In a statement monitored by BosNewsLife Friday, December 14, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, Founder and President of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) said that with the "Christmas holiday fast approaching" his group "strongly condemns the oppression of Christians in Bethlehem by Islamic extremists."
He said the persecution has risen sharply "since Israel turned over control of the town to the Palestinian Authority in 1995." He said that when Israel’s withdrawal began, Christians made up 62 percent of Bethlehem’s population, while "today, that figure stands at approximately 15 percent, a historic all-time low."
ICFJ investigators say persecution of Christians by hard-line Islamists is common in Palestinian-controlled areas and throughout the entire Middle East. However, "in Gaza, where 3,000 Christians live among 1.5 million Muslims, it is particularly violent and sometimes deadly."
CHRISTIANS KILLED
Recently, Rami Khader Ayyad, owner of a Christian bookstore, was murdered by militants. "Following the violent take over [by the militant group] Hamas’ of Gaza in June 2007, numerous attacks against Christians were also reported [elsewhere], including the ransacking of a convent," the ICFJ added.
The ICFJ said it would therefore provide funds for "a special holiday program to feed underprivileged Christian Arabs in Bethlehem" in cooperation with the First Baptist Church of Bethlehem, which will provide food aid to hundreds of Christians, "many of whom have been harassed and threatened by Muslim radicals because of their faith."
The church’s Pastor Naim Pastor survived three separate assassination attempts in recent years, while his church has reportedly been bombed by Islamic extremists fourteen times.
THOUSANDS FLEE
"The oppression of Christian Arabs by their Muslim brethren has caused thousands to flee Palestinian-controlled areas over the past decade. The U.S. and the international community need to pressure the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, to reverse this deplorable trend and ensure the safety and prosperity of its Christian population," said Rabbi Eckstein.
The IFCJ "is providing material support to the needy and saying to Bethlehem’s Christians that they are not forgotten – that both Jews and Christians stand with them in their time of need."
Founded in 1983, the IFCJ says it wants "to foster better understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews and to build broad support for Israel and the Jewish people around the world. It has worked to help Jews immigrate to Israel from the former Soviet Union, Ethiopia, Iran, Argentina, India and other troubled countries; fight poverty and aid victims of war and terrorism in Israel; and extend aid to poor elderly Jews and orphans in the former Soviet Union.
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