Does Islamic fundamentalism play a role in the hostile environment for Christians?
Nobody could sensibly deny that. The environment is such that if a Christian walks down main street in Bethlehem munching on a sandwich during the month of Ramadan, when observant Muslims fast from dawn until dusk, he’ll likely be berated, possibly beaten. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he were arrested and thrown in jail for a couple of days. How many Christians have fled since Oslo? This is one of the hardest things to know. Neither the Christian leadership, which wants to retain some semblance of influence and power, nor the Muslim leadership, which likewise wants to portray itself as friendly towards Christianity and welcoming to Christian pilgrims and tourists, has any interest in revealing what’s going on. Not infrequently a whole family will move. They’ll usually say, “We’re moving for a year” or “We’re moving until so and so graduates high school.” I don’t know if it’s bad luck or if it’s just not in their nature to acknowledge that they’re leaving for good. They may even le
