk openly about what they describe as Muslim persecution of the Christian minority in this city.

The move comes as a result of increased attacks on Christians by Muslims over the past few months. The families said they wrote letters to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the Vatican, Church leaders and European governments complaining about the attacks, but their appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

According to the families, many Christians have long been afraid to complain in public about the campaign of "intimidation" for fear of retaliation by their Muslim neighbors and being branded "collaborators" with Israel.

But following an increase in attacks on Christian-owned property in the city over the past few months, some Christians are no longer afraid to talk about the ultra-sensitive issue. And they are talking openly about leaving the city.

"The situation is very dangerous," said Samir Qumsiyeh, owner of the Beit Sahur-based private Al-Mahd (Nativity) TV station. "I believe that 15 years from now there will be no Christians left in Bethlehem. Then you will need a torch to find a Christian here. This is a very sad situation."

Qumsiyeh, one of the few Christians willing to speak about the harsh conditions of their community, has been the subject of numerous death threats. His house was recently attacked with fire-bombs, but no one was hurt.

Qumsiyeh said he has documented more than 160 incidents of attacks on Christians in the area in recent years.

He said a monk was recently roughed up for trying to prevent a group of Muslim men from seizing lands owned by Christians in Beit Sahur. Thieves have targeted the homes of many Christian families and a "land mafia" has succeeded in laying its hands on vast areas of land belonging to Christians, he added.

Fuad and Georgette Lama woke up one morning last September to discover that Muslims from a nearby village had fenced off their family's six-dunam plot in the Karkafa suburb south of Bethlehem. "A lawyer and an official with the Palestinian Authority just came and took our land," said 69-year-old Georgette Lama.

The couple was later approached by senior PA security officers who offered to help them kick out the intruders from the land. "We paid them $1,000 so they could help us regain our land," she said, almost in tears. "Instead of giving us back our land, they simply decided to keep it for themselves. They even destroyed all the olive trees and divided the land into small plots, apparently so that they could offer each for sale." When her 72-year-old husband, Fuad, went to the land to ask the intruders to leave, he was severely beaten and threatened with guns.

"My husband is after heart surgery and they still beat him," Georgette Lama said. "These people have no heart. We're afraid to go to our land because they will shoot at us. Ever since the beating, my husband is in a state of trauma and has difficulties talking."

The Lamas have since knocked on the doors of scores of PA officials in Bethlehem seeking their intervention, but to no avail. At one stage, they sent a letter to Abbas, who promised to launch an investigation.

"We heard that President Mahmoud Abbas is taking our case very seriously," said Georgette Lama. "But until now he hasn't done anything to help us get our land back. We are very concerned because we're not the only ones suffering from this phenomenon. Most Christians are afraid to speak, but I don't care because we have nothing more to lose."

The couple's Christian neighbor, Edward Salama, said the problem in the city was the absence of law and order. "We are living in a state of chaos and lawlessness," he said. "The police are afraid of the thugs who are taking our lands."

Salama expressed deep concern over the conditions of Christians in Bethlehem, noting that many were leaving the country as a result of the deterioration.

"When I see what's happening to Christians here, I worry a lot for our future," he said. "They are targeting Christians, because we are seen as weak."

The Lamas said they decided to go public with the hope that the international community would intervene with the PA to halt the land-grab. "We will fight and fight until we recover our land," Fuad Lama said. "We will resort to the courts and to the public opinion for help.

"Unfortunately, Christian leaders and spokesmen are afraid to talk about the problems we are facing. We know of three other Christian families - Salameh, Kawwas and Asfour - whose lands were also illegally seized by Muslims."

A Christian businessman who asked not to be identified said the conditions of Christians in Bethlehem and its surroundings had deteriorated ever since the area was handed over to the PA in 1995.

"Every day we hear of another Christian family that has immigrated to the US, Canada or Latin America," he said. "The Christians today make up less than 15 percent of the population.

People are running away because the Palestinian government isn't doing anything to protect them and their property against Muslim thugs. Of course not all the Muslims are responsible, but there is a general feeling that Christians have become easy prey."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bethlehem; catholic; christian; christianity; christians; islam; israel; orthodox; palestine; palestinians
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1 posted on 01/25/2007 5:54:41 AM PST by SJackson
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To: 1st-P-In-The-Pod; A_Conservative_in_Cambridge; af_vet_rr; agrace; albyjimc2; Alexander Rubin; ...
FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

2 posted on 01/25/2007 5:55:51 AM PST by Alouette (Learned Mother of Zion)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

3 posted on 01/25/2007 5:58:52 AM PST by SJackson (Let a thousand flowers bloom and let all our rifles be aimed at the occupation, Abu Mazen 1/11/07)
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To: SJackson

If this were happening to Palestinians, it would be all over the newspapers, but these are "just" Christians.


4 posted on 01/25/2007 6:29:09 AM PST by KittyKares
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To: SJackson
Bethlehem Christians fear neighbors

If they didn't I would wonder about their sanity.

5 posted on 01/25/2007 6:30:20 AM PST by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: SJackson

Too bad the only place this will get reported is the Jerusalem Post.


6 posted on 01/25/2007 6:40:59 AM PST by agrace ("Kill the Jews and infidels!" = free speech; "Muslims preach violence!" = hate speech)
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To: agrace
Too bad the only place this will get reported is the Jerusalem Post.

Worldnet Daily writes on the problem quite a bit.

7 posted on 01/25/2007 7:37:43 AM PST by SJackson (Let a thousand flowers bloom and let all our rifles be aimed at the occupation, Abu Mazen 1/11/07)
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To: Salem; unionblue83; T.L.Sink; F15Eagle; RoadTest; Esther Ruth; Pyro7480; AnAmericanMother; NYer; ...

Ping!


8 posted on 01/25/2007 8:06:03 AM PST by Convert from ECUSA (Memo to Olmerde: "GET THE HELL OUT OF BIBI's HOUSE!")
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To: SJackson

Read the book Light Force by Brother Andrew. It describes the problems experienced by Christians in several ME areas, including Bethlehem.


9 posted on 01/25/2007 8:09:03 AM PST by twigs
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To: SJackson

Christians in Israel, especially in places like Bethelem, get caught in the middle. In particular, the Labour government and the leftist seculars have little use for them, and Barak typically gave the Muslims permission to build a large mosque right on top of the ancient church of the Holy Sepulcher. That was fairly typical of the leftist Jewish reaction: let the Christian arabs and the Muslim arabs fight it out. Shortsighted.

The local Christians, some of whom have been in the region since the founding of Christianity, have occasionally given the Jews some reason to think this way. Because they fear their Muslim neighbors, they have sometimes tried to placate them by joining the protests. Now evidently they can see that this isn't working.

But what are the prospects that Olmert or Peretz will come to their rescue? Less than zero, I would say. Olmert and Peretz aren't even interested in supporting the Jewish Settlers.

I hope that at least the Pope will try to mobilize some help, because Europe is unlikely to be much use to them, either. They, too, are mostly eager to cozy up to the Muslims, who have the power and the oil.


10 posted on 01/25/2007 8:13:39 AM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Cicero
Christians in Israel, especially in places like Bethelem, get caught in the middle....But what are the prospects that Olmert or Peretz will come to their rescue? Less than zero, I would say. Olmert and Peretz aren't even interested in supporting the Jewish Settlers.

Zero, Bethlehem isn't in Israel and is governed by the palestinian authority. Israel has no role there other than security. Criminal activity is dealt with by the palestinian police and justice system. It's unfortunate, but I don't think it's going to change, it's majority Muslim now, and when it was a Christian town there was never any desire to associate with Israel that I'm aware of.

11 posted on 01/25/2007 8:21:06 AM PST by SJackson (Let a thousand flowers bloom and let all our rifles be aimed at the occupation, Abu Mazen 1/11/07)
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To: SJackson

No, it's a regretable mess.

The Pope wants to start people thinking about reciprocity. If Muslims want rights and fair treatment in Christian or secular countries, then they should grant similar treatment to Christians (and Jews and others) in their countries.

Unfortunately, the prospects for reciprocity of religious freedom are exceedingly small. But at least the Pope is trying to bring this to the attention of America, Europe, Australia, and so forth. If nothing else, it should weaken the multicultural insanity to ask why we should be tolerant of Muslims if they absolutely refuse to reciprocate? And what about all those victims of Muslim intolerance?


12 posted on 01/25/2007 8:37:08 AM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Alouette
This story highlights a problem with reading the American MSM. We see lots of stories about Arab-Israeli conflict ... and even if we see through the pro-mohammedan bias in the MSM, we can tend to 'get' only part of a global picture. Thus, it's common, particularly on this forum, to talk about how the mohammedans hate Jews. This is true ... but incomplete. If we look beyond Israel and the PA, we see that they also hate animists, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians (list is inclusive, not comprehensive). And they also seem to hate followers of the wrong flavour of mohammedanism.

We sardonically call them The Religion of Peace (because they aren't). Perhaps we should call them The Religion of Hate.

13 posted on 01/25/2007 9:09:42 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: SJackson

Islam is the faith of the Pig People.


14 posted on 01/25/2007 9:11:53 AM PST by Psycho_Bunny
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To: SJackson
According to the families, many Christians have long been afraid to complain in public about the campaign of "intimidation" for fear of retaliation by their Muslim neighbors and being branded "collaborators" with Israel.

Your persistance in collaborting with a God other than Allah is sufficient reason for you to be killed.- tom

15 posted on 01/25/2007 9:12:58 AM PST by Capt. Tom (Don't confuse the Bushies with the dumb Republicans - Capt. Tom)
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To: SJackson; Alouette; Knitting A Conundrum
"My husband is after heart surgery and they still beat him," Georgette Lama said. "These people have no heart.

These are evil times. 'Pod.

16 posted on 01/25/2007 10:35:42 AM PST by sauropod ( "The View:" A Tupperware party in the 10th circle of Hell.)
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To: SJackson

I meant no mainstream news coverage.


17 posted on 01/25/2007 10:51:22 AM PST by agrace ("Kill the Jews and infidels!" = free speech; "Muslims preach violence!" = hate speech)
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To: Cicero

"Christians in Israel, especially in places like Bethelem, get caught in the middle."

Yes and no. The Christian Palestians have the -- in my opinion generally deserved, but others disagree --- reputation of being as anti-Israel and anti-Jew as their Muslim conterparts --- so it's hard to feel too sorry for them. They picked a side, and they picked unwisely.

But yes, in fairness, the Jews historically treated them just like other Arabs, so perhaps they had little choice to stick with the Muslims.


18 posted on 01/25/2007 11:52:04 AM PST by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Lezahal)
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To: SJackson

But didb't Robert Novak report that in his visit to Bethlehem, he couldn't find a single christian who felt threatened by local muslims? He could only find christians complaining about israeli policies. He's a dangerous pig.


19 posted on 01/25/2007 7:21:19 PM PST by mseltzer (There is no DOG but Allah, and Muhammad was a misogynist.)
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To: mseltzer
But didb't Robert Novak report that in his visit to Bethlehem, he couldn't find a single christian who felt threatened by local muslims? He could only find christians complaining about israeli policies. He's a dangerous pig.

I don't remember that, but it fits.

With some luck they'll have their terror state in a year or two, and Novak can go visit. For Christians who prefer Islamic rule, not much to say. For those in Bethlehem who prefer the palestinian authority to Israel, good luck. Those who don't, have left.

20 posted on 01/25/2007 7:32:23 PM PST by SJackson (Let a thousand flowers bloom and let all our rifles be aimed at the occupation, Abu Mazen 1/11/07)
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