An Israeli border officer grabs a Palestinian man as police attempt to stop a non-violent protest by Christians and Muslims in the West Bank village of Beit Jalla March 7. The demonstration took place as Israel was clearing olive trees, a source of income for Palestinians, to make way for an extension of the Israeli separation barrier.
An Israeli border officer grabs a Palestinian man as police attempt to stop a non-violent protest by Christians and Muslims in the West Bank village of Beit Jalla March 7. The demonstration took place as Israel was clearing olive trees, a source of income for Palestinians, to make way for an extension of the Israeli separation barrier. CNS photo/Debbie Hill

Jewish scholar predicts dark times for Palestinian Christians

By 
  • June 16, 2013

Updated 06/18/13: A previous version of this article contained an error. Justus Weiner does not practise law with the U.S. firm White and Case.

 

It’s not hard to find Christians willing to predict a dire future for Christians in the Middle East. Jewish legal scholar Justus Weiner arrived in Canada to echo that bleak forecast for Palestinian Christians from an Israeli perspective in front of the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights in Ottawa June 4.

“If nothing is done, I predict in 10 or 15 years there will be no Christian presence (in the Palestinian Territories),” Weiner told a separate gathering in Toronto. “If there is a Christian presence it will be a few families selling trinkets and souvenirs.”

The situation of Christian Palestinians has gotten worse since the Arab Spring and will get worse again if Palestinians achieve statehood, Weiner said. The draft constitution for Palestine envisions Islam as the official religion and sharia law as the source of all legislation.

Weiner rejects the suggestion an independent Palestinian state with a seat at the United Nations could be held accountable to international human rights standards, including freedom of religion. Islamic states simply don’t pay attention to human rights law, he said.

“Other states in the region are nominally Muslim. Often times they don’t observe anything,” he said. “If you look around the region, states are horribly disingenuous… They’re just doing what’s expedient.”

In Weiner’s view, the solution to discrimination that Palestinian Christians experience at the hands of the Muslim majority is to create more economic opportunities to give educated young Christians a reason to stay.

“It’s basic, simple economic reality. If they’re not going to find employment they’re not going to stay,” he said.

Weiner’s appearances in Canada were sponsored by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, a pro- Israel lobby group, and the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem – a Evangelical Christian zionist organization. Both groups oppose statehood for Palestine for the foreseeable future.

In the Vatican’s view, a two-state solution is urgently needed and an obligation the international community took on when the United Nations voted to create Israel in 1947.

In a 2009 visit to the region Pope Benedict XVI linked the two-state solution to lasting peace and justice.

“Let the two-state solution become a reality, not remain a dream,” said the Pope.

Weiner is a scholar-in-residence at the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs.

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