This was their moment. For native Christians in the Holy Land -- that small, beleaguered Arab community whose ancestors, on this very soil, were among the first to follow Jesus of Nazareth -- the visit of Pope Benedict XVI was nothing less than a godsend.
Finally, here was a western Christian who understood their predicament.
Like envoys of a forgotten world, Arab Christians embody the fierce and hunted spirit of the early Church. They worship in simple, ancient churches, some dating to the fourth and fifth centuries, and they preserve, in their rituals and liturgy, the earliest expressions of what it means to be a Christian. Relatively wealthy, well educated, and politically moderate, they are the people Middle Eastern societies can least afford to lose. Yet today they are abandoning their homelands as never before, exhausted by political turmoil, robbed of hope and opportunity, and alarmed by the rise in Islamist violence in places like Iraq and Egypt, where they make a convenient target for those who hate the West.
In the Holy Land, caught in the crossfire between Israel and all Palestinians, including Christians, their numbers have plummeted from perhaps 25 percent of the population a century ago to single digits today. Having covered these brave, close-knit communities for decades, most recently for this month's National Geographic, I consider their exit a tragic loss, and so does Pope Benedict XVI, who picked his way through the political minefields of Jordan, Israel, and Palestine this week to deliver a message of hope to Arab Christians: Keep the faith.
It's important for all of us that they do. In a land of bitter conflict, Arab Christians have always been the go-betweens, the human bridge between the Islamic world and the Christian West. Their exodus now would leave a huge void -- not only in the ancient stone churches where they worship, but also in the Middle East's depleted reservoir of hope that so urgently needs replenishing.
If the Pope's vision of Middle East peace were to be realized -- Muslims and Christians living together in a just, viable, prosperous Palestinian state at peace with Israel -- many of the reasons Arab Christians leave would disappear. But in the meantime, just having their 2,000-year history celebrated by the world's most prominent Christian is an answered prayer. According to my Palestinian friend Mark, from Bethlehem, most tourists to the Holy Land have never even heard of Arab Christians. "They think Christianity was invented in Italy or something. I had one lady ask me, 'What does your family think about you being a Christian? I suppose they must have been very upset!'"
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Stephen Zunes: U.S. Deserves Its Share of Blame for Fate of Arab Christians
god is everywhere, he is just crying. and if you might want to take some issue with the west who has pretty much been responsible for all this grief and murder.
It's such a vital community. I just came back from Gaza, where 100 of the faithful managed to get a permit from the Israelis to enter the West Bank. The rest of the Gaza Christians were unable to come up to Bethlehem and greet the pope.
The timing of the trip was peculiarly undiplomatic - finishing up on Nakba Day...the Catastrophe. It was more political than spiritual. The ugly separation wall loomed in the background as "Baba" read his appeal to the Palestinian youth at a refugee camp and urged them to refrain from violence. All Palestinians, Christians or Muslims, deserve a better future. The Arab Christians don't tend to have big clan backing, and they are in the minority. Still, everyone is hemmed in by restrictions of the conflict. Through the week-long pilgrimage with the pontiff, ( see http://israelitybites.blogspot.com/2009/05/papal-pal-potpourri-of-this-weeks.html ) Arab Christians experienced dignity alongside the pomp and the popemobile. Operation White Cloak was the codeword for this pilgrimage, used by the 80,000 security troops Despite some criticism, the Pope Benedict 16 pulled it off.
At the time we fought a Civil War and freed our slaves, the Pope forced Roman Jews to live in a walled ghetto.
Propelling this tired propaganda that Israel is in a tough neighborhood while demonizing the surrounding countries, will not work.
The displacement of Palestinians resulting from the establishment of Israel is a horrendous and serious problem, but pretending Israel is more intolerant than Arab theocracies is nonsense.
It is of little help in seeking the help of president Ahmadinejad of Iran; he is obviously seeking to keep his position by feeding the fires of hatred and vengeance as the demagogue he is; yet it is this one name which casts the greatest light on what his role is in fulfilling the prophecy of Armageddon in all it's self-fulfilled glory: as that of it's architecht: the "Misha Ad-Dajjal"; the Judas of Islam we know of as the Antichrist of the Bible: Osama bin Laden and his use of the Qur'an against the Western Nations; which are all christian nations culturally; if not politically.
Men like Anwar Sadat and the Shah of Iran sought peace for the middle east but their biggest mistake was in placing their trust in back stabbers like Henry Kissinger, Ambassador William Sullivan and General Robert Huyser.
Everyone should have a slightly larger timespan, this is not something that happened 5 or 6 years, but 61 years ago.
Surely everyone must return to the land of their ancestors. Arabs don't belong in Europe or the Americas, no?
And you, of course, are leaving the Untied States (assuming that is where you live) and returning to the land of your forefathers.
If your trying to justify the displacement of one people with the displacement of many people throughout history, two wrongs certainly don't make a right in this case. Especially after the implementation of international law and human rights which have been violated for 60 years.
As the Pharaoh became more cruel, they were forced to turn at last to the God of their fathers. And in finally praying to Him, their prayers were answered.
Palestinians believe their leaders will rescue them, and each leader is worse than the last Arafat the corrupt followed by Hamas the cruel, sustained by its overpowering hatred of another of God's creations - the Jews. This hatred is Amalak - imbedding itself in humans like cancer to hate beyond life itself. To hate the Jews the way Hamas hates means that death of self is allowed when attempting destruction of the Jew. Hitler had it too, but that's another story.
The pity and anger for the people of Palestine should be directed to Hamas who uses their suffering to inflict what they can only pray is a death blow to their ancient enemy Israel, home of the Jew.
God listens to the prayers of those who wish to be delivered from this pain once the idols have been removed and those in pain who can then pray to the God of their fathers.
Why not--and this is not going to go over big with people confined to a religious box--abandon religion? Why not admit in this, the 21st Century, that there are no more ghosts, spooks, oracles, angels, fairies, or deities of any kind? Why not accept the the notion that one doesn't need to be cajoled or forced to act in a certain way by a god or one of his representatives?
Why not--and, again, this is going to take some mental discipline to accomplish--see men running around in skirts with little red shoes, wearing gold-encrusted helmets, figuratively eating the flesh and drinking the blood of their Bronze Age idol as ridiculous fools, something out of a Monte Python skit?
To hurry along the process, why not start to TAX religious institutions and foreclose upon their property if they refuse to pay their fair share for the comforts civilization afford us all?
This is going to take some really out-of-the-ordinary, outside-the-box thinking, but I believe we are up to the task, right folks?
Tax religion for civilization? Religion is the origin of that civilization. Seems like we ought to be thanking them.
Farming is the origin of that civilization... Every civilization should thank technology, not silly god fears.
The girl, Summer Amira, was shot by Israeli forces as she was standing near the window of her home. Amira was shot in her lower arm, near her elbow, around 4:30pm and was taken to a hospital in Ramallah about 15 minutes afterward"
That may be why people are leaving, if their kids can be shot by thugs anytime.
http://atheonews.blogspot.com/2009/05/maan-fri-15-may-2009-12-year-old.html
This is the threat they have to face on a daily basis, its not the islamist insurgency of Iraq Mr. Belt. Its the occupation.
Also, when it comes to other religious minorities threatened by Islamists, I hear nary a whimper.
Wanna know why that is? I know the AUTHOR is likely familiar with the "Pact of Omar" but his readers probably aren't. Let me enlighten some of you:
Christians in most areas ruled by Muslims aren't even allowed to FIX their old churches without permission, which is rarely forthcoming. No steeples are permitted. No church bells. Even SIGNS are usually considered "too disruptive." If they were granted even the LEAST BIT of freedom, perhaps their means of worship wouldn't be so "simple." The way YOU describe it sounds like some idyllic Garden of Eden. Let me assure you - it ain't.
Gee that sounds nice and all, but it simply isn't true. Certainly, Arab Christians have SUFFERED at the hands of the Muslim majorities that engulf them. They have heard concerns expressed on their BEHALF by Christians and other peoples in the West. But it's absurd to suggest they have played any role whatsoever as "intermediary" or "go-between." They are hunkered down and dwindling. Their voice is barely heard. You are spinning a fantasy. Spoken to a Copt lately? Ask THEM if they have any ability to mediate squat.