ABC Mini-Encyclopedia

Christians in the Holy Land

In the Palestinian Authority territory, the Christian Arab population had been decimated under the PA's Muslim-oriented rule. Since Israel left Bethlehem within the framework of the Oslo Accords in 1993 to the autonomic rule of Arafat's Palestinian Authority, its Christian population dwindled from 70% to 23% in 2006, due to at least non favored status, and many times atrocities such as murders, robberies, rapes and harassment by Muslim thugs or PA gunmen themselves, forcing the Christians to flee.  Palestinian propaganda tried of course to blame Israel for this too, but why would Israel persecute the most moderate among the Palestinians!? 

As the famous and outspoken Arab Christian writer Joseph Farah said: "If Israel committed anything against the Arab Christian population, it was to leave them to Arafat's rule"

Christian Arabs throughout the Palestinian territories have been subjected to human rights abuses, carried out by Muslims, with little protection from the Palestinian police or courts. Christians, like Jews, are considered to be "dhimmis," or second-class citizens under Islam and not the legal equals of Muslims.  Unfortunately, some Christian Arabs blame Israel in public for their problems, out of fear for their safety and for their lives at the hands of their Muslim Palestinian "brothers".