This weekend, October 19th and 20th, 2001, a timely, powerful and important world conference will be held in the National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016. It is the Third International Conference of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, a non-profit organization working to alleviate some of the suffering caused by the conflict in the Mid-East, particularly among the Palestinian Christians. There are three reasons why you should care.
This weekend, October 19th and 20th, 2001, a timely, powerful and important world conference will be held in the National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016. It is the Third International Conference of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, a non-profit organization working to alleviate some of the suffering caused by the conflict in the Mid-East, particularly among the Palestinian Christians. There are three reasons why you should care.
First, the organization was founded, and is currently headquartered in Montgomery County, Maryland. In fact, I had a tiny part in its founding. Several years ago I was invited to a breakfast at the old Hot Shoppes in downtown Bethesda where a group of local citizens wanted to do something to help the troubled Mid-East. Knowing I ‘m a sucker for a good cause, they asked me to volunteer to draft their original articles of incorporation. I watched with amazement over the next couple of years that, out of that simple breakfast meeting, so small that it fit into one booth at the Bethesda Hot Shoppes, grew one of the most influential and respected organizations in the world dealing with issues of Mid-East peace. It is a great example of what concerned citizens can do if they put their minds to it.
The second reason is that the majority of citizens in Montgomery County, in the State of Maryland, and in the United States are Christians. As believers in Jesus Christ, the first Christian Palestinian, all Christians in this County, State and Nation are spiritually Palestinians.
The ignorance among most Americans of the basic history and actual conditions in the Holy Lands is, therefore, surprising. In 1922 the Christian population was 73,000 with 84,000 Jews and 591,000 Muslims. By 1947, the date of the establishment of the State of Israel, the Christian population through natural birth doubled to 150,000, the Muslim population, also approximately doubling, swelled to approximately a million, and the Jewish population grew eight fold to 614,000, primarily due to immigration. Under Israeli rule the number of Muslims in the Holy Lands increased but at a slower rate. By 1990 there were 2 million Muslims. The Jewish population, primarily through immigration, exploded an additional six fold to 3.7 million. Tragically, due to the realities of the conflict between the expanding Muslim and Jewish populations, the Christian population, which should by natural birth rate have tripled to approximately half a million, has remained virtually static. Today there are approximately the same number of Christians in the Holy Lands as there were in 1947. Most Palestinian Christians have been forced to flee and emigrate from lands their families have lived on literally since the birth of Christ. Those that remain live in deplorable conditions, with inadequate health care, employment, transportation, housing, and education.
The Christian population in the Holy Lands, a minority within a minority, is being culturally exterminated in the crush and conflict between the Jewish population in Israel, supported by the United States, and the Muslim population supported by the surrounding Muslim countries. They are pressured by the Israelis because they are Palestinians and they are pressured by the Muslims because they are Christians. This situation has become more acute since the tragedies of September 11, 2001. Part of the collateral damage of those events has been an increase in attacks on Christian Palestinians in the Holy Lands and around the world. The perpetrators of the horrors of September 11th were terrorist criminals, primarily from Saudi Arabia, who are such pariahs in their own countries they are forced to live in Afghanistan. Lumping the long-suffering Christian Palestinians in with these non-Christian, non-Palestinian criminal terrorists demonstrates stupid, ignorant, uninformed racism. The sad fact is, many who are doing so are not stupid, ignorant, or uniformed. They are just anti-Christian-Palestinian racists.
The third reason you should care is that all three faiths that are in the center of the conflict in the Mid-East, Jew, Christian, and Muslim, worship the same God of Abraham and study the teaching of many of the same prophets. All of these religions also teach peace and aiding your fellow man, particularly in times of trouble. This Conference will be an opportunity for persons of all faiths to provide direct help to the needy. The Third International Conference will have representatives from most of the major religions, relevant governmental and non-governmental agencies, and other interested persons including Dr. Jerry Levin, former CNN Beirut Bureau Chief and former Beirut hostage, Charles Sennott, Boston Globe Mid-East Bureau Chief in Jerusalem, and Donald A. Kruse, former American Consul in Jerusalem.
The Holy Lands are a place of vital interest to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. As the birth place of Christ, it is the ‘home town’ of Christians around the world. But it doesn’t matter what your faith is. If the extermination of a two thousand year old culture from its place of origin is of concern to you, or you simply wish to help some folks in need, consider attending the conference. It is a worthy cause. You can contact the organization through its web site of www.hcef.org.
