danivon wrote:

Ray Jay wrote:I think that is all fair, but I don't think you can ignore the fact that the U.K. has a growing Muslim population. It's perfectly normal to feel kinship for those with whom you have a common faith. How can that not influence how you perceive the conflict?

I guess it probably does - not having a faith it's not something that sways me much. Of course, there are Christian Arabs and Palestinians who oppose Israel's occupation and are active in the PLO/Fatah/PA, but that does not seem to motivate many Christians in the West.

In the U.S. most Christians have noticed that in the Middle East the only country that is safe for Christians is Israel

In a 2006 poll of Christians in Bethlehem by the Palestinian Centre for Research and Cultural Dialogue, 90% reported having Muslim friends, 73.3% agreed that the Palestinian Authority treats Christian heritage in the city with respect and 78% attributed the ongoing exodus of Christians from Bethlehem to the Israeli occupation and travel restrictions on the area.

If you need to pretend that the treatment of Christians in Iraq is similar to their treatment in Israel because it conforms to your ideology, go ahead.

In Iraq, Christians numbered about 1,500,000 in 2003, representing just over 5% of the population of the country. They numbered over 1.4 million in 1987 or 8% of the population.[1] After the Iraq War, it was estimated that the number of Christians in Iraq had dropped to less than 450,000 by 2013[2] - with estimates as low as 200,000.[3] Chaldean Catholics form the biggest group among the Christians of Iraq.[

Of course, there are Christian Arabs and Palestinians who oppose Israel's occupation and are active in the PLO/Fatah/PA, but that does not seem to motivate many Christians in the West.

Israel, is not a western democracy in the same way that most western nations are.
Israel is a Jewish State. It does guarantee religious freedom, but if the nature of the Jewish State were threatened demographically how long would those religious freedoms persist?

Up until the invasion of 2003, Iraq had a thriving and protected Christian community.

In 1987, the last Iraqi census counted 1.4 million Christians.[10] They were tolerated under the secular regime of Saddam Hussein, who even made one of them, Tariq Aziz his deputy. However persecution by Saddam Hussein continued against the Christians on an ethnic, cultural and racial level, as the vast majority are Mesopotamian Aramaic speaking Ethnic Assyrians (a.k.a. Chaldo-Assyrians). The Assyrian -Aramaic language and written script was repressed, the giving of Syriac Christian names or Akkadian/Assyro-Babylonian names forbidden (Tariq Aziz real name is Mikhail Yuhanna, for example), and Saddam exploited religious differences between Assyrian denominations such as the Chaldean Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Orthodox and the Ancient Church of the East. Over 2,000 Assyrians were ethnically cleansed from their towns and villages under the al Anfal Campaign of 1988.

Prior to the Gulf War in 1991, Christians numbered one million in Iraq.[5] The Baathist rule under Saddam Hussein kept anti-Christian violence under control but subjected some to "relocation programmes".[5] Under this regime, the predominantly ethnically and linguistically distinct Assyrians were pressured to identify as Arabs.

In 2007, about 3,000 Gazans were Christian, out of the total population of 1.5 million.[35] In 2011 The Christian population of Gaza Strip was less than 1,400. Attacks on Christians and their property are rare,[36] with the notable exception of those on The Teacher's Bookshop. A member of the Catholic faith told The Guardian he was stopped by a Hamas official and told to remove a wooden crucifix he was wearing.[37]

The Islamization of Gaza has put increasing pressure on the tiny Christian minority.[38] Following the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007, Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadia Salafiya, a rival group to Hamas,[39] announced the opening of a "military wing" to enforce Muslim law in Gaza. "I expect our Christian neighbors to understand the new Hamas rule means real changes. They must be ready for Islamic rule if they want to live in peace in Gaza." [40] Sheik Saqer has asserted that there is "no need" for Christians in Gaza to maintain Christian institutions and demanded that Hamas "must work to impose an Islamic rule or it will lose the authority it has and the will of the people."[41]

In October 2007, Rami Khader Ayyad, owner of Gaza's only Christian bookstore, was abducted, beaten and murdered, after his bookstore was firebombed by an unidentified group attacking targets associated with Western influence. According to Ayyad's family and neighbors, he had regularly received anonymous death threats from people angered by his missionary work. Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas in Gaza, condemned Ayyad's killing and said Hamas "would not allow anyone to sabotage Muslim-Christian relations." Hamas officials made visits to Christian community, and its spokesman promised to bring those responsible to justice. No group claimed responsibility for the murder.[35][42][43][44]

Ayyad's funeral was attended by 300 Muslims and Christians. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights stated "This ugly act has no support by any religious group here."[36]

In 2012, a public protest was organized by dozens of Christians who claimed that two Christians were forcibly converted to Islam and were being held against their will. According to two mediators, the two Christians embraced Islam of their own free will. The conversions have the minority Christian population worried, and Huda Al-Amash, the mother of one of the converts, Ramez, stated, "If things remain like this, there'll be no Christians left in Gaza." Gaza's Archbishop Alexious said that the converts should be returned to their families.[45][46]

Yes, but so what. Christians women would have to have 25 babies each to have a majority in Israel in this century. If you are talking about emigration, Israel is no different than Canada. If Canada had an influx of 40 million people of a different ethnic group I'm sure your government would react too

The probelm with annexing the West bank ...

I guess my point is, Ray...you keep insisting the Israelis are taking the "high road".

I notice you quotedthe expulsion of 2,000 Christians as particualrly heinous.

freeman3 wrote:Senior Hamas official admits Hamas involvement in killing of three Israeli teen-agers that led to war in Ghaza.http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5697372