.- The
Catholic relief association, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) recently
reported on the dire situation of Christians living in Israel’s West
Bank, since the Hamas party came to power. “The crisis for the area's
about 150,000 Christians has deepened,” they said, “especially with
increased intolerance to non-Muslims.”
In an interview
with ACN, Victor Tabash, a shopkeeper from Bethlehem who sells
Christian devotional gifts, put it this way: "It has become awful
living here. We do not believe what is happening. Since the election,
things have been getting worse and worse."
With a squeeze
on public finances and frequent problems traveling to Jerusalem where
many Palestinians work and shop, many reported that Israeli authorities
frequently close roads, preventing access to Tel Aviv Airport and the
city center.
ACN has offered
help to Christian shopkeepers by retailing their hand-made olive
devotional items such as crucifixes, cribs and rosaries, an act which
is generating funds for Christians in the West Bank.
Mr. Tabash said:
"The ACN project is doing a great job for us. We now have orders being
sent out from all over the world, from Canada to Australia and now
Poland."
In the last 40
years, the Christian population in the West Bank has slumped from about
20 percent of the total to less than two percent today.
Situation of Christians in West Bank worsening since Hamas take-over
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February 11, 2012
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