#Yuyutsu

Sending in an armed force to Gaza or the West Bank won't happen.

Maybe sending George Galloway in at the head of a convoy containing representatives from Christian aid organizations would be a better alternative. Of course this would achieve the aim of cleansing Christians from the area which would play into the hands of those who want the Christians out. That would be a travesty of justice.

What is possible - but will also not happen - is a Security Council resolution deploring the killing victimization and continuing persecution of Christians in Egypt,Iraq, Gaza, the West Bank and the denial of their humanitarian rights.

I soon fear Lebanon can be added to this list.

Justice?

What kind of justice is it to allow the Christians, or any other good people for that matter, to rot in the Gazan hell?

One cannot begin to compare the agony of the Christians in Gaza with that of Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon or even the West Bank, so a harsher approach is required there. In the least, those Christians in other Muslim countries are allowed to leave!

Hanieh's strength lies only in public opinion. He is not as brave as Pharaoh, so it won't take ten plagues to convince him to release all Christians: all it would take is a UN Security-Council resoultion authorizing Israel to come in and release them, then he will do as told with tail between his legs.

#Yuyutsu

Dream on.

The Christians living in the west bank are Palestinian. It is their nationality and suffering as an occupied people that is causing them to leave. It is disingenuous to ignore this.

I am sure that the IDF does not check the religion of the locals at check points or when they are facilitating the illegal theft of occupied land.

David, I strongly disagree with much of what you have to say, but I do appreciate that you engage with the discussion threads. However I am sure I mush have misunderstood when you said:

"Jews living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are part of a state sponsored drive led by the Arab League, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to eradicate the Jewish state and its Jewish population in stages."

It seems like you are claiming that the illegal settlements are being driven by the Arab league to eradicate Israel. I do think that they are eradicating a two state solution, but surly you are not saying this a project driven by anything other than the religious right in Israel?

Mickey,

If the reason that the Christians are leaving is that they are Palestinians who suffer under occupation, then why are the Muslims not leaving just as well?

Also, if they so hate the occupation, then why do the Christians leave in droves those areas which are under Palestinian control, but stay in the areas controlled by Israel (such as Eastern Jerusalem)?

Personally, I don't support the Israeli occupation, but note the fact that Palestinian Christians do and dread the day when Israel will withdraw and forsake them to the "mercy" of Muslims (of course they'll never tell you that openly if they want their heads to remain attached to the rest of their bodies).

Yuyutsu,

I just cut and pasted this below from Wikipedia. I know it is a pretty bland reference, but it does seem to effectively counter your point.

I really think if you try to put religion above nationality in this debate then you are missing the big issues. I do agree however that Christian Israelis are probably significantly less disadvantaged by the occupation (I get that is not your point, but I feel it is something we could agree on).

:::::

Both Bethlehem and Nazareth, which were once overwhelmingly Christian, now have Muslim majorities. Today about three-quarters of all Bethlehem Christians live abroad, and more Jerusalem Christians live in Sydney, Australia than in Jerusalem. Christians now comprise 2.5 percent of the population Jerusalem; they comprised around 51% in 1947. Those remaining include a few born in the Old City when Christians there constituted a majority.[19]

In a 2007 letter from Congressman Henry Hyde to President George W. Bush, Hyde stated that "the Christian community is being crushed in the mill of the bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and that expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were "irreversibly damaging the dwindling Christian community".[20][21]

Most Christians in Gaza blame the Israeli occupation pre-2005, the current siege on the city and the war on Gaza 2009 to be the reason for their exodus from Gaza.

::::