Christians in Jerusalem

[EasterIssland]

found this in Twitter today about the current situation of Christians in Jerusalem (West bank and East Jerusalem) and the struggles they’re going through

https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/christians-in-holy-land-desperate-over-lack-of-work-and-upsurge-in-religious-hatred

The situation for Christians is especially desperate as most of them work in the tourism sector, which has been at a standstill since the conflict began.

The source told ACN that for Christians “wearing a cross can get you into trouble.
“Sometimes you have to hide your identity in your own homeland to avoid problems.
“The presence in the area of groups with increasingly radical elements makes our situation even more difficult.”

Can I say, not many people have mentioned the word Jewish , at least not myself, the first few comments that mentioned the religion was to complain that this was another Jewish bashing thread. Until then nobody had mentioned this word.
So please stop suggesting many of us are antisemitic when we’ve not bashed jewish religion in general. Only those attacking Christians regardless of their religion.

How can we hide what is happening in Israel? People can read the report you posted. Its all there.

I give up to be honest. Thread all yours.

Whether by Muslims or Jewish people, Christians have been treated badly in the middle east. Tragic isn't it.

Tragic in many countries but who cares unless it affords an opportunity to bash Israel 😥 you know its true. Hand on heart you do.

No, Iran is not Christianity's holy land, but Christianity goes back to biblical times there. If long historical association is the criteria for us to talk about it then Iran fits the bill, and given the extreme treatment of Christians I'd say its pretty distressing for christians.

It's not relevant it's not Israel. No matter how bad its irrelevant. Now that's tragic 😥

Christian holy site in Iran.....

"Armenian Monastery of Saint Taddeus, West Azerbaijan, Iran. Believed by some to have been first built in 66 AD by Saint Jude. Local Armenians believe that he and Simon were both buried here. In 1329, the church was reconstructed after an earthquake destroyed the structure in 1319."

Not relevant though.

In case anyone would like to read this too, it is on the topic of Christians in Jerusalem, by a US scholar. It is dated 2009 unfortunately so there will be no comment on the present predicament of Christians there, but it does seem to give a comprehensive over view and is certainly very interesting.

It includes Hebrew Christians and Armenians too.

Apparently Christians have a lower birthrate than the mainly religious Jews who live there and lower than the Palestinian Muslims too. The demographics must have changed considerably.

It does seem likely from what us said about Christian/ Israeli relations in this piece dated 2009, that the present troubles for Christians in Jerusalem would be coming from a minority of more extremist Israelis, rather than Israelis in general.

classic.iclrs.org/content/blurb/files/Cohen%2020090511.pdf

Christianity in Jerusalem Today
Raymond Cohen
Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Boston College
Paper presented to the conference on
―Christianity and the East: Fostering Understanding‖
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, May 14-16, 2009

RAYMOND COHEN
Raymond Cohen is a graduate of Oxford University and received his Ph.D. from the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he has been on the department's faculty since
1976.

(Biography: Dr. Cohen has been a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia and
Georgetown University and a research fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the
Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. Dr. Cohen’s fields of
interest are cross-cultural communication, diplomacy in ancient times, conflict resolution and the Christian holy places.)

I only dislike terrorists of all religions or none. Peaceful people of all religions or none are ok.

I dislike bashing all of Israel and ignoring other countries though which happens repeatedly. I dislike extreme settlers too. Its not religious based but actions based.

present troubles for Christians in Jerusalem would be coming from a minority of more extremist Israelis, rather than Israelis in general.

Yes this was explicit in the report.

@Auvergne63 Ok, I did ask you to expand on the subject of Christians in Jerusalem but this is all you've got?

The minority of extremists are causing more alarm on mn than the larger number of extremists in other countries. They don't seem worthy of merit

Christian holy sites in Lebanon

"There are several Christian holy sites in Lebanon, including churches and shrines:

Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Beirut
The first Christian temple in Beirut's old city, dating back to the early fourth century AC. "

It's not only in Jerusalem that Christians have holy sites 😳

Yeah it’s pretty appalling that Christian’s are increasingly being targeted, I really feel for them. I think generally there is a lot of intolerance towards minority groups in the middle east. I lived there for a bit and I remember the hyperventilating over the sale of xmas items in a gulf country. Like the whole of Islam would unravel if someone bought a sparkly ball (they especially got het up about muslims who happened to quite like a xmas tree and put one up to cheer the place up a bit) I imagine those extremists in Jerusalem are equally rabid. There are religious fantics all over the middle east, it’s a depressing reality. But there are also good decent kind people who are horrified when people are persecuted.

Honestly OP, I agree that it’s important to talk about the persecution of minority groups but I think theres nothing wrong with recognition of the wider picture. It’s like if people wanted to talk about the uighers and people went shut up we are only talking about rohyinga we don’t want to talk about the uighers can you stop talking about oppression of muslims in any other country than the one I want to talk about. If you are genuinely concerned about Christians you would feel for all of them, not just a select few. I actually don’t think we talk about the persecution of Christians enough so I’m glad you brought it up (I’m not a Christian btw)

www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/02/persecution-driving-christians-out-of-middle-east-report

It was over 5 years ago when the treatment of Christians in the middle east was described as coming close to genocide.....

"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/02/persecution-driving-christians-out-of-middle-east-report#:~:text=In%20countries%20such%20as%20Iran,extremist%20groups%2C%20are%20implicated.%E2%80%9D

Thank you.

That's my point really. You put it so much better. Why shut down the bigger picture to target one people in one area 🤔

I also do think theres a difference between individuals within a country actively harrassing minorities and state sanctioned harassment. If the country you are in has laws to protect you and also implements those laws thats one thing but when the state turns a blind eye or legislates to persecute you thats different. I consider that to be a measure of the level of intolerance in a country.

I agree. The persecution of Christians gets remarkably little coverage. Its not just about people but also the loss of cultural sites too. Early christianity is so interesting.

The harassment of Christians in Jerusalem is not new. This article was written in 2023.
ttps://www.timesofisrael.com/as-attacks-on-christians-become-more-frequent-a-crisis-looms-for-israel/#:~:text=The%20involvement%2
Here another one
Jerusalem Christians say attacks on the rise - BBC News
And another
Church leaders plead with Israeli government as anti-Christian incidents increase in Holy Land (religionnews.com)
I find this troubling, don't you, especially the fact that acts of vandalism against consecrated grounds (cemeteries/churches) or harassment go unpunished.

Yes, that's right, the Rossing report which was also about 2023.

The article states:

It says there has been an upsurge in acts of religious hatred, warning that Christians have faced threats and have been forced to conceal their religious identity.

Acts of religious hatred have increased globally since 7 October. This sounds incredibly similar to the situation Jewish people and Muslims around the world have found themselves in since 7 October.

Is there a particular reason Israel is being singled out as the focus of discussion here, compared to say, any one European country, America or Australia?

When discussing the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, focusing that discussion on Israel only is incredibly strange. And quite frankly, bizzare, when there are places in the Middle East when one’s life is at a risk for simply being a Christian:

Pervasive persecution of Christians, sometimes amounting to genocide, is ongoing in parts of the Middle East, and has prompted an exodus in the past two decades, according to a report commissioned by the British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

My point exactly. It's bizarre.

Why do you say acts go unpunished? The two Jewish extremist men who desecrated the cemetary were arrested and punished. I think that was the incident that was explicitly condemned by Netanyahu & others in the Israeli government. Compare other places where the harrassment and worse is orchestrated by the authorities.

It is. I'd love to visit Christian sites throughout the middle east but for the main far too dangerous. The history is fascinating. I'm not a Christian though just find the history and stories very interesting.