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Avi Benlolo: Sorry, King Abdullah, but Christians need the protection of the Jewish state

Christians would be much worse off without Israel, despite what King Abdullah says

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I met Jordanian King Abdullah II at his home in Amman many years ago on a beautiful summer day. We discussed widening the circle of peace in the Middle East beyond Egypt and Jordan — which signed peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively — long before the signing of the Abraham Accords. We discussed advancing peace by winning the fight against radicalism and terrorism in the region, values that King Abdullah has long advocated for.

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Yet this stands in sharp contrast to the remarks he made this week at the United Nations General Assembly, in which he claimed that Jerusalem’s Christian community is “under fire,” saying, “The rights of churches in Jerusalem are threatened. This cannot continue. Christianity is vital to the past and present of our region and the Holy Land. It must remain an integral part of our future.”

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His comments seem designed to exacerbate tensions and create divisions between Israel’s Jewish and Christian communities. They also run contrary to the situation on the ground in Israel, a country that welcomes about 700,000 Christian tourists a year and is home to around 180,000 people of the Christian faith.

The Christian community is well integrated into Israeli society and is spread throughout the country. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2020, 70 per cent of Christian men and 64 per cent of women were in the labour force, and 71 per cent of Christian Arabs had successfully completed a matriculation certificate, which is necessary to enter higher education and certain professions, compared to 45 per cent of Muslims.

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There’s no doubt that Jerusalem’s Old City has been a source of friction between the world’s three major religions. Yet King Abdullah’s comments suggest that Israel (and therefore the Jewish nation) is assaulting the Christian community. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our relationship and friendship with our Christian brothers and sisters is stronger than ever, particularly following the Nostra aetate declaration of the Second Vatican Council, which was designed to improve relations between Christians and Jews.

The hypocritical duplicity of King Abdullah’s remarks at the UN also contradict the facts on the ground in all the Arab nations that surround Israel. Including Jordan itself, where the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews reports that Christians face oppression and lack employment opportunities due to laws that prevent many refugees from working.

In Egypt, Christians are said to face unprecedented levels of persecution. According to a report produced by Open Doors, which supports persecuted Christians around the world, in 2017, 128 Christians were killed in Egypt because of their faith.

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In 2015, ISIL executed 21 Christian men on a beach in Libya. In Syria during the civil war, ISIL reportedly turned a bakery into a death chamber, killing 250 Christians by kneading children to death in a bread machine and baking men in an oven.

A report commissioned by then-British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2019 found that, while Christians comprised 20 per cent of the population of the Middle East and north Africa a century ago, their numbers have fallen to less than four per cent. “In countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia the situation of Christians and other minorities has reached an alarming stage,” according to the report.

And we know that the Palestinian Authority’s behaviour has motivated many Christians to leave.

I agree with King Abdullah that the “road forward is a two-state solution,” but G-d forbid east Jerusalem ever come under control of an “independent Palestinian state,” as he espoused. Given the persecution of religious minorities in the Arab world, and the radicalism among some Palestinian factions, the freedom to worship in Jerusalem would be impossible under the Palestinian Authority. Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel, in order to ensure that all religious faiths are protected and religious freedom is respected.

When I met King Abdullah in Amman, it was clear that he gets it. I understand that he has to appeal to his own citizens, many of whom are Palestinian, but if the Abraham Accords have taught the region anything, it’s that courage and truth brings about peace. I hope he reflects on this in peace.

National Post

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