Jihadists have been waging genocide against Christians in Nigeria. But it isn’t only in Africa, it’s in the Middle East, too, the cradle of Christianity. The persecution of Christians in the Middle East is also at genocidal proportions. Christians are unsafe in the very place that Jesus was born, Bethlehem.
Christians are being attacked at their holy sites. The severity of this persecution is unreported in the activist mainstream media. The Palestinian Authority does nothing; it is obsessed with wiping Israel off the map in order to “free Palestine.” The world remains blind to the history and present-day plight of the Christians, as it does to the Jews who have been murdered by jihadists.
Rabbi Wolicki, Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, said “that aiding the Christians in Bethlehem was a Biblical mandate incumbent upon the Jews and the State of Israel.” Rabbi Wolicki is also calling on “the international community to hold the Palestinian Authority responsible for their actions and their inaction in the face of persecution of the Christians in Bethlehem.” But the international community is sold out to the lie that the Palestinians are the victims. In fact, anywhere in the world, the notion of Muslim victimhood is promoted, while the Muslim victimization of infidels is swept under the carpet. When the latter is discussed, the one who raises the issue is smeared as an “Islamophobe.”
Christians and Jews need to recognize and stand up to the aggressive jihadists who believe that spreading Islam by the sword is the highest calling of their faith, as is prescribed in Islam:
- “Let those who sell the life of this world for the next fight in the way of Allah. Whoever fights in the way of Allah, whether he is killed or victori- ous, on him we will bestow a great reward.” (Quran 4:74)
- “Indeed, Allah has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth, because the garden will be theirs, they will fight in the way of Allah and will kill and be killed.” (Quran 9:111)
- The words of Muhammad: “I would love to be martyred in Allah’s Cause and then get resurrected and then get martyred, and then get resurrected again and then get martyred and then get resurrected again and then get martyred.” This is why modern-day Jihadists often say that they love death. (Sahih Bukhari 52:54)
- “Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty.” (Sahih Bukhari 52:46)
- During the battle of Uhud, Muhammad was desperate to push men into battle. He promised paradise for those who would martyr themselves, prompting a young man who was eating dates to throw them away and rush to his death. (Sahih Muslim 20:4678)
- A man asks Muhammad “which of men is the best?” Muhammad replies that it is the man who is always ready for battle and flies into it “seeking death at places where it can be expected.” (Sahih Muslim 20:4655)
“Christians are attacked in Bethlehem. A rabbi calls on Israel to intervene,” by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, Israel 365 News, November 21, 2022:
A series of attacks targeting Christians and Christian sites in the Bethlehem area has many faith leaders deeply concerned. The persecution is threatening the existence of the oldest Christian community in the world.
There has been a marked uptick in religiously motivated attacks by Palestinian Muslims on Christians in Bethlehem. Just over two weeks ago, a Muslim man was accused of harassing young Christian women at a Forefathers Orthodox Church in Beit Sahour near the city of Bethlehem. Soon after, the church was attacked by a large mob of Palestinian men who hurled rocks at the building while congregants cowered inside. Several of the congregants were injured in the attack.
The Palestinian Authority, responsible for security in the area, did nothing.
In October, unidentified gunmen shot at the Christian-owned Bethlehem Hotel after a video on social media associated the hotel with a display that included cardboard cutouts of a Star of David and a Menorah. The video showed the display in the conference room of the hotel which also included cardboard cutouts of sheep and a wine chalice that had been set up by Filipino guests. The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism ordered the closure of the hall, claiming the hotel was preparing for a Jewish festival.
No arrests were made in connection with the shooting.
Perhaps the greatest shock to the community came in April when the Palestinian evangelical pastor, Johnny Shahwan, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority security forces on charges of “promoting normalization” with Israel. The arrest came after Shahwan appeared in a photo alongside Rabbi Yehuda Glick, a former member of the Knesset. After the photo of the pastor and rabbi appeared on social media, unidentified gunmen fired shots at the center. The pastor was held for 40 days and his ministry was shut down, purportedly for his own protection.
In January, a large group of masked men carrying sticks and iron bars attacked Christian brothers, Daoud and Daher Nassar, on their farm near Bethlehem. The Palestinian courts have been working to confiscate the farm that has been owned by the family since the Ottoman Empire. The court claims the farm is “Israeli state land” and therefore legally belongs to the PA. The family uses the farm to promote peace among nations.
Khaled Abu Toameh, an Israeli Arab journalist, wrote an article for the Gatestone Institute claiming that there is a deeply disturbing reason that these anti-Chrisitan incidents went unreported in Western media:
“The attacks by Muslims on Christians are often ignored by the international community and media, who seem to speak out only when they can find a way to blame Israel,” Toameh wrote. “Another disturbing situation is that the leaders of the Christian community in the West Bank are reluctant to hold the Palestinian Authority and their Muslim neighbors responsible for the attacks. They are afraid of retribution and prefer to toe the official line of holding Israel solely responsible for the misery of the Christian minority.”…
