|
|
Dec. 22, 2006
Wanted: A grassroots movement
Mansour places most of the blame, but not all, on the Arab Christian
community itself.
EDGAR ASHER ISRANET
Speaking of the Christian community in Israel and the Palestinian
Authority area as being "a dying species," Atallah Mansour,
an Arab Christian author and journalist living in Nazareth, was
not very optimistic about the future viability of the community,
unless there is a dramatic change in attitude.
Mansour, 72, who was the first Arab to publish a novel in Hebrew
and, for some 20 years, was on the editorial staff of the Ha'aretz
newspaper, places most of the blame, but not all, on the Arab Christian
community itself.
Perhaps his main concern is the brain drain of young Christian Arabs
from the main Christian centres, such as Nazareth and Jerusalem.
"In North America, there are thousands of Christians who have
left the Middle East over the past 20 years, mainly for economic
reasons, for example," said Mansour. "My wife finished
high school in Nazareth. In her class were 15 girls and 10 boys.
Today, those 15 girls live in, or around, Nazareth; all the boys,
but one, live in the United States."
As far as Mansour is concerned, the Christian community does not
address these important issues.
"Christian schools in Nazareth don't teach Hebrew," Mansour
explained. "The Hebrew University and other Israeli universities
are almost closed to graduates from Christian schools, and the fault
mainly lies with the Christian community itself. If young Christians,
say from Nazareth, want to stay here [in Israel] and get good jobs,
then to know Hebrew is a must. How can they apply for a worthwhile
job, in Jerusalem, for example, if they do not know Hebrew?"
In 1967, after the Six Day War, when thousands of Arabs living in
East Jerusalem and the West Bank came under Israeli jurisdiction,
the Arab leadership said that they would not accept the Israeli
educational curriculum which, in Mansour's words, "is, in a
sense, rather like shooting oneself in the foot."
"Today, there are about 13,000 Arab Christians in Jerusalem
and the children are still not going to Israeli schools," he
said. "The Arab Christians are not able to admit that they
made a mistake. This is our problem east and west of the Green Line.
"It must be said that it is better for Christians living in
Israel than for Christians living in Jordan, Syria or Egypt,"
he continued. "The reason is a combination of individual human
rights and also the Israeli GNP is 10 times that of Jordan and Egypt
and so on. However, we do still have problems in Israel. Like our
brothers across the Green Line, we have the problems of religious
practice. In our case, we have less harassment from the [Israeli]
government. In Israel, the government just ignores our existence."
Mansour described the pressure between the Muslim and Christian
communities in his home town when recalling the serious rioting
that erupted when the Muslims attempted to build a mosque adjoining
the world-renowned Basilica of the Annunciation.
"The Israel government decided to tear down an old school near
the Basilica and build a garden there to celebrate the millennium,"
he said. "Despite the fact that there were already 14 mosques
in the city [in 1958, there was just one], the Muslim community
wanted only to build next to this all-important Christian place
of worship."
Muslims are now in the majority in Nazareth, but they are nonexistent
in the city's administration. All the schools, hospitals and orphanages
are run by Christians and there is a very high employment rate among
the town's Christian citizens. There is also a very low crime rate
among the Christian community.
Mansour pointed out that there are about one million Muslims in
Israel and only 100,000 Christians, so he feels that the Israeli
government is more interested in currying the favor of the Israeli
Muslim voters.
"Another internal problem is the fact that we do not speak
with one voice, we are divided," he said. "Christians
outside Israel are mainly divided between those who hate Jews and
those who say that those Christians who love Israel will be blessed
by G-d. Most Christians outside Israel, I am sorry to say, do not
know anything about the Christians who live here. That is why I
tell my Christian brothers [abroad] to love Israel, because we are
also Israeli. In our churches, we pray for Israel and Zion."
It is clear that Mansour is deeply concerned with the fundamental
change in the Christian character of Palestinian cities like Bethlehem.
Slowly, but surely, the Christian institutions are being replaced
in Bethlehem by Islamic ones. Mansour, without being too specific,
is today more than a little reluctant to visit this important Christian
town just south of Jerusalem.
"I would not be willing to take a risk and visit Bethlehem
with my family," he said. "My son took his wife and children
to Bethlehem. I didn't know he was going; if he had asked me beforehand,
I would have advised him not to go."
There was a time when Christianity dominated the Middle Eastern
landscape. The whole area is resplendent with shrines and locations,
but ever since the time of the Crusades, there has never been a
Christian grassroots movement whose aim it was to be close to and
pray at the shrines revered by Christians all over the world. In
so many places in the region, where Christian influences were so
important, it seems that all that is going to be left, if nothing
significant is done in the future, is nostalgia.
^TOP
|
|
