Sep 11, 2005 / 22:00 pm
An “Islamic fundamentalist mafia” has been committing acts of violence and intimidation against Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land, says a document recently submitted by Holy Land Christians to Church leaders in Jerusalem.
Journalist Harry de Quetteville reported Sept. 9 that the document lists 93 alleged incidents of abuse by the mafia and 140 cases in which gangs, backed by corrupt judicial officials, allegedly forced Christians in the West Bank off their land.
One case from 2003 includes the torture and murder of two Christian girls who were deemed prostitutes. An autopsy found that they were virgins.
“The Christian community has always suffered in the last few years because we are a minority,” commented Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Jerusalem's senior Franciscan, “Because of this many Christians seek to leave and the Christian presence in the Holy Land is shrinking.”