CHRISTIAN LIFE UNDER THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
Muslim groups imposed a “reign of terror” on Christians in the PA
• On September 3, 2005, hundreds of armed Palestinian Muslims torched 14 Christian homes in Taybeh, a village near Ramallah, to punish the community because one of its residents was having a relationship with a Muslim woman from a neighboring village. The Muslim woman was murdered by her own family in what they termed an “honor killing.” [1]
• The militants who took over the Church of the Nativity in April 2002 had “imposed a two-year reign of terror [on Bethlehem Christians] that included rape, extortion and executions, according to Bethlehem residents. ‘Finally the Christians can breathe freely,’ said Helen, 50, a Christian mother of four. ‘We are so delighted that these criminals who have intimidated us for such a long time are now going away.’” [2]
• “In February 2002, Palestinian Muslims rampaged against Christians in Ramallah, burning apartments and stores owned by Christians and attempted to burn down the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.” The PA failed to intervene, according to the Boston Globe. [3]
C4RPME.org: Christians in the Middle East