NGO Monitor details the way in which Christian and other NGOs are using their Christmas message to incite distinctly unseasonal hatred by perpetrating the usual lies, libels and other calumnies against Israel. No mention, of course, of the real abuse of Christians by Muslims, across the third world – as detailed, along with Hindu-Christian violence in India, in the latest bulletin from the Barnabas Fund -- and specifically in the West Bank and Gaza. As Jonathan Speyer reports: ...Islamist organizations, empowered by the indifference of the authorities, have begun to target Christian institutions and individuals in Gaza with increasing impunity. Intimidation, assault and the threat of kidnapping are now part of daily reality for Christians. The trend became noticeable with a series of attacks on the Palestinian Bible Society’s ‘Teacher's Bookshop’ in Gaza City last year. The shop was the subject of a bomb attack in April 2007. Its owner, Rami Khader Ayyad, was abducted in broad daylight, and found dead on October 7, 2007. Over the following year, a series of bomb attacks on Christian institutions in Gaza took place. Particular attention was paid to places of education. The Rahabat al-Wardia school run by nuns in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, and the American International School in Beit Lahiya were both bombed, [pictured] most recently in May 2008. The Zahwa Rosary Sisters School and the El-Manara school, both in Gaza City, were also attacked this summer. The YMCA Library was bombed, as was the Commonwealth War Cemetery. ...A recent article in the Palestinian Al-Ayyam newspaper drew attention to the long-simmering issue of ‘compulsory purchase’ of land owned by Christians. This trend has been particularly noticeable in the Bethlehem, Ramallah and al-Bireh areas. Individuals with close links to the Palestinian Authority security forces, or to powerful clans, have adopted a variety of means to lay their hands on Christian-owned land. You will hear nothing about this from the western media, and the excellent Khaled abu Toameh, the Jerusalem Post’s correspondent in the West Bank, provides us with one reason here: Over the past two years Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been subjected to a systematic campaign of intimidation that has resulted in the death of some and the detention of others. The campaign, which is being waged by both Hamas and Fatah, has received almost no attention from human rights groups and advocates of the freedom of expression throughout the world. By contrast, when a Palestinian journalist is accidentally wounded by Israeli gunfire during clashes with Palestinians, the incident makes headlines in major media outlets in the US and EU. What is most disturbing about the campaign of intimidation is the fact that it’s being spearheaded by the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. This is the same authority that is receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from American and European taxpayers’ money every month to build a proper judicial system and promote democracy and transparency among the Palestinians... What is particularly disturbing is the fact that the Western journalists based in Israel tend to turn a blind eye to the assaults against their Palestinian colleagues. Some of these foreigners say they are afraid of the repercussions if they dare to anger Abbas or Hamas. Others claim that their editors are interested in such stories only if the perpetrators are Israeli soldiers. As one foreign correspondent recently remarked, ‘The more anti-Israeli stories I send to my editor, the more popular I become and my chances of winning an award are much higher.’ But what the Western journalists need to understand is that the campaign against the Palestinian journalists is also affecting their work. Foreign journalists rely heavily on Palestinian journalists when it comes to covering Palestinian affairs. So when a Palestinian journalist is afraid and under threat, he or she will think twice before they tell the Western correspondent what they know. The result is the Big Lie about Israel – and never more noxious is the theological resonance of such scapegoating than at this particular time of year.
Wednesday, 24th December 2008
Intermission
2:29pm
This blog is taking a break now (wars permitting) until early January. Many thanks for all your contributions, and I wish everyone a happy holiday and a good and peaceful new year.The Untold Christmas Story
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Unremarked upon by the Western media, a systematic campaign of persecution is taking place in the Gaza Strip, and to a lesser extent in the West Bank. The general silence surrounding this campaign aids its perpetrators. The victims are Palestinian Christians, in particular the small Christian community of Gaza. The perpetrators are a variety of Islamist groups, all of which are manifestations of a process of growing Islamic militancy and piety taking place across the region.
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