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Who will speak up for the Arab Christians?
Melanie Phillips' Diary ^ | 9/05/2005 | Melanie Phillips

Posted on 09/05/2005 10:56:01 AM PDT by sionnsar

The Jerusalem Post reports a pogrom by Palestinian Muslims against the Christian Arab village of Taibah near Ramallah. Although no-one was injured, many were forced to flee the village. The attack was triggered by the murder of a Muslim woman from the nearby village of Deir Jarir who was apparently killed by members of her family for having had a romance with a Christian man from Taiba.

'"When her family discovered that she had been involved in a forbidden relationship with a Christian, they apparently forced her to drink poison," said one source. "Then they buried her without reporting her death to the relevant authorities..."

‘More than 500 Muslim men, chanting Allahu akbar [God is great], attacked us at night," said a Taiba resident. "They poured kerosene on many buildings and set them on fire. Many of the attackers broke into houses and stole furniture, jewelry and electrical appliances." With the exception of large numbers of PA policemen, the streets of Taiba were completely deserted on Sunday as the residents remained indoors. Many torched cars littered the streets. At least 16 houses had been gutted by fire and the assailants also destroyed a statue of the Virgin Mary.

"It was like a war, they arrived in groups, and many of them were holding clubs," said another resident. "Some people saw them carrying weapons. They first attacked houses belonging to the Khoury family [looking for the man who had the affair with the women, not realizing he had already fled the village.] Then they went to their relatives. They entered the houses and destroyed everything there. Then they tried to enter the local beer factory, but were repelled by PA security agents.'

Will those churches in Britain and the US which are pushing for divestment from Israel on account of its alleged ill-treatment of the Palestinians now speak out against the persecution of Arab members of their own faith at the hands of some of the very people whose cause they so relentlessly champion?


TOPICS: Current Events; Islam; Mainline Protestant
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 09/05/2005 10:56:01 AM PDT by sionnsar
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To: sionnsar

The churches in the west (Presbyterian Church-USA, United Methodists, Episcopalians, ELCA Lutherans, the American Baptists, and the UCC/MCC) that are speaking out against Israel also happen to be the ones that spend the most time talking about gay marriage, environmentalism, and abortion rights.

"Not everyone who will say to me Lord, Lord" will be entering the kingdom of heaven. There's a goodly contingent that get dismissed with the words, "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity."


2 posted on 09/05/2005 11:30:01 AM PDT by Old_Mil
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To: ahadams2; Fractal Trader; Zero Sum; anselmcantuar; Agrarian; coffeecup; Paridel; keilimon; ...
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.

FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this moderately high-volume ping list (typically 3-9 pings/day).
This list is pinged by sionnsar and newheart.

Resource for Traditional Anglicans: http://trad-anglican.faithweb.com

Humor: The Anglican Blue (by Huber)

Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15

3 posted on 09/05/2005 12:00:22 PM PDT by sionnsar (†trad-anglican.faithweb.com† || (To Libs:) You are failing to celebrate MY diversity! || Iran Azadi)
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To: sionnsar
Will those churches in Britain and the US which are pushing for divestment from Israel on account of its alleged ill-treatment of the Palestinians now speak out against the persecution of Arab members of their own faith at the hands of some of the very people whose cause they so relentlessly champion?

In a word: NO.

4 posted on 09/05/2005 12:35:16 PM PDT by RobbyS ( CHIRHO)
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To: RobbyS

You're probably right. And yet, several years ago, I noticed a local Episcopal church had a display set up about a sister church in Ramallah.


5 posted on 09/05/2005 2:03:13 PM PDT by sionnsar (†trad-anglican.faithweb.com† || (To Libs:) You are failing to celebrate MY diversity! || Iran Azadi)
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To: sionnsar

Fellow Christians are all sitting around waiting for the Second Coming...meantime.....


6 posted on 09/05/2005 2:04:42 PM PDT by stboz
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To: sionnsar

They are averting their eveyes from the mounting evidence that Islam intends to drive all Christians from the lands they own.


7 posted on 09/05/2005 2:43:36 PM PDT by RobbyS ( CHIRHO)
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To: MarMema; crazykatz; don-o; JosephW; lambo; MoJoWork_n; newberger; Petronski; The_Reader_David; ...

Orthodox ping. We have a number of Arab Christians in our parish and have since the 1st World War. They are wonderful Christians who have suffered grievously throughout the Middle East.


8 posted on 09/05/2005 3:26:36 PM PDT by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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To: sionnsar

Religion of Peace™ bump


9 posted on 09/05/2005 6:34:33 PM PDT by monkfan (Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. - Proverbs 6:6)
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To: sionnsar

Most Christian churches do nothing or very little to support their fellow Christian brothers and sisters in Muslim dominated lands. In fact, some Christian denominations actively support the Palestinian "cause" - and what about the Christians in Iraq - anyone looking out for them?

I doubt it.

http://www.aina.org/



10 posted on 09/05/2005 7:15:08 PM PDT by eleni121 ('Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!' (Julian the Apostate))
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To: sionnsar; TonyRo76; lightman; redgolum; aberaussie
And yet, several years ago, I noticed a local Episcopal church had a display set up about a sister church in Ramallah.

Yeah. The head of the Anglican "sister church" in the Holy Land is a brainwashed dhimmi spokesman for the bogus "Palestinian" cause!!!! The same is true for the head of the Lutheran church in the Holy Land, Mitri Raheb. Once upon a time, there was a picture posted on FR of him cavorting with the butcher Arafat.

Liberal protestants are always trotting around, displaying the heads of their dhimmi "Palestinian" "partner churches", who say things like "we get along fine with muslims", "we are Palestinians", etc, and blame all their problems on Israel. Meanwhile, Arab Christians can't wait to leave for the West, or even Israel, to get away from the islamist persecution that they face every single day!

As an ELCA Lutheran, I am so ashamed to be associated with Mitri Raheb, and with our own mis-leaders who rub our noses in the bogus "Palestinianism", every chance they get.

11 posted on 09/05/2005 8:27:42 PM PDT by Honorary Serb (Kosovo is Serbia! Free Srpska! Abolish ICTY!)
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To: sionnsar
This is from the news report in the "Jerusalem Post". It gives much more details:

When the PA security forces decided to launch an investigation into the woman's death, her family protested for fear that the relationship would be exposed. The family was further infuriated by the decision to exhume the body for autopsy.

The attack is one of the worst against Christians in the West Bank in many years. Residents said it took the PA security forces several hours to reach Taiba. Others complained that the IDF, which is in charge of overall security in the area, did not answer their desperate calls for immediate help.

... "Some people saw them carrying weapons. They first attacked houses belonging to the Khoury family [looking for the man who had the affair with the women, not realizing he had already fled the village.] Then they went to their relatives. They entered the houses and destroyed everything there. Then they tried to enter the local beer factory, but were repelled by PA security agents. The fire engine arrived five hours later."

Col. Tayseer Mansour, commander of the PA police in the Ramallah area, said his men arrived late because of the need to coordinate their movements with the IDF. "The delay resulted in the torching of a number of houses and cars in the village," he said.

12 posted on 09/05/2005 8:37:33 PM PDT by BlackVeil
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To: Kolokotronis; eleni121
We have a number of Arab [Orthodox] Christians in our parish and have since the 1st World War. They are wonderful Christians who have suffered grievously throughout the Middle East.

Evangelical Orthodox bump!

The link that you posted, Eleni, mentions the preservation of the Aramaic language. Many, if not most of the native Christians of the Holy Land, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq are not really "Arab" Christians, but Aramean Christians whose ancestors were in the region before the coming of islam. There are villages in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq that spoke Aramaic well into the 20th century, and some still do. Various dialects of Aramaic represent the mother tongue of Jesus and the Apostles, and that of the early Christians of Antioch and elsewhere in the Middle East.

It is islamic conquest and oppression that made the Aramean Christians "Arab". And some, like the hard-line Maronites, still insist that they are Aramean, not Arab!

13 posted on 09/05/2005 8:38:16 PM PDT by Honorary Serb (Kosovo is Serbia! Free Srpska! Abolish ICTY!)
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To: eleni121
what about the Christians in Iraq - anyone looking out for them?

They are fleeing in large numbers to Syria.

There, they usually first seek help from their co-religionists in the established Christian communities in Damascus and Allepo. Some are willing to help, others not - depending on the confessional divides and the policies of the churches concerned.

Shia charities in Syria have also aided the Christian refugees from Iraq, with basic food supplies. However, some Christians say that the Shia ayatollahs have a policy of wanting to help them, in order to help them emmigrate, thus making the south of Iraq a mono-religious zone.

14 posted on 09/05/2005 8:47:20 PM PDT by BlackVeil
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To: BlackVeil

The Evangelicals have been so pro-Israel that they have forgotten about the plight of the Palestinian Christians who have suffered at the hands of Israel and the Palestinians.

I am a Melkite Catholic, so I have an understanding of what is happening to the Palestinian Christians.


15 posted on 09/06/2005 6:15:28 AM PDT by JohnRoss
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To: sionnsar; Kolokotronis
follow up at the OrthodoxyToday.org Blog.
16 posted on 09/12/2005 7:09:14 PM PDT by monkfan (Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. - Proverbs 6:6)
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