JPost.Christianity is leaving the Middle East...

Christianity is leaving the Middle East is not a complex literary metaphor to draw attention as a headline

Christianity is physically leaving, its presence is diminishing in the regions where it was born and flourished for many years.

In countries and cities with Christian Holy Places where the Church Fathers lived and worked and where the Great Sees are still located, though supported by dwindling parishes, all traces of Christianity are vanishing before our eyes.

In Egypt, Copts, followers of one of the most ancient Christian denominations, are systematically persecuted by the government. In the homeland of St. Anthony the Great "The Father of All Monks", St. Pachomius and St. Cyril of Alexandria, attacks on Christian churches and processions, and violence against Christians themselves has become the norm, which the Arab Egyptian Republic government simply ignores.

In Iraq, which is torn by religious strife, Assyrians, followers of the ancient Syrian Jacobite Church, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Church are leaving their homes by the thousands to escape persecution from Islamists only to become refugees in neighboring countries. Before our very eyes, the two thousand-year-old history of Assyrian Christians is being destroyed. These same Assyrians still preserve the modern Aramaic language, a direct descendant of the language in which Jesus Christ preached.

In Lebanon, where, in the beginning of the 20th century Christians constituted the majority of the population, their numbers keep decreasing, while assa ssination attempts have been made at the lives of many Christian community leaders.

Palestine demonstrates a clear illustration of current chain of events. Gaza was once one of the major Christian hubs of antiquity. Under the Byzantine rule (330- 638 AD), dozens of magnificent churches existed there. It was also the place where, through the action of St. Hilarion and St. Porphyry, the last pagan deity in the Holy Land, named Marnas, was cast down. Now there are practically no Christians living in Gaza. Less than 3,000 Christians in the midst of 1.5 million Muslims is all that is left of a once great Christian community. And their numbers keep declining primarily because of emigration, which turned into more of a massive exodus after Hamas came to power. Christians who live under the protection of various international Christian missions struggle to survive in an atmosphere of constant threats and fear for their lives and property.

There are several reasons why the situation of the Christian communities in the Middle East has worsened over the past few years. Aside from the current economic crisis, there also has been an increase in the number and activity of various Islamic extremist organizations, whose ideology gains more and more ground in Arab societies. Having openly declared a “Holy War” against “the West and the Crusaders” they take their anger and aggression out on a much easier and accessible target – Arab Christians.

A poignant illustration of this is the recent attacks on Christians and the church arsons that were carried out as a supposed “reaction of Islamic world” to the caricatures of the prophet Mohammed published in Denmark. And later as a reaction to the words of a Byzantine emperor that Pope Benedict XVI repeated that Mohammed brought the world only “evil and inhumanity”. Islamist groups and organizations, which multiply like viruses, threaten to punish Christians and crusaders and to destroy Palestinian Christians completely. These are not merely empty threats or political maneuvering.An example of this was seen recently in Gaza when the last remaining Christian book-store was looted and the owner murdered by Muslim thugs. Shortly before this incident a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza had been attacked. In 2006 alone, 8 churches in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were raided by armed Islamists. In addition, many Christian centers and missions, as well as private Christian homes, have been attacked on numerous occasions.
Additional factors that negatively influence the situation of Christians are the deep economic depression in the Palestinian territories, state of anarchy and the free reign of organized crime. As the religious minority inside a system that is not famous for its special tolerance of other faiths, Christians have frequently been an easy target for persecution, looting and pogroms.Christians have always formed the most affluent and educated layer of society in the Muslim countries of the Middle East.

They are disproportionally well represented as doctors, lawyers, scientists, intellectuals, and artists in the population. Nonetheless, due to the ideology of Islamic law and governmental regulations, which create a fusion of faith and government (in the Qur'an it is called the “twin sisters”), Christians have rarely had any significant political weight in the region.

Traditionally, most souvenir shops in Jerusalem and Bethlehem have belonged to Christian families. Now the situation is quickly changing. Organized criminals extort money from retailers, trying to put them out of business. When they are successful, a Muslim retailer takes over the available spot. From the point of view of the criminals this extortion is a “fair tax” that “heathens” must pay to the followers of the prophet Mohammed.

These gangs are also responsible for attacking and verbally abusing Christian girls who walk around with uncovered heads. Such incidents have become frequent even in Ramallah, the “capital” of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank which, until recently, was considered to be the “secular center” of the Palestinian Territories.

The number of clubs and discos is dropping dramatically, and stores that have up until recently sold alcohol (which obviously belong to Christians) are now closing down because of Islamic pressure and the prolonged economic crisis. Today Christians constitute 2.4% of the Palestinian population , whereas, at the end of 19th century; they constituted more than a quarter of the population. Bethlehem, a town that was 60% Christian in the 90's, is now a city with a Muslim majority (70%). Even the Christian population of Jerusalem itself is constantly decreasing, while the Islamic population grows unceasingly. In the market of the Old City you can see posters of the Pope as a vampire – a n unimaginable sight in the Old City just a few years ago. Arab Christians are often “strangers among their own”.

Neither common culture, language, traditions, nor their ancient neighborly relationships with Arab Muslims can protect them now. It is enough to remember how certain Arab nations treated the Jews in the 50s and 60s, when they had lived side-by-side with Muslims for centuries. Aside from their faith they were not different from them in any way. In the Holy Land itself, the State of Israel is an additional "complicating factor ". Israeli Arab Christians are truly between the hammer and the anvil. On the one hand, Israel is one of the very few countries in the Middle East, which guarantees equal rights and complete freedom of worship to Christians both in word and in action. On the other hand, a large part of the country’s population and administration either views Christians with suspicion or considers them as part of the adversarial Arab-Islamic group.

Christians themselves understand that they live much better under Israel’s rule than they would in the Palestinian Territories. Christians living in the Palestinian Territories are often forced to prove that they are “more Palestinian and Arab than Muslims”. The most convincing proof of such “faithfulness” is demonstration of animosity toward Jews and the State of Israel. To a certain extent, Christians themselves are to blame for the situation. It seems that ever since the end of the 20th century, Churches have lost all political initiative and influence on Western governments.

It is as though the "internal will" that fed the Christian world for 2000 years was broken. This same will led martyrs to accept death for their faith and made bishops guard over their flock. While Muslims actively proselytize in Europe, in many Muslim countries conversion to another faith is punished by death. In this regard, the heads of the Great Churches and denominations have no real power to protect their fellow brothers and they have no influence over the fate of Middle Eastern Christians. Is the situation really this bad? I am afraid it is even worse. Only a miracle of Biblical proportions can save Christianity from total extinction in the Middle East. While thousands are immigrating to the West, very few will be left to serve the Christians pilgrims who visit each year.

There will be no one to guard the ancient churches and monasteries, the remnants of a great past which are disappearing right before our eyes. And Israel will be left one-on-one with a monolithic Arab-Muslim society, driven by the idea of Islamic restoration, and attempting to establish a “Worldwide Caliphate with its capital in Jerusalem.”

Mark Lempert, jnanews.com