[link removed]

In this mailing:
* Bassam Tawil: Christians Prefer Living in Israel, Not the Palestinian Authority
* Daniel Greenfield: This Was Not the Actual Iranian Attack


** Christians Prefer Living in Israel, Not the Palestinian Authority ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

by Bassam Tawil • April 16, 2024 at 5:00 am
* Among the top 50 countries in which Christians were persecuted in 2023 were Yemen, Libya, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco, Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, and other Middle Eastern and Muslim-majority countries. Israel, needless to say, was not on the list.
* Despite these disturbing statistics, US television personality Tucker Carlson, in his interview with the Bethlehem pastor, chose to single out Israel, the only country where Christians feel safe and where their number is increasing every year. Carlson did not bother to ask the pastor about the persecuted Christians of Egypt.
* Carlson chose to interview Isaac, who has long history of promoting falsehoods about Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict in his roles as pastor, academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College (a self-identified "Palestinian Christian Evangelical university college" that promotes a "Palestinian Christian theology"), and director of the "Christ at the Checkpoint" conferences -- the infamous venue where anti-Israel libels are proclaimed in the name of Christian love, justice and peace.
* "[T]hose of us who track these things know that Munther Isaac has long been the high priest of antisemitic Christianity; sadly, he spreads his hate from the city of Jesus' birth." — Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, jewishinsider.com, April 11, 2024.
* "We have a mafia here that is seizing Christian-owned lands. I protested against this Muslim mafia, and I even called a large gathering. I invited 80 people to my home. That same night, fliers were distributed in Bethlehem threatening to kill me. Of course, I am worried about the future of Christians here. Looking at the facts on the ground, you can see that there is no future for the Christians here. We are melting; we are disappearing. I fear the day will come when our churches will become museums. That is my nightmare." — Samir Qumsieh, prominent Christian leader near Bethlehem, to Gatestone, April 2024.

Since the Palestinian Authority (PA) assumed control of Bethlehem in 1995, the Christian share of the population has dropped from 65% to only 12% today. By contrast, the Christian population in Israel has been on the rise in recent years. "Most of us 180k Christian Israelis prefer to live under Israel freely rather than under a Palestinian Islamic Authority regime controlling Bethlehem. Israel gives us freedom while living under Arabs has been genocidal for Christians all across the Middle East," says Shadi Khalloul, a Christian Maronite who describes himself as a "patriotic Israeli." Pictured: PA policemen stand in Manger Square, Bethlehem, in front of the Church of the Nativity. (Image source: iStock)

On the same day that US television personality Tucker Carlson interviewed a pastor from Bethlehem who falsely accused Israel of mistreating Christians, Israel's University of Haifa announced the appointment of Professor Mona Maron as Rector. A Maronite Christian from the village of Isfiya, near Haifa, Maron has been a trailblazer for the integration and advancement of women in the sciences, particularly within the Arab community. She was the first Arab woman from her village to earn a doctoral degree and Israel's first Arab professor of neuroscience.

"I am grateful for the trust I received from the members of the University senate and look forward to taking up the position," Maron said.

"First and foremost, the University of Haifa is a home for me. A home that welcomed me into its ranks more than 30 years ago, as an undergraduate student, then as a faculty member in the neurobiology department and now with the Rector's role."

Continue Reading Article ([link removed])


** This Was Not the Actual Iranian Attack ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

by Daniel Greenfield • April 16, 2024 at 4:00 am
* This was the "attack" prearranged for show between Iran and the Biden administration through backchannels.
* It's an attack that allows Iran to show off that it can reach Israel (look at those lights over the Temple Mount), while not inflicting any real damage.
* [H]ad Iran actually been trying to launch a serious attack, it would have used its Hezbollah, Houthi, Iraqi and whatever is left of its Hamas proxies to saturate local air defenses.
* Iran will do things beyond this light show, which was largely meant to reassure the Biden administration that its "diplomatic tools" have successfully solved the problem. That's an illusion that Iran has used to allow it to build up its nuclear weapons program....
* It also learned under Obama that its greatest defense is convincing D.C. elites that diplomacy will successfully deescalate any conflicts with the regime.

The Biden administration has already made it clear that it will oppose any Israeli response to the Iranian missile and drone attack. There will be public condemnations and warnings about escalating the conflict further. Pictured: Ballistic missiles, launched from Iran, descend from Israel's skies and are intercepted by missile-defense systems, photographed from Hebron on April 14, 2024. (Photo by AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images)

This was not the actual Iranian attack.

This was the "attack" prearranged for show between Iran and the Biden administration through backchannels.

It's an attack that allows Iran to show off that it can reach Israel (look at those lights over the Temple Mount), while not inflicting any real damage.

The Biden administration has already made it clear that it will oppose any Israeli response. There will be public condemnations and warnings about escalating the conflict further.

So does that mean it's over? No.

Iran did burn up some resources doing this, but apart from the morale boost of doing it, it set out to test U.S. and Israeli defenses. And the defenses did what they were supposed to.

However, had Iran actually been trying to launch a serious attack, it would have used its Hezbollah, Houthi, Iraqi and whatever is left of its Hamas proxies to saturate local air defenses.

Continue Reading Article ([link removed])

============================================================
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** RSS ([link removed])
** Donate ([link removed])
Copyright © Gatestone Institute, All rights reserved.

You are subscribed to this list as [email protected]

You can change how you receive these emails:
** Update your subscription preferences ([link removed])
or ** Unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])

** Gatestone Institute ([link removed])

14 East 60 St., Suite 705, New York, NY 10022