(Photo taken by an employee of the monastery during the incident)THE INTIMIDATION OF CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CONTINUES ON A DAILY BASIS.
The international media have been keeping quiet about the persecution of Christians within the Palestinian areas, but we want to bring to the world's attention a very disturbing incident that took place at the Mar Sabba monastery near Bethlehem yesterday.
The Greek Orthodox convent is located in Beith Sakhour, a town near Bethlehem, which used to be predominately Christian. For the last two years, the land that belongs to the monastery has been intruded by illegal construction and the Palestinian Authority has done nothing to stop them, despite numerous complaints by the Abbot.
Unfortunately, it is a common practice for many Christians to have their land taken away from them within the Palestinian areas. However, yesterday, the incitement reached a new level, when a group of seven Muslim Salafi men broke into the convent and began threatening and harassing the monks. This is the first time that we witness this level of bullying and audacity within a property belonging to the Orthodox Church itself.
The continuous persecution has now driven the majority of the Christian population out of the area. We are drawing attention to this, because the men who carried out the attack have promised to come back and the recurring question is how long will the Christians, who the majority of them call themselves Palestinians, live in such fear and who will protect them?
Source: Father Gabriel Naddaf on Facebook
