Christianity in Israel is Under Threat! Or is It?

A misleading article in Newsweek states, “Israel condemned for threatening future of Christianity in the Holy Land.”

The article goes on to claim:

Church leaders in Jerusalem have accused Israel of undermining Christianity in the Holy Land and weakening the faith at a time of severe tensions in the Middle East.

To be sure the accusation is sensationalistic, but within Israel it’s well understood that the statement is a specific objection to a complex estate transaction. Yet without proper context, an international Newsweek reader might very well believe that Israel is massacring Christian people and utterly extinguishing Christian history as is indeed happening throughout the Middle East, at the hands of Islamic State and others.

Israeli Christians are thriving.

In contrast to Newsweek’s misleading drama, Israel is actually the only Middle Eastern country where Christian populations are safe, thriving and growing.

Father Gabriel Naddaf of Nazareth explains to the United Nations:

Do you know that over the past years some 100,000 Christians have been killed annually? … If we look at the Middle East, Mr. President, we realize there’s only one safe place where Christians are not persecuted. One place where they are protected, enjoying freedom of worship and expression, living in peace and not subjected to killing and genocide. It is Israel, the country I live in. The Jewish state is the only place where the Christians of the Holy Land live in safety.

Newsweek included none of this context.

So what is Newsweek talking about?

Newsweek is talking about a complex real estate dispute involving the buying and selling of land by churches and church related groups.

A group of Palestinians who live in apartment buildings on some of the land in question are suing the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate for allegedly selling property to Israelis, which their lawyer describes as “selling land to the enemy.” (Under Palestinian law selling land to Israelis is punishable by hard labor or “humiliating death.”) Meanwhile, some Christian groups are opposing the sale on the grounds that the deal may be related to corruption.

The details get more complex the more one digs into the story, but here’s what’s important: the dispute does not involve the destruction of any actual churches nor the forcible taking of any lands from their owners. No Christians or Christian communities have been harmed, killed or threatened in any way.

And Israel is still the only country in the Middle East where Christians are free, safe and thriving.

In a competitive news world it is understandable that journalists and headline writers often reach for drama. But doesn’t implying a non-existent assault against Christians in the only Middle Eastern country where they’re actually safe, cross a certain line?

Food for thought: If you were the editor, how would you have written this article and its headline? Tell Newsweek in their comments section by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the article.

Featured image: CC0 MaxPixel;