Christians in Israel and the Middle East
This piece was originally published by the Leadership Action Network.
Events in the Middle East are dramatically impacting the Region's Christian populations. Much of the media coverage on the subject ignores the core issues while being unfairly critical of Israel. This Leadership Action Network Alert provides perspective regarding this important subject.
1) Israel is the only Middle Eastern country where the Christian population has grown in the last half century. Since the founding of the state in 1948, the Christian population has grown by at least 270 percent.
2) In all other Middle Eastern countries the Christian population has been declining. In 1950, Christians comprised 15% of the population of the territory now controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Today it is less than 2%. Christians are fleeing Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Morocco in great numbers as conditions for them deteriorate throughout the Arab world. During Jordan’s administration of the West Bank, the number of Christians in Jerusalem declined from 25,000 in 1949 to less than 13,000 in 1967.
3) Christians have been persecuted with increasing frequency in Middle Eastern countries by radical Muslim groups and disadvantaged by government policies. Reports include violence against Coptic Churches and individuals in Egypt, attacks against Maronites in Lebanon, and Christians in Iraq. In Iran, Christians have been arrested, interrogated, and subjected to the death penalty.
- “The fact is that the only place in the Middle East that Christians are really safe is Israel.”—Reverend Canon Andrew White, the Vicar of Baghdad.
- “Massacres are taking place for no reason and without any justification against Christians. It is only because they are Christians” —Amin Gemayel, former Prime Minister of Lebanon.
- “Christians in the Holy Land have handed a dossier detailing incidents of violence and intimidation by Muslim extremists to Church leaders in Jerusalem ... The dossier includes 93 alleged incidents of abuse by an ‘Islamic fundamentalist mafia’ against Palestinian Christians, who accused the Palestinian Authority of doing nothing to stop the attacks. The dossier also includes a list of 140 cases of apparent land theft, in which Christians in the West Bank were allegedly forced off their land by gangs backed by corrupt judicial officials.” –The London Daily Telegraph, 2005
- It is illegal for any Saudi Citizen to be a non-Muslim. According to the United States Department of State, though the government recognizes the right of non-Muslims to worship in private, it does not always respect this right in practice. In addition, the calculation of accidental death or injury compensation results in only 50% of what a Muslim male would receive for a plaintiff who is Christian or Jewish.
- According to Samir Qumiseh, director of Al-Mahed Nativity TV in Bethlehem, the sale of souvenir crosses was banned in the Palestinian Authority administered city. Qumiseh noted, “It is like saying that Jesus was never crucified.”
- In Egypt, Muslim widows with young children may assume control of their late husband's land rights unless superseded by those of the oldest son. Christian widows have no inheritance rights to their deceased husband's estate.
- Christians in Israel have a lower rate of unemployment than Jews in Israel. Current Israeli-Christian unemployment is 4.9% as compared to 6.5% for Israeli Jews.
- Israel has taken in thousands of Christians fleeing Sudan and was one of the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the fledgling Christian majority state of South Sudan.
- In 1981, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin promised prominent Maronite Christian leaders Camille Chamoun and Bashir Gemayel that Israel would protect the Lebanese Christian community if Syria attacked from the air. Israel followed through on its promise, shooting down two Syrian helicopters over the Lebanese Christian majority town of Zahle later that year.
- In April of 2002, Palestinian Authority forces held over 40 Christian clergy hostage at the Bethlehem Church of Nativity. Crucifixes and prayer books were looted from the Church and bibles were used as toilet paper.
- In 1997, PLO forces seized Abraham’s Oak Russian Holy Trinity Monastery in Hebron and violently evicted the monks and nuns.
- PA appointed Waqf authorities attempted to break through to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher from the adjacent al-Hanaqa Mosque to install a latrine on the roof of the Church in 1997.
- Hana Swaid, Knesset Member
- Justice George Kara, Israel Supreme Court
- Dr. Masad Barhoum, Director General, Western Galilee Hospital
- Elinor Josef, soldier, IDF
- Mira Awad, actress, singer, songwriter - represented Israel at 2009 Eurovision Song Contest
Christianity has been present in the Middle East for two millennia and predates the presence of Islam in the region by some 700 years[1]. In Lebanon, Maronite Christians trace their origins to the 5th century and the Coptic Church of Egypt dates back to 50CE[2]. As recently as a century ago, Christians were a healthy minority in the region making up 20% of the population. Today, they comprise less than 5% and increasing numbers are fleeing[3]. Consider the following:
- Since the fall of the Mubarak Regime last March, an estimated 100,000 Coptic Christians have fled Egypt[4].
- Iraq has lost at least half of its Christian population since 2003, and close to 80% of its population since 1987[5].
- In the wake of Hezbollah’s virtual takeover of the country, 43% of Maronite Christians considered emigrating to Lebanon according to a 2007 Poll[6].
- Since last March, the Moroccan government has been actively deporting Christian aid workers and proselytizers[7].
- The Palestinian Authority controlled city of Nablus was home to more than 3,000 Christians just 40 years ago. Today the Christian community numbers less than 700[8].
- Under Iranian law, a person can be put to death for converting to Christianity; in Saudi Arabia it is illegal for any citizen to be a non-Muslim[9].
- In May, the Algerian government ordered "all buildings designated for the practice of religious worship--other than Muslim--to be permanently closed down" in certain provinces [10].
- Kuwaiti law prohibits organized religious education for religions other than Islam. In Yemen it is illegal to publish and distribute Christian texts[11].
- In transitioning countries, anti-Christian declarations by prominent Islamist groups have become commonplace. Al Qaeda in Iraq declared that “All Christian centers, organizations, leaders and followers, are legitimate targets for Mujahedden wherever they can reach them,”. In Egypt, the platform of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, calls for a “Just solution to unauthorized churches” in Egypt[12].
In stark contrast to its neighbors, Israel has long established laws and policies designed to protect its Christian population. According to Israel’s declaration of Independence, “[Israel] will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all of its inhabitants irrespective of religion…” Subsequently, Israel’s Supreme Court has declared that “freedom of conscience and worship is one of the individual’s liberties,” and that “Every person in Israel enjoys freedom of conscience, of belief, of religion, and worship[13].” Religious institutions—Christian institutions included—may receive both direct governmental subsidies and tax exemptions. With these and other laws in place, Christianity has grown and thrived in Israel. Since 1995, Israel’s Christian population has increased 26%[14].
CALL TO ACTION:
Encourage your members to share these facts with the media, religious leaders, student groups, elected officials, other organizations, and friends. Use these facts to respond to any false reports about Israel's interactions with Christians in the Middle East.
Background and Further Reading Material:
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Majority and Minorities in the Arab World: The Lack of a Unifying Narrative November-December 2011
Human Rights of Christians in Palestinian Society
Washington Institute For Near East Policy:
Christian Minorities under Attack: Iraq and Egypt January 2011
The Arab Uprisings One Year On December 14, 2011
American Jewish Committee
Christians at Risk, a Jew's Concern Part 1
Christians at Risk, a Jew's Concern Part 2
CAMERA
Status of Christians in the Middle East
American Thinker
The Sad Plight of Christians in the Middle East January 2012
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Egyptian Liberals Against the Revolution December 2011
Foreign Policy
Exodus October 21, 2011
Hudson Institute (Written For Urban Faith)
The Arab Winter December 29, 2011
The Israel Project
Religious Freedom: Christians
Christians in the Middle East: A Shrinking Minority
The Middle East Forum
Iraq’s Christians near Extinction December 21, 2011
Muslim Persecution of Christians: December 2011January 5, 2012
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