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Support for Our Brothers and Sisters in the Middle East

I plead guilty to being one of those Christians who are aware of the plight of our brothers and sisters in the Middle East and yet lack the motivation to learn more of the causes and how we in the West can help. Call it inertia or just the “busyness” of Western life; I procrastinated in taking the next step. Sadly, it took the vicious attacks against Christians in Iraq by radical Muslim factions to motivate me to share what I already knew with other American Christians and learn what all of us can do to help.

This may come as a shock to some of you, but the Middle East, birthplace of our Lord Jesus and our faith, is slowly being emptied of Christians. It is estimated that by the year 2025 all of Christianity’s holy places will be mere museums from Bethlehem to Nazareth to Jerusalem to the ancient communities founded by the apostles.

There is no one single reason, but a multiplicity of causes that stretch over the entire 2,000 years of our history. The reasons also vary depending on the country in question. In the interest of space, what follows is the short version of recent causes.

Poverty:

You don’t have to take a Christian’s word for it. There are plenty of Israeli Jews who will tell you that, thanks to decades of enmity and bloodshed, “If you look like an Arab (Muslim), you will be treated like an Arab (Muslim).” That is, you will be seen as a high security risk, viewed with suspicion, and contained. So, while Semitic (so-called Arab) Christians lived in the Holy Land many centuries before the Muslim conquest, they share the same economic fate as Arab Muslims as a result of the violence around them. Those whose families have lived in Bethlehem for centuries now find themselves behind the same wall meant to keep out terrorist bombers. Cut off from meaningful employment and higher education inside Israel, they live in grinding poverty with little hope of a better life. For many, this means the difficult decision to leave the land of their birth and migrate to the United States, Canada, and even South America. Those who have chosen to stay behind eke out a living as tour guides to pilgrims and as artisans of Christian religious art  objects. However, even in these endeavors, they run up against prejudice and, ironically, the prejudice comes from Western Christians! Many American Christians have fallen victim to the same ugly phenomenon that has claimed many Israelis: if they look like an Arab (Muslim), they probably are an Arab (Muslim) and, therefore, a potential terrorist. Here is a personal example:

I became acquainted with one immigrant Christian family at the local shopping mall. Their little cart caught my eye, because “Bethlehem” was a part of their business name. I approached their cart and admired the beautiful carvings of the Last Supper, the Holy Family, and the dove representing the Holy Spirit. They also had handmade crucifixes and statues of Jesus and of Mary with the Infant Jesus. The daughter came up and asked me what I thought. I replied that the work was beautiful.

We talked a bit longer and it was through her that I learned of how the sale of this merchandise supported not only her immediate family, but of the artists back in Bethlehem and Jerusalem and Nazareth who made them. “Trouble is”, she confided, “my parents and I receive more dirty looks than sales from the Americans shopping for Christmas gifts.” She told me about the surly and self-righteous remarks thrown at them like, “I don’t buy from terrorists”. Amazingly, she had a sense of humor about it. Laughing, she told me, “What Americans don’t realize is that Muslims, terrorist or not, NEVER make Christian objects. That is like apostasy to them. Only CHRISTIANS make Christian objects.”

The weight of her words hit me full force. Until I took the time to engage this woman in conversation, I had made the assumption that she was an Arab, that is, a Muslim. It had crossed my mind that any money spent at this little kiosk might find its way back to the West Bank for bomb-making material. I felt ashamed of my false assumptions.

As in the days of the Crusades, Christians in the West are hurting Christians in the East through ignorance. Although money was tight, I made a point of buying something that day and coming back to make another purchase two weeks later.  Another example is tourism in the Holy Land. Instead of hiring a Semitic Christian as a tour guide, our pilgrim travelers play it safe with someone employed by Israeli Tourism. Not that there is anything wrong with supporting Israel. Of course we want peace, security, and prosperity for Israel. But we must also think about our Christian brothers and sisters. A quick check with the priest or pastor of a local church could tell you whether or not your would-be tour guide is on the up-and-up.

Finally, ignorance and apathy are creating a scandal even greater than that created by the Crusades. Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East, and like all true democracies, freedom of thought and religion exist. While this is a good thing, it comes with the price of having to sort the wheat from the chaff. The terrible poverty of our Middle Eastern brethren has created an opportunity for pseudo-Christian groups such as the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) to win converts by simply providing food at home and education abroad for the children of Arab Christian families who could not otherwise afford it.

The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism:

Throughout most of their history under Muslim occupation, Christians and Jews were allowed to lead peaceful, if restricted, lives. It was an unequal existence, but they were shown tolerance by their Muslim neighbors. That has changed with the export of a virulent form of fundamentalist Islam from Saudi Arabia to its neighboring Muslim countries. We all know their aim and, though we may find their goal of world conquest delusional, they are deadly serious. For them, the presence of any non-Muslim in any country they claim as their own is anathema. Beginning with the rise of an Islamic republic in Iran and escalating with the current war in Iraq, Muslims throughout the Middle East have begun to equate “Christian” with “American”. It has left our Semitic brothers and sisters in a precarious position.  They are subject to discrimination, violence, and the destruction of their churches, homes, and businesses.

From a spiritual standpoint, it’s easy to see what is going on here. These troubled, violent extremists are afraid of a competing way of life that embodies peace, forgiveness, and compassion. In other words, they are afraid of the Risen Christ being more powerful than their ideology. Like the first-century Romans, they seek to remove his presence by removing his followers.

How Christians in the West Can Help:

1. Pray daily for our Eastern brothers and sisters.
2. Educate yourself, and then everyone you know, about current affairs in the Middle East. There are several reliable sources of news information concerning Christians in the Middle East on the Internet. A few of them are www.zenit.org, www.ewtn.com, www.cin.org, www.wnd.com, and www.assyrianchristians.com.
3. The Apostle Paul exhorted Christian communities to show love for one another as a witness to the world. He included financial support in demonstrating love. We should be scandalized that, in our ignorance and neglect, have allowed pseudo-Christian groups to make inroads into the very church communities founded by Christ’s original apostles. No one in these ancient communities is asking for a handout, although a hand-up would be welcome. One avenue of providing a hand-up is through the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation. It is a non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of Christians in the Holy Land by developing bonds of solidarity between them and Christians in the United States. HCEF may be contacted at P.O. Box 6687, Silver Spring, MD 20906, telephone 301-871-9222, fax 301-871-2277, or by visiting their Web site at www.hcef.org.
4. Christian literally means “Christ-follower” and the only way we truly follow Christ is to live our lives in imitation of him. Part of imitating Jesus is to guard our speech, especially in the face of vicious, senseless violence. But, as Christ taught us, it is easy to meet hate with hate and violence with violence. It is supernatural to meet them with the love of God the Father through Christ the Son by the power of God the Holy Spirit. Make no mistake, to respond to current events with curses and threats only plays into the hands of the Enemy of mankind, and it boomerangs on the heads of our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters in Christ.

August 23rd, 2004 - by Julie Taylor