Sneaky That Salama

Vivian Salama (*)

published an item in Newsweek in its January 14, 2008 issue entitled: "The Other Christmas Rush Is Christians Fleeing Arabia".

It's theme?

Christmas is usually a time to celebrate the arrival of Christians in the Holy Land. But this year, as Patriarch Michel Sabbah of the Latin Rite Catholic Church revealed during his Christmas sermon in Bethlehem, local leaders are currently concerned with the opposite phenomenon: exodus.

Her examples?

Last year, dozens of Christians were slain in Iraq and a Syriac Orthodox priest was beheaded in Mosul. Two prominent Christian Palestinians were recently killed in Gaza. A political stalemate in Lebanon and the increased dominance of Shiite Hizbullah has made Maronites fear their traditional perks, like control of the presidency, are slipping. Even in Egypt, where religion has played little role in government, Christians now worry that the increasing popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood could lead to new restrictions.

The numbers?

There are now just 12 million to 15 million Arabic-speaking Christians left in the Middle East, and this could drop to 6 million by 2025. Countries are being transformed: in 1956, Lebanese Christians made up 54 percent of the country; today they're about 30 percent. Iraq's Christian population has fallen from 1.4 million in 1987 to 600,000 today...Fred Strickert of Wartburg College estimates that hundreds of thousands of Christian Arabs have been displaced in the recent years, including half a million from Iraq alone.

And to be fair, she notes:

Christian Arabs emigration isn't new.

But, being very unfair, she writes also

And Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, was 80 percent Christian when Israel won independence in 1948; now it's 16 percent.

But dear Vivian (and her Newsweek editors), of the almost 60 years since Israel was established in 1948, Jordan was the ruler of Bethlehem for 19 years up until 1967 and since 199 , the Palestine Authority has been responsible. So, altogether, quantitatively, Israel can only be blamed for less than 50% of the problem - if indeed the Christians of Bethlehem are left the city due to Israel. Your phrasing left an uneasy implication: Israel is responsible.

But we all know, except those who receive their information from Salama and Newsweek, that the plight of Christians in territories controlled by Arabs referring to themselves as "Palestinians" is particularly acute. After all, she did mention the murders of Christians in Gaza. She didn't mention rapes, thefts, gang violence, petty harassment, forced marriages and more. Some of this I've blogged about previously. Here are other sources for the true story: I; II; and, of course, Justus Weiner's study.

Newsweek was irresponsible in letting that sentence get published.

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(*)
Vivian Salama is completing a masters degree in Arab and Islamic politics (here's an example of her writing and here's another and another on the Israel lobby) at Columbia University. She has written for the Daily Star, Newsweek, USA Today, the International Herald Tribune, the Jerusalem Post and other publications. She has also appeared as a political commentator on the BBC, South African Broadcasting Corp., and as a reporter and commentator for Voice of America radio. Prior to working in the Middle East, she was a producer for WNBC News in New York.

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UPDATE

I sent this letter:-

Vivian Salama's "The Other Christmas Rush" (January 14, 2008), on Christians fleeing Arabia, included a problematic sentence: "Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, was 80 percent Christian when Israel won independence in 1948; now it's 16 percent". The unavoidable implication is that this situation is Israel's fault.

However, of the almost 60 years since Israel was established in 1948, Jordan ruled Bethlehem for 19 years up until 1967 and since the end of 1995, the Palestine Authority has been responsible. Israel, if indeed guilty of anything, can only be blamed for less than 50% of the problem. But the truth is that the Christians, in Bethlehem and elsewhere in PA-controlled areas, suffer from murders, rapes, forced marriages, thefts, gang violence and petty harassment committed by Muslims, not Jews. The Church of the Nativity was invaded and occupied by Muslim terrorists. Israel is the only state in the Middle East in which the Christian Arab population has grown in real terms - from approximately 34,000 in 1948 to 130,000 - and enjoys civil rights.

Have you sent a letter?

editors@newsweek.com