And disregard Genesis 12:3: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

The Christian west should do much more to support the indigenous Christian arab community in the holy land (in both Israel proper or the palestinain areas). Much needs to be done, not only in housing, but in job creation, education, building of Christian institutions, etc. A continued thriving Christian presence should be assured, otherwise we risk having our holy sites becoming more like museums for tourists to visit with no local community to worship and protect.

Christian Arabs support ending the occupation and are against violence and killing of innocent civilian be them israelis or palestinians

The article correctly says: Issa said the free-falling Christian population could have a direct effect on the perception of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "If Israel forced Christians to leave the country, it would cause a problem with the West, but if they emigrate by choice, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will look like a Muslim-Jewish conflict," he said. Of course, Israel is _not_ forcing Christians to leave. Christians enjoy more safety and more rights than afforded in any other country in the Middle East. They are choosing to leave, often because of pressure from their Muslim neighbors to either convert to Islam or leave. And that does indeed show the nature of the conflict in Israel.

If Yahuwshuah Messiah (Christ) had wanted Palestine for the Arabs then why was he born a Yahuwde (Jew) in Bethlehem, which was Jewish? The church needs to get this straight; Israel was promised to the Jews and Jerusalem according to the Bible is a set apart place by YHWH in Israel (Ezra 1:3, 1 Kings 11:36, 2Kings 21:4). The more the churches back the Arab claims to Yahrushalayim the more they are going against YHWH and the word of God (יהוה, ELOAH, EL SHADDAI, YAH, etc.); Genesis 17:21, Exodus 6:4, Jeremiah 31. But what can you say of churches that have even changed the reality of the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8 Isaiah 24:5) which is a commandment and have changed it to Sunday? If the Christian Churches back the wrong side on the Yahrushalayim (ZION) issue then they better be ready to go against YHWH himself (Isaiah 34:8, Joel 3:17, Zechariah 12:9). Palestine is a part of Yahudah (Judah) and its’ name was given by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in resentment towards the Yahudim (Jews). Any Christian that believes in the hoax that Israel is occupying Palestine should study history and reconsider for YHWH clearly stated that He would bring the remnant back into Israel (Amos 9:15), that has happened and the time is near (Luke 21:29-30, Matthew 24:32, Mark 13:28). If a Palestinian believes in Christ that is a good thing, but they should recognize that the land they are in was promised to the Jews according to the Bible. Maybe they are leaving because they have come to realize this fact.

the christians must support the state of israel and its control over judea and samaria which is the so called west bank and jerusalem as all these territories belong to the jewish people and the christians must support israel in that and bless the jewish people as it is written in genesis shalom

of the Jewish land of Israel. Arabs own 99.9% of the MIddle Eastern landmass. The Jews barely own 0.1% and if is not enough they also own a good portion of Jewish Israel still demanding more and more land. The Greek Orthodox which in Israel none other than Arabs own the prime real estate in Israel. Even the Israeli Knesset is sitting on the land owned by the Greek Orthodox who in Israel are mostly Palestinian Arab. You are insatiable and want more and more at the expense of the Jewish citizens of Israel.

You mentioned the pressure to convert to Islam? You have experienced this while there? I would like to speak with you....

the christians must support the state of israel and its control over judea and samaria which is the so called west bank and jerusalem as all these territories belong to the jewish people and the christians must support israel in that and bless the jewish people as it is written in genesis shalom

TheCatholic Caritas Agency and dozens and dozens of other Christian orginizations pour money into the Christian families to the point they no longer have the will to even work add to this the Christians that sell their properties to Moslems for millions of dollars in the Christian Quarter and you get a very different picture.A prominent Christian Catholic family just sold its restaurant in the Fountain Bazzar to Moselems for millions of dollars nothing is black or white as appears in the article certainly the Patriach knows this.

Seems to me that the main point missed in the talkbacks was that the Christian Flight from Jerusalem has been in MUSLIM controled areas!!! We know that Jihad has been enforced against Christians in ALL other areas under direct control of the P.A. and Bethlehem is a case in point. Once the P.A. gets rid of those Xians between them and the Jews, then it will be that less trouble to get to the rest of those Jews.

The Holy Land does not belong to "one group". My Lord and Savior lived, was crucified and rose from the dead in the Holy Land. My husband visited Israel as a pilgrim and was treated with contempt by some Israeli soldiers when he asked for directions while in Jerusalem.

Your answer Rami, is exactly why I wouldn't send a dime. I have no interest in supporting the faux state of Palestine. Jews are not "occupying" anything but their own ancestral homeland.

It's common knowledge Pam that Muslims routinely harrass both Jews and Christians to "revert"..That's the goal for the ummah, for all religion to be for allah..Israel is a huge affront to Islam, until it's destroyed and it's people either converted or dead...What we see there won't change so long as Israel chooses to reject Islam...

Well said, fad of Egypt. I have always done my best in supporting Israel and their Jewish people. Now correct me if I'm wrong but, my Bible states that the jews ARE the chosen people... and YES, they ARE the CHOSEN OF THE LORD GOD. it's long overdue time that the arabs got their facts right and understood that THEY are the INTERLOPERS IN GOD'S LAND and with His love for His people, the JEWS, he gave them Israel as their HOME FOREVER. The arabs are truly a people with their heads stuck in a false nightmare story of their religion (against God) is correct. It isn't and it NEVER WILL BE¨. Get out arabs and return to the deserts from all over the world.

Latin Patriarch do not rappresents Chatolics,but only himself and his ignorance of Holy Bible...He is the worse anti-semitic priest after WW2 and for anti-semitism he shold be kicked off of Israel

A couple of points: 1) Historical/Biblical Palestine was Jewish. The so called "Palestinians" today are 100% Arab. Therein lies a lot of confusion to most people. Arabs have no right to Jewish land ... get it? They already have over 99.96% of Middle East land from N. Africa to NW Africa to Western Asia and all the rich ME oil deposits. 2) Christians (esp. the Evangelical Movement) are the biggest supporters of Israel and its right to exist in its HISTORICAL land. 3) Christians are also ZIONISTS, not because Christians want Jewish land, but because Christians want Jews to be on the land God gave them. 4) Zionism is God's invention. Don't mess with God! 5) Unlike Muslims, Christians don't demand land that is Jewish. And all of Israel (and a bit more) is Jewish. Again, don't argue with God ... He will have the last word! 6) Christianity came 600 years before Islam. Christianity was founded by a Jewish Rabbi. Christianity now is the largest religion in the world and the reason the world is more civilized than not. ok I've made my points, you all can extrapolate ...

I have not had the opportunity to visit the Promised Land. The closest I got was hearing the report of a Christian missionary to the Palestinians. One of the things she said was that one of the people who became a Chrsitian as a result of their ministry came home to find written in Arabic across his door that he was now marked for death for leaving Islam. Christine at #14 is quite correct; the imperative of Islam to force either the conversion, the enslavement or the murder of non-Muslims is as alive and well in the Sharia state that is Gaza as well as in the Islamic proto-state that is the PA. In fact cleansing the Jews from the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea is taught in the PA schools as an imperative of Islam, according to a US govt paper on education in the PA. I can do some research and give you sources later, but the source for my statement at #4 was the Jewish Virtual Library. Since the Jewish Virtual Library might be considered biased, I took a few moments for a quick visit to some sites Google pulled up. They included a State Dept paper on religious issues in Israel, as well as a NY Times article. Given that neither the State Dept nor the NY Times can be considered "Zionist" by any means, this itself is telling. I am at times painfully shy in RL, however, I am clicking "show my email", in case you would like to correspond. For now, Shalom and enjoy the beautiful weather!

what your husband’s attitude was when he approached the soldiers Maybe, just maybe, he approached them with a snooty American way of looking down on what he considered to be foreigners ? If, he approached them with the same attitude you're displaying here, he probably had it coming to him Next time, he can use a tourist guide and spend a couple of shekels on a map, they’re soldiers, not tourist guides American’s have the same problems in a lot of countries they visit, looking down on the natives from on high

You state :” he was now marked for death for leaving Islam.” IF leaving a religion (i.e. Islam) results in death as punishment -- that will mean that that ‘religion’ SHOULD NOT be called a religion , that ‘religion’ CAN NOT be called a religion. That ‘religion’ should be called more aptly a mafia-group, a club of gangsters, a terror group. And thus, such a ‘religion’ is lead by gangsters, by terrorists.