Persecution spotlight: Palestinian Territories

Source: Independentword.com

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." - Matthew 5:43-45 (NIV)

Today we begin what we plan will be a regular feature looking at the persecuted church here at the Disciple Beacon. Using information from groups such as Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors and International Christian Concern, among others, as well as other news sources, we hope to raise awareness of what is happening to million of people around the planet and the struggles they are facing simply because they choose to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Today, we go to the Palestinian Territories. According to Voice of the Martyrs, in recent years, as the Palestinian Authority has gained power in their autonomous territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip around Israel, non-Muslims, particularly Christians, have been forced to either face severe repression in terms of the loss of their job, freedom and even lives or just leave the country.

In a blog posting by the Voice of the Martyrs, Pastor Steven Khoury, who had been leading a church among the Christian Arab community in Jerusalem, received an eviction notice for his church to leave their building. Christians in other traditional towns such as Jesus' birthplace of Bethlehem or his hometown of Nazareth also have been leaving, reducing what had once been a good-sized population of Christians to nearly nothing. The eviction came, Khoury said, after he appeared on CBN's "The 700 Club."




Combine this with the troubles that Palestinians deal with in terms of the Israeli blockade along the West Bank and it spells out a decline on population. According to the Biblical Seminary, the number of Christians in Israel and the Palestinian Territories has dropped from 20 percent of the population in 1948, when the State of Israel was formed, to around 1 percent today.

What can be done? As Jesus said on numerous occasions, we can pray for those who are being persecuted and we can also pray for those causing the problem, including both the Israeli authorities for the blockade and the Palestinian authorities and extremists who amp up the pressure on Christians to either convert to Islam, leave or suffer the consequences.