by Lela Gilbert; The
Algemeiner 1-8-2016
It’s a surprisingly
short drive from West Jerusalem to Bethlehem – 10 or 15 minutes, at the most.
But on a hot summer night a couple of weeks ago, it felt like I had traveled
light-years, setting out from a bustling city-center Jerusalem neighborhood and
arriving at a modest home in a quiet Bethlehem village.
Today in Bethlehem,
it’s the Islamists that are the threats.
After the guards
glanced at our United States passports, my American friends and I were waved
through the checkpoint that separates Israel from King David’s ancient
hometown.
Upon our arrival, the
wariness of our hosts also felt eerily familiar to me. I could almost read
their minds: “Who saw them come into our house? Who might be listening? Can we
trust these friends-of-friends?”
My friends and I spent
time with, among others, a Christian woman and her small family. I wish I could
tell you her name. And I would like very much to describe her circumstances –
her needs, her struggle to keep financially afloat and her family’s specific
fears.
Why can’t I name names
or cite locations? Because the slightest hint that Bethlehem’s Christians are
“informing outsiders” about the troubles they face might very well endanger
them, not to mention their friends and family members.
Today, much of the
tension in Bethlehem and elsewhere in the West Bank is blamed on the “Israeli
occupation” and the security fence.
In some places,
including Bethlehem, there is indeed a formidable military wall – also
reminiscent of Berlin – officially called the “West Bank Barrier.” It divides
Arab communities from the Israeli population.
The checkpoints into
Israel can be a nuisance. This is particularly so since Arabs and Israelis
alike were able to come and go without restrictions until the ill-starred Oslo
Peace Accords robbed them of their freedom of movement.
But the security wall
has also saved Israeli lives. It was erected during the Second Intifada, during
which a seemingly endless barrage of exploding buses, pizza shops, cafes and
other public venues devastated Israel for well over three years, costing more
than 1,000 lives.
It is widely reported
that after the West Bank Barrier was constructed, the number of suicide
bombings decreased by more than 90 percent.
Today, terrorism
continues in Israel, but it wears a different face. Palestinians primarily
target soldiers and religious Jews who live in settlements. These attacks are
sporadic and unpredictable, involving stabbing with knives or machetes,
vehicles ramming groups at bus stops or the stoning and firebombing of cars and
buses. One recent attack on a chic Tel Aviv café involved firearms.
Since September
2015, 40 people have been killed in these terrorist attacks and 517
people have been injured.
In the meantime, it is
quite clear that the West Bank’s Christian population is diminishing. In
2013, Rosanna Rafel
reported that “in British-mandated Palestine, before the
establishment of Israel in 1948, the percentage of the Christian population
stood at 18 percent. This figure has now dwindled to under 1.5 percent.”
This plummeting
Christian population is invariably blamed on the “Israeli occupation.” But if
this is so, why isn’t the Muslim population diminishing too?
Christians are
escaping the West Bank because of anti-Christian persecution.
In Bethlehem,
Christians are not just a minority population in an overwhelmingly Muslim
community. They aren’t simply marginalized; they don’t just suffer
discrimination. Too often, they are threatened and intimidated; injured or even
killed. They are cautious. They are uneasy. Many of them live in fear.
Christians
living under the PA are “accorded sanctity and respect,” but, as is the case
under all sharia-based systems, Christians are relegated to the status of
second-class citizens. Of course, it is illegal to convert from Islam to
Christianity. Let’s not even mention the fact that sale of land to Jews is
a crime punishable
by death.
Discrimination
against Christians under the Palestinian Authority isn’t just legal – it’s also
social. Living as a Christian, one is constantly
reminded that he or she is not a member of the majority
culture.
Bethlehem’s Christians
are at risk of being detained by authorities based on vague accusations. An
“interview” with local officials may lead to stern threats or, even more
frightening, to an arrest on trumped-up charges.
Justus Weiner, a
scholar at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, has written extensively
about the condition of Christians under the Palestinian Authority. “Under that
regime,” Weiner explained to me, “Christian Arabs have been victims of frequent
human rights abuses by Muslims. There are many examples of intimidation,
beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions,
denial of employment, economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage,
sexual harassment, and extortion. PA officials are directly responsible for
many of the human rights violations.”
Weiner told me that
Muslims who have converted to Christianity are in the greatest danger. They are
defenseless against abuse by Muslim fundamentalists. Some have been murdered. Many
Christians are subject to various fees and fines, which amount to bureaucratic
extortion or protection money – a thinly disguised “jizya” tax.
Meanwhile, story after
story confirm that Christian women are sexually harassed, threatened and even
raped for not following Islamic dress codes.
In my book “Saturday People, Sunday People,”
I wrote about a young Christian woman from a village near Bethlehem who was
walking home from school. She was not “covered,” meaning she did not wear an
Arab-style headscarf or a long skirt.
When a gang of local
Muslim males cruised past her, made obscene remarks and tried to force her into
their car, she escaped and ran home, where she tearfully poured out her
terrifying experience to her brother “Habib. It didn’t take Habib long to
figure out who the Arabs were.
He knocked on the door
where the ringleader and his friends hung out. When Habib demanded that they
leave his sister alone, they laughed at him.
They were, however,
not amused. In the days that followed, they began to track Habib.
One afternoon,
Habib and his cousin went to a nearby forest to walk and talk and relax.
Suddenly 13 young men, who had arrived in cars and on motorbikes, surrounded
them. At first, they seemed only to be armed with sticks and a billy club. Then
the knives appeared.
While his
cousin was beaten and held back from interfering, Habib was stabbed 28 times.
He was knifed on the head, neck, hands and the inner thighs (the attackers were
trying to sever a main artery) and left for dead. Once the assailants fled and
the cousin was released, he frantically drove Habib to the hospital before he
bled out. Habib received massive blood transfusions; his wounds were repaired,
and his life was spared. But he still requires further surgery.
During our visit in
Bethlehem, my friends and I also spoke to a workman – we’ll call him George –
who does outdoor maintenance near a Bethlehem school. This year, despite an
intense heat wave, and notwithstanding the fact that he is not Muslim, he was
angrily threatened with physical harm for publicly drinking a bottle of water
during Ramadan.
In recent years,
several church properties in Bethlehem have been vandalized, set ablaze or
invaded by violent intruders during celebrations or worship services. PA law
enforcement usually arrives long after the emergency call is made – if at all.
In a recent tragedy, a
young man suffering from mental retardation and who lives in a Christian
village (one of his friends refers to him as “a blessed boy”) heard offensive
anti-Christian statements emanating from a local mosque. Infuriated, he shouted
an insult to Muslims.
Later, he posted
something equally anti-Islamic on Facebook.
A few days later, the
“blessed boy” vanished. At the time of this writing, he has been missing for
more than three months. His family is utterly traumatized, afraid to approach
the local authorities. They fear both devastating news and deadly retaliation.
We ourselves were
blessed, listening and learning from the Christians we visited. Meeting us was
an act of great courage on their part. For us, it was an extraordinary
opportunity.
As Nicholson wrote,
I’ve spoken to
numerous Palestinian Christians who describe how Muslim terrorists would
commandeer Christian homes and use them to direct sniper fire on Israeli
soldiers. Others speak of systematic
discrimination in hiring, housing and education. Of
course, all of these conversations take place in private meetings and hushed tones.
They don’t have
a choice. They are hostages inside their own city.
