Christians Are Being Persecuted in Most Arab Countries

   We know that Christians are being persecuted worldwide, but the sad reality is that the media rarely reports on the persecution of Christians and the enormity of the problem.  Thankfully, there are other organizations that do keep track, as The Voice of the Martyrs does, and one such institute is The Middle East Media Research Institute.

"However, the string of murders and expulsions of Christians, which has been going on for several months, is by far the most grievous - [and] it [must be taken as] a warning that hostility and crimes against minorities may spread to the neighboring countries [as well].
"Christians are being persecuted not only in Iraq, but in most Arab countries, regardless of their numbers there. They are subjected to every possible kind of discrimination, as well as expulsion. The problem is that it is not only Arab officials who are remaining silent [in the face of these crimes] - [they do so] because their primitive mentality is centered on the cult of the ruler - but, alarmingly, so are Arab intellectuals, the elites, non-government organizations, and leaders of the private sector. All these groups look on at these unprecedented [acts of] folly without apprehending the danger with which these crimes are fraught.

"Statistics show that in 2005 the number of Christians in Iraq was as high as 800,000. By early 2008, it had dropped by half, [indicating] that 50 percent of Iraqi Christians had been expelled from their homes and lands.

"Today, this problem is also rampant in Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, and Palestine - and while the situation may be slightly different in Palestine, the trend is the same.

"Let us be honest with ourselves and courageously say out loud that Palestinian Christians are taking many severe blows, yet are suffering in silence so as not to attract attention. I do not refer here to the suffering caused by the occupation... but to actions of the past 20 years at least - that is, since the beginning of the occupation in 1967 - involving the confiscation of Christian property, especially in Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Al-Birah.