The Suppression of Christianity in Its Birthplace

 

Israel is no friend to Jesus

My rewrite of the famous quote by Lord Palmerston regarding “interests” to have it reflect the reality of Israel and its powerful friends would go something like this: “I say that it is a narrow policy to suppose that Israel is to be marked out as the eternal ally or the perpetual friend of the United States and of enlightened western values. By design, Israel has no eternal allies. Its interests are indeed perpetual but center on its own success at aggressively portraying itself always as the victim while also advancing its own tribal interests.” I admittedly tend to think often about the enemy we of the western Christian tradition have been nurturing at our breast for decades in a spirit of tolerance, a viper that is only setting out to corrupt and then destroy us, manifest particularly at this time of year, when the life and death of Jesus Christ ought to be rightly celebrated. Alas, in today’s Israel what is truly remarkable is the government’s open suppression of Christian identity and worship without any complaint coming from Washington or from the other nominally Christian nations of Europe.

Indeed, Christianity in the Middle East is generally dying due the pressure exerted by Israel to make Palestinian life and religious practice as difficult as possible as well as broader regional issues including Israeli and US punishment and replacement of regimes in places like Syria and Lebanon which up until recently harbored substantial Christian minorities. Christians, generally speaking, find it easier to emigrate to friendlier countries worldwide than local Muslims as they often have established family overseas to help in the process.

The marginalization of Christians in Israel, recently driven by apartheid legislation and parliamentary declaration of Israel to be a Jewish state, has been around for a long time but it is particularly bad this year for both Christmas and Easter with refusal by the Israeli authorities to permit gatherings for church services and other celebrations. Only 6,000 security “passes” were issued by the Israelis to West Bank Palestinian Christians to celebrate Palm Sunday and Easter in Jerusalem this year unlike in the past when there would be 50,000 attendees. As a result, many celebrations and the usual parades have been canceled.

Father Ibrahim Faltas OFM, the Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, described how “Despite several high-level meetings, we haven’t been able to obtain more permits,” recalling that West Bank Christians face many restrictions on their freedom of movement during the year and wait for the Easter season to travel to Jerusalem to pray at the Holy Sites. Also, ancient churches in Gaza have been bombed and destroyed over the past year, probably deliberately, creating a sense of depression among the worshippers who are also very aware of their fellow Palestinians, many of whom are Christian, being slaughtered by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). On April 13, Palm Sunday, an early morning air strike destroyed the outpatient and laboratory wards in the Anglican church run Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. The debris from the airstrike reached the neighboring St Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church which was preparing for the Palm Sunday celebration along with the homeless remnants of the local community residing in the church compound. The incident heightened the despair of the entire Christian community. The head of a Catholic aid agency described how “Christians are suffocating and are trapped in their own governorates (provinces) and towns unable to travel freely without harassment because they need special permits…” That is in spite of the fact that there has never been any violence or political unrest associated with the movement of the pilgrims, so it is widely regarded as little more than pure harassment by the Israeli authorities.  (more...)

The Suppression of Christianity in Its Birthplace