Source:         www.assistnews.net

Date:             June 20, 2007

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (ANS) -- Christians in the Gaza Strip are waiting to see what the Hamas takeover means for them.

This was revealed in a story written by Julie Stahl, Jerusalem Bureau Chief of The Cybercast News Service (www.cnsnews.com.) 

Hamas fighter in Gaza City (Photo from the BBC)

"Over the weekend, crosses, Bibles and pictures of Jesus were destroyed in an attack on a church and a Christian school in the Gaza Strip," she wrote. "The question now is whether such anti-Christian violence will spread in an area ruled by militant's intent on establishing an Islamic state.

"But Monsignor Manual Musallam, priest of the Latin Church, whose parish has authority over the Rosary Sisters School, said the violence was not an 'official persecution' of Christians, but rather the work of troublemakers who want to create tensions between Muslims and Christians.

"The Muslims and the Christians are all Palestinians, he said."

Julie Stahl's story went on to say, "Hamas officials and other Muslims offered their sympathies following the attack, and the Hamas government in Gaza has promised to repair the damage, Musallam said.

"Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned the attack and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah faction blamed a Hamas militia for the 'barbaric' attack.

"The Christian community in the Gaza Strip numbers about 2,000 out of a population of more than a million Palestinians. This is not the first time it's been a target.

"In April, a bomb extensively damaged the Gaza Bible Society. An Islamic extremist group was blamed for the attack. The same group also attacked Internet cafes and music stores in a blow at the influence of Western culture.

"Last year the Bible Society was attacked with pipe bombs, and pamphlets were left at the site threatening the landlord for dealing with "infidels." The attack was blamed on a small Islamic fringe group and Hamas offered protection to the Christians.

"Bible Society officials said there has not been any problem there since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip last week."

Limited freedom

Pastor Hanna Massad of the Gaza Baptist Church (Photo from the BBC)

Julie Stahl said that Pastor Hanna Massad of the Gaza Baptist Church was cautious.

"We are very concerned," he said. "Most people here are still in shock. They are watching and waiting to see what will happen."

On the other hand, said Massad, the situation in the Gaza Strip is calmer now and there is a feeling of security because there are not so many guns on the streets.

On Sunday, Massad, who has about 150 members in his congregation, was able to hold services again. But the previous week, when Hamas and Fatah began fighting in earnest, his sermon was interrupted by heavy gunfire outside, Massad told Cybercast News Service by telephone.

The difficulties have affected everyone, he said. A church member was lightly wounded by shrapnel when an RPG hit his apartment. In another Christian community an apartment was bombed, he said.

The story concluded with the following: "The P.A. police, associated with Fatah, took over the roof of the church building several times as a lookout point because it is located near the police station. When the church refused to allow them to use the sixth-floor sanctuary, they broke in and used it anyway.

"After the fighting, Massad returned to the church, to discover that some $4,000 worth of equipment, including a computer had been stolen from the church.

"Hamas is not opposed to Christian worship, said Massad. Christians want to live their faith, he said, but he admitted that they don't have "full freedom" in the Gaza Strip.

"Musallam painted a picture of peaceful co-existence between the Christians and Muslims in Gaza but indicated that Christians do not feel free to speak about their faith.

"When the Muslims speak about Jesus and Mary, it is with 'high respect.' And the Christians are 'very wise' in how they speak about the Koran, he said.

"According to Musallam, there are three Catholic schools in the Gaza Strip, which enroll about 1200 students. Only about 150 of the students are Catholic and the rest are Muslims, he said, including the children of a number of senior Hamas and Fatah officials.

"They are looking for a good school and good education for their children and those schools offer the best, said Musallam.

"The children are separated for their religion classes according to their faith."

Note: Dan Wooding has reported twice from Gaza and has interviewed a top leader of Hamas there and also several Christian leaders.