2008-12-23/Christians in Palestine under pressure
Tension between the Muslim majority and the Christian minority is simmering in Palestine, the Danish daily newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad reported on 22nd December 2008.
According to experts, it is a conflict that is driven by rising Islamism and systematic attacks on Christians. The Christians have come under pressure after Hamas took over power in Gaza and during the general Islamification of the West Bank.
There are fewer than 2,000 Christians in Gaza, and fewer than 30,000 in the West Bank. Christian families in outlying towns such as Nablus and Jenin have started to move to the larger towns, where the Christian congregations are also larger.
In a column in the daily newspaper al-Ayyam recently, a Muslim Palestinian journalist, Abd Al-Nasser Al-Najjar, wrote that he feels that time is short if the Christian society in the Middle East is to be saved.
He criticized Islamists for persecuting Christians throughout the Arabic world and he called on Palestine to be more honest and courageous.
“Let’s be completely honest and say that the Christian Palestinians have been given many hard blows and despite that they are suffering in silence,” Abd Al-Nasser Al-Najjar wrote. “I’m not talking of the suffering resulting from the Israeli occupation but about the most recent 20 years of confiscation of Christian-owned land and properties in Bethlehem, Ramallah and al-Bireh.”
He added hat several of his Christians friends have received death threats after they tried to return to areas of land that had been taken from them in Bethlehem.
“The worst thing is that those who plunder and steal the Christians’ land are either the powerful or have the support of influential clans and officers in the military,” the Muslim Palestinian journalist wrote.