Mehdi Hasan’s latest article for the Huffington Post is a frustrating read. It is partly concerned with Christian emigration from Israel/Palestine – just why have so many chosen to leave the region? When I tried to find the answer to the same question a while back I reached at least some of the same conclusions as Hasan – it did seem that tensions between Muslims and Christians were not an overwhelming factor, and that they were sometimes overstated. Palestinian Christians obviously hold a range of views on such issues, but Hasan is correct to assert that many Palestinian Christians have been strong critics of Israel and active supporters of Palestinian nationalism. On the other hand if it’s Israel which is the problem – why do Christians seem to have left in greater numbers than other Palestinians? One quite significant factor may be that Christian Palestinians have historically been rather better off and better connected than their Muslim neighbours, and thus found it easier to leave the region.
Although it would have been useful if Hasan had included this (fairly politically neutral) explanation, this was not the main problem with the post. It opened with this wearyingly familiar question:
‘Tis the season of Nativity scenes. But here’s a question to consider: would Joseph and Mary even have been able to reach Bethlehem if they were making that same journey today?
In the explanation which follows it is clearly implied, if not quite asserted, that Jesus is being cast as a Palestinian rather than a Jew. This distorted analogy does absolutely nothing to help further the Palestinian cause.
Hasan has more questions for this readers:
So here is another question to consider: why is it that the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East, or countries such as Sudan, has attracted the attention and anger of politicians in the west, yet the Christians of Palestine don’t get a look-in? There are no motions, resolutions or petitions filed on their behalf; no solidarity expressed. Could it be because their persecutors aren’t Arabs or Muslims: it’s the state of Israel?
The problems facing Christian Palestinians are not significantly different from those facing other Palestinians – and neither are they all the fault of Israel. There is nothing in Israel – when it comes to suffering/persecution because of Christian identity – which can be compared with the treatment of Meriam Ibrahim in the Sudan, let alone the horrors facing many Christians in Iraq. And in any case Hasan’s premise is plain wrong – Christians frequently turn to Palestine in their Christmas sermons, articles and broadcasts – here’s just one example. And has he forgotten the high profile Bethlehem Unwrapped project?
