|
ACT for America exists to
educate, engage, and mobilize the largest network of grassroots
activists focused on national security and defeating terrorism.
|
|
|
|
|
Dear Daniel,
Islamists continue their efforts to eradicate Christianity from the
world, including the continued destruction of historic Christian ruins.
The terrorist organization Hamas is now demolishing the ruins of an 1,800-year-old church in
Gaza City — in order to build a shopping mall on the
grounds of the historical site.
Where is the public outcry about this despicable act, especially from
Christians around the world? Please read the article below as it
reveals the Palestinian desire to hit the delete button and erase
Christian history.
|
|
Palestinians:
Erasing Christian History
Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone
Institute
 Palestinian
Christians are up in arms over the destruction of the ruins of an
ancient Byzantine church that were recently discovered in Gaza City.
The protest, however, failed to win the attention of the international
community, especially United Nations agencies such as UNESCO, whose
mission is to secure the world's cultural and natural heritage.
The ruins of the 1800-year-old church were discovered in Palestine
Square, in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, where Hamas is
planning to build a shopping mall. The dramatic discovery
of the antiquities did not seem to leave an impression on the
construction workers, who removed artifacts and continued with their
work at the site.
Defying belief, bulldozers
were used to destroy some of the church artifacts, drawing sharp
criticism from Palestinian Christians, some of whom rushed to accuse
both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) of copying ISIS tactics
to demolish historic sites.
For Palestinian Christians, the destruction of the church ruins is yet
a further attempt by Palestinian Muslim leaders to efface both
Christian history and signs of any Christian presence in the
Palestinian territories.
The charges reflect the bitterness felt by Palestinian Christians
against their leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The charges also
reveal the growing sense of marginalization and persecution that many
Christians feel under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
Palestinian Christians also express disappointment with the lack of
interest that the international community, including the Vatican and
Christian communities around the world, have shown in this case, which
they regard as an assault on their heritage and holy sites.
Hamas claims that it does not have the resources to preserve the
ancient site of the church. Preserving the Christian site, they say,
would require millions of dollars and hundreds of workers at a time
when the Islamist movement is facing a financial crisis due to the
ongoing "blockade" on the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Authority, for its part, maintains that, as it is not
in control of the Gaza Strip, the destruction of antiquities is out of
its hands. Still, the PA leadership in the West Bank has not come out
publicly against the demolition. This is the same PA that promotes a
stabbing and car-ramming "intifada" for the Jews'
"desecrating" the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem by touring the
Temple Mount under police protection.
As far as the Palestinian Authority is concerned, visits by Jews to the
Temple Mount are far more dangerous than the wrecking of important
Christian sites in the Gaza Strip. Instead of denouncing Hamas's
actions itself, the PA's official news agency, Wafa, ran
a report quoting Palestinian archeologists and historians voicing
their outrage over the destruction of the Christian site.
One of the leaders of the Christian community in the West Bank, Father
Ibrahim Nairouz, wrote an angry
letter to PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah complaining about the
wanton mishandling of the church ruins in the Gaza Strip.
Father Nairouz wrote in his letter: "Would you have handled this
issue the same way had the ruins belonged to a mosque or a
synagogue?"
He also announced his decision to boycott a tour of the Palestinian
prime minister to Bethlehem and Hebron, in protest against the
destruction of the church ruins in the Gaza Strip.
Father Nairouz's protest was joined by many angry Palestinian
Christians -- and some Muslims -- who voiced their revulsion at the
wreckage.
Sami Khalil, a Christian from the West Bank city of Nablus, wrote:
"I think that silence is up to the stage of conniving. But the
question is where are the artists to preserve our Christian Heritage?
Where are the heads of the churches in Jerusalem and the world? Where
are the bishops? Where are the Vatican and UNESCO? Where are the
leaders and politicians who talk, talk, talk about national unity and
the preservation of holy sites? Or is this a collective conspiracy to
end our existence and history in the East?"
Another Christian, Anton Kamil Nasser, commented: "Whether it was
a church or something else, this is a form of intellectual terrorism and
retardation."
Abdullah Kamal, a staff member at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem,
said: "Regrettably, the silence over this destruction of this
Heritage and historic site in our country is tantamount to a
crime."
A Christian woman from East Jerusalem remarked: "Shame on us. If
this happened under the Jews, they would have turned the site into a
museum."
Yes, all is not well under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for the
Christian minority.
It is no secret that a growing number of Christians in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip feel that they are being systematically targeted by both
the PA and Hamas for being Christians.
The ravaging of the ancient Byzantine church in Gaza is just one
example of the disrespect with which the Palestinian Authority and Hamas
deal with their Christian residents.
In yet another incident that has enraged Christians, the PA police last
week arrested
a prominent Christian businessman in Bethlehem, 60-year-old Raja Elias
Freij.
The Palestinian Authority claims that Freij was arrested for
threatening a merchant from Bethlehem -- a charge he, his family and
many other Christians strongly deny. Last weekend, several Christians
staged a protest in Bethlehem's Manger Square to demand the release of
Freij, and accused the PA of religious discrimination against him.
The plight of Palestinian Christians does not interest the
international community. That is because Israel cannot be blamed for
demolishing the antiquities. If the current policy against Christians
persists, the day will come when no Christians will be left in
Bethlehem, and pilgrims visiting the city will have to bring their own
priest with them to lead the prayers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Help a New
Generation of National Security Activists
|
|
|
|
|
Join our
Open Eyes Save Lives Campaign!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Federal
Legislator Making a Difference
|
|
|
|
|
Learn
about Refugee Resettlement
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S.
Continues to Fund Hamas-Linked Charities
|
|
|
|
|
Survival
Tips in Case of a Terror Attack
|
|
|
|
|
ACTCON 2016
will take place this September 6th and 7th in Washington, DC. Join
us, along with hundreds of other grassroots activists, as we rally
just 60 days before the most important election of our lifetime.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Click image to play video.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment