Smoke, but no fire?

International | Evangelical group says it can find no Christian persecution in Palestinian-controlled areas in the Middle East | Mindy Belz

Arab Christians living in the areas contested by the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority are often viewed as deadwood, unwelcome third parties to territorial negotiations that pit a Jewish government against the predominantly Muslim Palestinians.

The Christians now make up less than five percent of more than 2 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and reports of persecution by Muslim forces persist-but a new study questions that assumption: "Systematic persecution of Christians by the Palestinian Authority cannot be substantiated," concluded a group of 14 evangelical scholars, journalists, and international ministry leaders who recently completed a two-week fact-finding trip to the disputed territories of West Bank and Gaza, and to Israel.

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