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Christian Empowerment
Council - CEC
Recommendations for
ENP: Israel Programme
Tal E. Ben-Shlomo

Jonathan Elkhoury

Amit Barak

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Introduction
The plight of Christians in the Middle East is a sign that the European Neighbourhood
Policy (ENP) needs to adjust its understanding of minorities in the Middle East, and
to see Christians as a unique minority with special needs. As representatives of the
Christian community in Israel, the Christian Empowerment Council also known as
the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum (CEC-I.C.R.F) can offer the European
External Action Service guidance in how to implement Israels successes with its
Christian minority across the different partner countries, and ideally across the entire
region. The CEC is particularly concerned with the ENPs implementation in the
Palestine programme, as Christians continue to face a range of challenges in regards
to human rights. The CEC I.C.R.F is an NGO registered in Israel, and works to help
Christians of the Middle East via the Emergency Mission for Christians in the Middle
East. The CEC is based in Israel and has a particular focus on Israeli Christians from
all denominations and cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The spiritual leader of the
CEC is Father Gabriel Naddaf, from Nazareth, an Aramean-national Christian from
Israels Christian community.

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Christians in the Middle East

The EU is using an outdated model which sees Israels minority as simply an Arab
bloc (see p.2 of report), neglecting their religious identity. Especially after the Arab
Spring, as new movements spread across the region based on religious rather than parArab identity, the ENP needs to consider new models to understand and protect the
rights of minorities as it prepares for the period 2016-2022.

The 12 million remaining Christians of the Middle East are facing unprecedented
challenges across the region.1 Numbers are likely to dwindle significantly over the
next few years due to persecution and declining birth rates.2 Christians have left Egypt
in the past 30 years under both Islamist and secular regimes3, with churches and
Coptic communities in Egypt coming under particular violent attack4 since the
breakout of the Arab Spring.5 The numbers tell their own story in Iraq, there were
1.5 million Christians in 2003, yet only 300,000 Christians in Iraq today.6 There were
1.1 million Christians in Syria in 2010, yet only 400,000 today.7 Christians have come
under particularly intense persecution by Islamic State in Syria8 and Iraq9, whilst ISIS
terror cells across the region have garnered worldwide headlines with beheadings of
Christians in Libya10 and Iraq.11

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/23/arab-christians-secular-arabs-isis-middleeast-minorities
2
http://www.danielpipes.org/1050/disappearing-christians-in-the-middle-east
3
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11416779/The-Middle-East-is-red-withthe-blood-of-Christians.html
4
http://www.mcndirect.com/showsubject_ar.aspx?id=41553#.VX__dfnt1Bc
5
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19089474
6
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-plight-of-the-middle-easts-christians-1431700075
7
http://www.newsweek.com/2015/04/03/new-exodus-christians-flee-isis-middle-east-316785.html
8
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22270455
9
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraq-christians-persecuted-by-isis-60-minutes/
10
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/19/africa/libya-isis-executions-ethiopian-christians/
11
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2871508/Four-young-Christians-brutally-beheaded-ISISIraq-refusing-convert-Islam-says-Vicar-Baghdad-Canon-Andrew-White.html

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Yet it is not only terrorist groups that are persecuting Christians. In Saudi Arabia,
house churches are regularly raided by the religious police, and converts to

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Christianity risk being killed by their families.12 According to Open Doors, Christians
risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation and even torture in Saudi Arabia.13 A
similar story is true of Iran, where the regime monitors Christians and carries out raids
against churches14, and charges pastors for spreading corruption by sharing their
faith.15 There are several examples available of Christians being prosecuted under
sharia law in Iran,16 and being arrested for practising their religion.17

In the examples of Syria and Libya, both of these countries now fall outside the
bracket for the most part of the ENPs activities. However, the EU is still working
to encourage developments in civil society in Libya, and therefore must make
freedom of religion and respect for the fundamental rights of Christians, as one of its
main aims.18 In the long term, the CEC would be willing to assist the ENP in
encouraging models which lead to greater integration for Christian communities.
Similarly, whilst the EU is working more at a distance with Syria by suspending the
ENP programme there and trying to encourage implementation of the Geneva
Communique19, the EEAS must not forget the Christians still trapped in Syria who
face unique and intense religious discrimination.

Indeed, for the EEAS to insist on greater rights for Christians and to find ways to
protect Christians in the Middle East, is to reflect the will of the EU Parliament.20 It is

12

https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/world-watch-list/saudi-arabia/
http://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/worldwatch/saudi_arabia.php
14
http://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/worldwatch/iran.php
15
http://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/stories/iran_140910.php
16
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2702774/Christian-sentenced-Iranian-judge-lips-burntcigarette-eating-Ramadan.html
17
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper
18
http://eeas.europa.eu/libya/index_en.htm
19
http://eeas.europa.eu/syria/index_en.htm
20
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/03/12/eu-parliament-resolves-to-defendchristians-other-minorities-from-isis/
13

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also worth noting that Poland has offered to absorb 1500 Syrian Christians21, and the
CEC would encourage other EU member states to make similar offers to the

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beleaguered Christians of the Middle East.

The EEAS ought to also call for its partners to consider a similar approach to
Christian minorities to the Israeli model, whereby the state of Israel has its ethnicreligious identity whilst also protecting minority rights and enshrining these in law,
and also allowing all citizens to participate in a healthy and vibrant democracy. In
addition, Israel allows freedom of speech and freedom of worship for its minority
citizens, which contributes to a society in which all can thrive. Israels Central Bureau
of Statistics noted that the Christians achieve particularly well in education.22 The
CEC advocates the EU spreading the Israeli model across the region.

21

http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/55752/20150528/poland-opens-up-safe-haven-forchristian-refugees-from-syria-as-eu-makes-quotas-for-asylum-seekers.htm
22
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4323529,00.html

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Christians in the Palestinian Territories

Christians suffer in the Palestinian Territories due to discrimination. Palestinian law
poses basic problems for Christians given that it is based upon sharia law, which does
not protect Christian land owners and ensures Christians are discriminated against in
taxation and education policies.23 Furthermore, evangelical Christian churches are not
recognised by the Palestinian Authority.24 The Jerusalem Institute of Justice
interviewed several Palestinian Christians in the West Bank, and related evidence of
persecution against the Christian community in a report on Palestinian freedom of
religion.25

There is a tendency in the Western media to lazily blame Israel for the continued
exodus of Christians from Palestinian territories.26 Yet this is to overlook how the
steadily-decreasing population of Christians is linked to internal issues within
Palestinian society.

It is worth also considering the decline of Palestinian Christians in a Muslim-majority

society where Islamism and Salafism are increasing in their scope and confidence,
especially when considering that parallel declines are taking place in neighbouring
countries where jihadism is on the rise (Iraq, Syria, Libya, for example), as discussed
in the previous section.

In the case of the Palestinians, following Israel's handover of Bethlehem to Yasser

Arafat in 1995, the Christian community was repeatedly targeted by the Muslim
majority. Christian business owners were intimidated, their land was stolen, and

23

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2838/palestinians-christians
http://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelical-conference-claims-to-support-both-israel-andpalestine-but-not-all-christians-convinced-115821/
25
http://jij.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Palestinian-Freedom-of-Religion.pdf
26
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/explorer/episodes/last-christians-of-bethlehem/
24

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churches and holy places were attacked and desecrated. At the same time the
Palestinian Authority's redrawing of the municipal boundaries of the city led to a

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dramatic fall in Christian representation in local elections further disempowering the

Christian community. By the end of the first decade of PA rule, the number of
Bethlehems Christians had dwindled by two-thirds. The plight of Bethlehems
Christians continues to worsen, and is not helped by prominent international Christian
voices refusing to blame Islamists for the suffering of Christians.27

The Wall Street Journal has reported on attacks and intimidation against Christians in
Gaza, and reported that Christian shops and schools in Gaza had been firebombed.28
Christian pastor Rami Ayyad was murdered in Gaza in 200729, which has contributed
to a climate of intimidation and fear for Palestinian Christians.

In addition, churches are not afforded respect by Palestinian militant terrorists, who
used the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in a makeshift base for their activities,
during clashes in and around Bethlehem in 2002.30 In a similar vein, Gazas most
prominent Christian leader Archbishop Alexis told in 2014 of how his church was
used as a launching base for jihadist rocket attacks on Israel during the summer
conflict.31

The ENP needs to improve its understanding of the dynamics within Palestinian
society. In its Progress Report Implementation of European Neighbourhood Policy in
Palestine32, the report makes reference to the political representation of Christians at
political level, but this does not necessarily correlate to proper treatment of
Christians as a minority. The closest that the Progress Report came to recognising

27

http://nypost.com/2009/12/23/bethlehems-exodus/
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704304504574610022765965390
29
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2007/October/Gaza-Bible-Society-Worker-Murdered/
30
http://philosproject.org/the-siege-play-glorifies-terrorism-in-britain/
31
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2014/august/gaza-bishop-hamas-used-church-to-firerockets-/
32
http://eeas.europa.eu/enp/pdf/2015/palestine-enp-report-2015_en.pdf
28

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persecution of Christians is a mention in the report that many Christians, along with
secular Muslims, complained of an increasing trend in Palestinian society advocating

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conservative Islamic values, especially in Gaza. Yet this is disappointing as the

actual persecution of Christians here is only hinted at. Significantly, there is no call
from the ENP for the PA to improve its treatment of its Christian minority.

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Christians in Israel
Christians in Israel have full religious freedoms, and are able to participate fully in
Israeli democracy. The population of Jerusalem has increased from under 12,000
when Israel took control of the city in 196733 to 14,000 today.34 Within Israeli society,
Christians continue to grow in numbers. Indeed, the Christian population has more
than quadrupled from 34,000 at the time of Israels independence, to 160,900 today35.
There are many positive lessons that the region could learn from Israel's treatment of
its Christian community, and we hope this will be possible in the future. In addition,
Israel has recently welcomed the Pope to visit,36 and maintains relationships with
church leaders in the Holy Land.

Acts of discrimination carried out against the Christian population in Israel are
infrequent, and they are condemned at the highest level.37 Many Christians in Israel
identify with the Aramean nationality, which has recently been recognised by the state
of Israel38. Many Christians are Israelis from the former Soviet Union and most are
Arabic-speaking Christians. Christians are full citizens of Israel, and more and more
are joining the Israel Defence Forces and the Civil Service (voluntarily), with a yearon-year increase.39

33

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Os3pePtpyUwC&pg=PA78&dq=christian+population+jerusale
m+1967&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tr0vVdz0GsWJ7QbV6ICoCA&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=christian
%20population%20jerusalem%201967&f=false
34
http://jerusalem.com/articles/jerusalem/population_of_jerusalem-a840
35
http://www.cbs.gov.il/reader/shnaton/templ_shnaton.html?num_tab=st02_02&CYear=2014There
36
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/10857451/In-pictures-Pope-Francis-visitsIsrael-at-end-of-his-Middle-East-trip.html
37
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Netanyahu-Attack-on-church-is-an-attack-on-all-of-us-406487
38
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2014/September/Thousands-of-Israeli-Arabs-NowDesignated-Arameans/
39
http://time.com/15479/israeli-army-christian-arabs/

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Along with the CECs support for Christian communities, the CEC is active in
assisting Israel in further strengthening the states relationship with Christians by

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sending recommendations to the government, producing research on extremism, and

assisting the Education Ministry with educational material about Christians in Israel,
and the values of tolerance and coexistence in this context.

Father Gabriel Naddaf is a Greek Orthodox priest and leader of the Christian
Empowerment Council. Because of his support for the integration of Christians into
the Israeli mainstream society, he has been opposed and harassed, put in fear of his
life by Israeli Arab MKs, and members of Balad, Communists and Islamic
extremists. The ENP ought to be supportive of leaders like Father Naddaf, yet Father
Gabriel Naddaf requested a meeting with the EU ambassador to Israel, and this
request has not been addressed.

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How the ENP could improve

Yet the ENP should be encouraging and co-operating with organisations such as the
CEC and others who work for the rights of Christians across the Middle East, looking
to Israel as a template for religious pluralism in a state which has a dominant religious
identity (Jewish in Israels case, but Muslim across the Middle East). The ENP could
engage in dialogue with the CEC to work for the benefit of Christians across the
region.

The ENP ought to have a greater focus on Israel as a religiously diverse country. The
ENP seeks to encourage Israel to improve minority rights, and in the 2014 progress
report the ENP makes reference to the Arab minority and to the Bedouin minority.
The Christian Empowerment Council (CEC) would encourage the ENP to speak not
just of ethnic and cultural minorities within Israel, but also to religious minorities,
with a particular focus on Israels Christian minority. Yet rather than support Israels
Christians in tangible ways, and lobby for greater rights for Palestinian Christians, the
EU prefers to invest in Christian charities from Europe that are explicitly anti-Israel.
Indeed, the CEC is disappointed that European states provide funding for anti-Israel
Christian and church NGOs operating to undermine the Jewish state.

For example, the EU and Sweden provide funding for Swedish church charity
Diakonia. Yet Diakonia partners with organisations in our region which are hostile to
Israel and promote boycotts of Israel40. Another example is Trocaire, the Irish
Catholic NGO which receives EU funding, yet calls on the EU to suspend trade with
Israel.41 The EU entered into the European Neighbourhood Policy with Israel, seeking

40

http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/diakonia
http://www.ngomonitor.org/article/tr_caire_misdirected_catholic_aid_from_ireland_fuels_conflict_
41

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to strengthen Israels prosperity, stability and security42. If the EU is sincere in this

goal, then it ought to take steps to ensure that neither the EU nor its member states are

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funding organisations which seek to undermine Israels prosperity, stability and

security, thus working against the interests of the ENP.
As evident in the ENPs Progress report for Israel, the EU mistakenly see the nonJewish minority in Israel as homogenous group Arabs in Israel (or Palestinians
in Israel), and is not sensitive to the complexities and differences that exists in this
sector. The EU ignores the different needs, concerns and priorities of the many groups
that comprise it. The EU should work for better integration of Israeli minorities, under
Israels founding values.

It is counter-productive for the ENP goals to support those who reject the integration
of the Christian minority in Israel, and support groups that reject this, while Christians
who decided to undergo this suffer from violence, which is not even addressed by the
EU.
Israels relationship with the EU must be undergirded by a consistent attitude from the
EU towards Israel, which provides a foundation which can be built upon. For
example, the ENP Progress Report this year paid tribute to the strength Israels
democracy.

The ENP makes reference to the need for Israel to ensure minorities are protected, yet
the ENP can also encourage greater harmony and therefore stability, security and
prosperity in Israel by working against incitement from the Palestinian Authority
against Israel, and working to align the Palestinian treatment of Christians with that of
Israel.

42

http://eeas.europa.eu/enp/about-us/index_en.htm

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The CEC stands ready to assist the ENP in this vital project.

Contact:
Amit@cecisrael.org
+972-(0)55-6611685

580581151 ) ("

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