The Church of the Nativity and the 19th century mosque of Omar ibn al-Khattab  Photo by Najeh Hashlamoun flash90

Following American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, thirteen of the city’s prominent Christian leaders, representing a variety of denominations, signed a joint letter condemning the decision. Amit Barkat explains that they did so more out of fear of the Palestinian Authority (PA) than of animosity toward the Jewish state.

Most of the political activity of the Christian community [is undertaken] in response to pressure from the Palestinian Authority. The denominations centered in Jerusalem also have churches and monasteries in the PA, Gaza, and Jordan, and additional ties throughout the Middle East. Figures in the PA successfully exploit this fact and use the Christians for their propaganda purposes to cover for the injustices they commit against Christians in Judea and Samaria.

But as much as [Palestinians] try to hide [the reality of persecution of Christians], it’s difficult to debate numbers. . . . The best example of their disappearance on the ground is Bethlehem, the city of the birthplace of David and Jesus. Bethlehem was once a clearly Christian city where Christian residents formed an 86-percent majority. Today, that figure stands at fewer than 10 percent, and the negative trend is not stopping. The situation is even worse in Gaza, where among the thousands of Christians who used to live there, only a few hundred remain under the constant threat of persecution, with serious limitations on Christian ceremonies and holidays, and effectively without rights. . . .

Steps like the [Christian leaders’ letter about Jerusalem] are aimed against Israel to protect the security of religious figures in the PA, and Israel for its part gives its silent consent on the matter. Official publications of heads of churches and Christian parties in the PA and the world generally portray Israel in a negative light, with politics and fear serving as the main factors in this distortion of reality and transformation of lies into truth. . . .

While the PA and in fact the entire Middle East are restricting the moves of Christians and harming their freedom of religion, the situation is different in Israel. Alongside the corrupt and violent PA, which is systematically erasing Christians from its territory, the Jewish and democratic state of Israel [allows] a safe life for all religious minorities.

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