Why are Christians silent? asks Carl in Jerusalem (via Joem)

Earlier this week, yet another article came out about the appalling treatment of Christians in the 'Palestinian' territories. (Hat Tip: Dhimmi Watch) This is a story I have covered before, and which first burst into prominence with the takeover of the Church of the Nativity - - one of Christianity's holiest sites - by 'Palestinian' terrorists in 2002.

From the Charisma article, which lists such human rights violations as "individual loss of job or property; firebombed churches; destruction of Christian-based centers; beatings; torture; forced marriages; sexual harassment; and extortion."

He noted that most of the persecution has taken place since the empowerment of the Palestinian Authority in 1995 under Yasser Arafat. He described the torture suffered by Christian converts from Islam since then as “the kind of thing you only read about in Medieval books—it’s very difficult to describe.”

Carl points out that "The silence is deafening and it seems that the Jews may be the only ones who care:"

At a “Save the Christians” rally in Rome earlier this month, the AP reported several hundred people gathered to demand an end to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. In addition to top Vatican officials and Italy’s former Premier Berlusconi, a prominent Jewish activist from the U.S. also attended.

“I stand here tonight as an American Jew and as a survivor of the Holocaust to say to you that ‘never again’ was a pledge that the Jewish people learned with great pain and sadness,” said Abraham Foxman, U.S. director of the Anti-Defamation League. “But ‘never again’ is not limited to Jewish pain and suffering…I pledge to you that our voices will be heard whenever Christians are discriminated against.”

I’ve noted this before. Certain Christian news sites happily amplify Palestinian (mostly Muslim) propaganda when it is directed against Jews. Even the most trivial complaints are trumpeted loudly, but when it comes to far more serious issues of persecution of Christians, there is silence.

Carl suggests a dhimmi fear of criticising Muslims, while I suspect an underlying anti-Semitism which makes them more receptive to criticism of Israelis.

There may also be another reason. The ‘deification’ of Palestinians by some Christian groups, like Sabeel, whose imagery identifies the Palestinians with Christ. This is echoed in even secular news stories which treat the belongings of Palestinians as being more valuable than Israeli lives. Objects like olive trees become holy by association with their Palestinian owners. As a Catholic I can recognise a similarity to attitudes towards religious relics

In other words, Palestinians have been turned into a deity by some Christians, and therefore beyond criticism no matter what they do. Their cruelties and persecution must be seen on the same level as the natural disasters which God permits to occur – not to be questioned or criticised but accepted as the will of the poorpalestinians, as some of their worshipers call them.