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| Worshipping safely: Christians in Nablus in the West Bank attended service Sunday at the Greek Orthodox Church. Ilene R. Prusher |
In Nablus, improved security promises a safer Christmas
For many among the small and ancient community of Christians in the West Bank, a new security plan offers more safety than they have experienced in years.
from the December 24, 2007 edition
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"Hamas kept telling their followers to support their Muslim brothers, but not your Christian sisters, and not emphasizing that we are all Palestinians," says Khoury.
Since July, Hamas has gone underground. But Christians say they still feel marginalized and discriminated against. All four of Khoury's adult children have left Nablus – one is in Pennsylvania while the other three went south to Ramallah and Bethlehem, with their larger Christian populations.
The community's fears reached a height in September last year, when Pope Benedict XVI made comments that were taken by many Muslims as an insult to Islam. Four churches in Nablus were attacked by masked men wielding guns, firebombs, and lighter fluid. A group calling themselves the Swords of Islamic Right threatened to blow up all churches and Christian institutions in the Gaza Strip. One Christian man was killed there this fall, apparently accused of doing missionary work.
Father George, the head of the Greek Orthodox church, which was firebombed, says that he was encouraged by the fact that mainstream Muslims condemned the attacks.
"We were very careful that it should not escalate, because it would put down the roots for a Muslim-Christian conflict," says Father George, in an interview following his Sunday service. "The senior Muslim figures came to us and apologized and this made us feel better."
In the Bethlehem area, which has the largest Christian population of all Palestinian cities, Christians say that the increased security is having a positive impact on all Palestinians.
Sami Awad, director of the Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem, says that when the situation in the Palestinian territories verged on anarchy, Christians often felt the bite because it meant an increase of crime and extortion.
"What people have been interested in seeking, both Christians and Muslims, is a sense of the rule of law and to stop those who violate it," says Mr. Awad. "I know many Muslims who felt scared, too, who were also having difficulty with criminals targeting them. Now, the government making a very tough stand with militant groups who carry guns in the streets. This was a very prominent scene, and Christians and Muslims suffered from it. Now this is illegal and the government has taken some real steps to stop it."
Israeli officials concur that the situation in the West Bank has improved. "We see a positive change in the West Bank, and of the ability of the security forces to take control, and this by itself is very good," a senior Israeli official said in a briefing last week.
In the Rafidiyeh neighborhood of Nablus, once a primarily Christian village, Michael Saadeh watches his children's faces light up as he lights the tree. The house is decked in red and green and Santa all over. But their decorations, like most individual families, stay inside. There is undoubtedly more cheer in the air this year, but there is also a certain hesitancy.
"If they are going to act in the West Bank the way they did in Gaza," says Awad, a church official, "then we are going to worry."
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