ENDNOTES

(1):

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs , Christians Flee Growing Islamic Fundamentalism in the Holy Land

• The Christian population of the areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has sharply declined in recent decades, as tens of thousands have abandoned their holy sites and ancestral properties to live abroad. Those who remain comprise a beleaguered and dwindling minority. In sharp contrast, Israel's Christian community has prospered and grown by at least 270 percent since the founding of the state.
• While Israel understands that the construction of the security barrier inconveniences some of the Christian communities living in its vicinity, Israel has shown sensitivity to Christian interests in planning the route of the barrier.
• The plight of Christian Arabs remaining in the PA is, in part, attributable to the adoption of Muslim religious law in the PA Constitution. Israel, by contrast, safeguards the religious freedom and holy places of its Christian (and Muslim) citizens. Indeed, in recent years Israel has been responsible for restoring many of the churches and monasteries under its jurisdiction.
• The growing strength of Islamic fundamentalism within the Palestinian national movement poses problems for Christians, who fear they will be deemed opponents of Islam and thereby risk becoming targets for Muslim extremists. This is exacerbated by the fact that Hamas holds substantial power and seeks to impose its radical Islamist identity on the entire population within the PA-controlled territories.

(2):

JEWISH VIRTUAL LIBRARY, Christians Fleeing Palestinian Controlled Areas

The small Christian Arab community in the areas under Palestinian Authority (PA) control has been a major victim of the current Palestinian violence, resulting in accelerated Christian emigration from the territories since September 2000. The Christian population in the PA-controlled territories has declined since 1997

Population estimates, made by Ibrahim Kandelaft, PA Chairman Yasir Arafat’s adviser on Christians and church affairs, and seen in the graph below, show a considerable decline in the number of Christians in the West Bank — from 35,000 in 1997 to 25,000 in 2002, a drop of 29 percent. In the Gaza Strip, the number diminished from 2,500 to 2,000, or 20 percent, during the same period.

...

Christians have become increasingly concerned about the Islamization of life in their key cities

Bethlehem Christians cater to Christian pilgrims and other tourists by running hotels, restaurants and souvenir stores and industries. Their relations with their Muslim neighbors have been marked by friction and violence. Bethlehem Christians have complained of raids by a neighboring Muslim Bedouin tribe and the purchase of lands in their neighborhoods by Muslim Hebronites that is liable to further marginalize them in their own enclave. They are particularly troubled by the Islamization of public life in the Bethlehem area and by the imposition of Muslim codes of conduct, especially regarding women.

..

Furthermore, much of the violence has been perpetrated by the radical Muslim organizations, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Imposing Muslim codes in the Bethlehem area and violence against its Christian residents have considerably expanded, including occasional attacks on women.

(3):

Preparing For The Perfect Storm, 27 Sep 2013, CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION RAMPANT IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES

The attack on an Anglican church in Pakistan on September 22 caused Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to speak out on attacks on Christians in the Muslim world. He said Christians are being martyred for their faith in many Muslim countries and this past weekend’s violence is only the tip of the iceberg.

According to the International Society for Human Rights in Frankfurt, Germany, 80 percent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed against Christians.