Christians in the Arab World
FRANK, M. Z.
Christians in the Arab World Copts in Egypt and Maronites in Lebanon are being intimidated by Moslem rulers By M. Z. FrankWhile the world devotes its attention to Arab-world revolutions and...
...If we are thrown out of the land of our forefathers, Egypt, would Israel let us take refuge in the Sinai desert of our land...
...Moreover, without the financial assistance coming from Lebanese-Americans, the Maronites in Lebanon would be even worse off than they are...
...Similarly, Nablus [now part of Jordan and formerly the center of Arab opposition to Palestine Jews] would like to do the same to us as non-Moslems...
...Although one might think otherwise, judging by the speeches of Dr...
...Charles Malik, Lebanese delegate to the United Nations, this sentiment of mutual interest and sympathy is not dead...
...It continues with the fantastic explanation that everyone considers the irrigation project a conspiracy to help Israel...
...This was the only way she could buy some little measure of safety...
...To this day, they maintain the Coptic language, derived from ancient Egyptian with strong Greek influences, in their liturgy...
...said in an editorial designed to fire its readers: "Your churches are closed and the faithful are driven out after being insulted and beaten Your children's teachers insult their Christian religion Christian boys and girls are kidnaped and coerced to embrace Islam by diabolical means Christians cannot be civil-service employes, and they cannot even be employed in industrial companies founded by Christians with Christian capital...
...These groups, combined with the Maronites, give the Christians a slim majority in the country...
...Churchill thought of forming a federation of two slates on the Mediterranean littoral: Jewish Palestine and Christian Lebanon...
...The Maronite Church is a national institution, and its patriarch has always been a national as well as a religious leader...
...In Egypt, the Copts are suffering most from this situation...
...Although some of their rites (like the spring festival, Mahrajan) are Christianized versions of old Phoenician festivals, they are united to the Vatican and recognize the Pope's authority...
...Christians in the Arab World Copts in Egypt and Maronites in Lebanon are being intimidated by Moslem rulers By M. Z. FrankWhile the world devotes its attention to Arab-world revolutions and increased Arab-Israel tension, a serious conflict is being waged in the Middle East between Christians and Moslems...
...Under General Naguib, there are no Copts in high Government positions...
...But American officials in charge of technical assistance to Lebanon decided to begin a project in the Moslem belt, in the southern part of the country that borders on Israel...
...Their position is further strengthened by the fact that Lebanon accommodates Moslem non-conformists, e.g...
...In the Assembly of the United Nations, Lebanon's representative, in spite of his duty to God and country, participated in the designation of Lebanon as an Arab state and is devoting most of his time and efforts to the welfare of the Arab states, while drawing his salary from the Lebanese treasury (two-thirds of which comes from Christian residents and emigrants) ." Strange as it may seem, very little information about this Christian-Moslem struggle in Lebanon, and everywhere else in the Arab world, has penetrated the American press...
...Very little has been done on the project, however...
...In this same weekly, on February 19, 1951, Al-Qumos Sergius, a dean of the Coptic Church, hinted that the Copts might find salvation by uniting with Israel...
...The Christian-Moslem struggle, though, has been brought into sharp focus by Maronites living in America...
...After World War I. France assumed the League of Nations mandate over Syria and Lebanon...
...Catholics and Protestants...
...Thus, A. Richard, General Director of Friends of Lebanon, a society of Christian Lebanese in New Mexico, can Journal: "In May 1953, the Moslem Society in Beirut held a big meeting at which they demanded that the Constitution be modified and that Christians not be allowed to display any of the emblems of their faith...
...Strengthened by the fact that the West treats them as the dominant force, Moslems are making life extremely difficult if not almost impossible --for their Christian brethren...
...They, as Christians, were being pushed by Damascus into the Mediterranean...
...If this kind of reporting continues, and Americans are made aware of the true situation in the Middle East, the West may adopt a more realistic attitude toward the Arab world...
...The Moslem-Christian struggle, and the West's poor policy, is also clearly defined by the manner in which Point Four funds are being used...
...The Lebanese, more Western-minded than any other Arabic-speaking people, were relatively happy with their autonomy under French rule...
...The only noticeable exception is Harry Ellis of the Christian Science Monitor, who has begun to discover the real issues in Lebanon's complex political situation...
...At the same time, the President of Lebanon was making a friendly tour of the Arab states, urging their unification with Lebanon for military purposes...
...What is more, they insist that Maronite nationalists and other Christians do not want the Moslems to be in a position where they can tip the delicate scale of majority-minority relations...
...In his book, The Near East Between East and West, Dr...
...And Chaim Weizmann, speaking to a group of Zionist leaders in New York on July 3, 1941, said that" there was a coincidence of interests in many respects between the Lebanese and ourselves...
...Since the seventh century...
...During World War II, however, when the British, with American help, ousted the French from Syria and Lebanon, the Lebanese again found themselves in the menacing atmosphere of a pan-Arab policy encouraged by the West...
...The Maronites live in the well-watered but poorly irrigated hills of Lebanon...
...The Maronites are the largest single group in the country, numbering 450,000 in a total population of approximately 1,250,000...
...For a while...
...Correspondents in Beirut seem to believe the pro-Arab protestations of Lebanon's Christian President, Camille Chamoun...
...But the fact is that Moslem landowners do not want it because it will destroy their feudal system...
...Unfortunately, though, it has never been translated into policy...
...the Metwalis and Druses...
...Though they generally are more literate than Moslems, percentagewise they receive fewer public offices...
...In their little businesses, they are subjected to excessive taxation . . There is nothing that can lighten their sufferings in prison except conversion to Islam . . . Radio broadcasting is forbidden to you and your religion...
...Lebanon's inaccessible hills and valleys have been a refuge for Christians fleeing persecution and forced Islamization...
...With the return of Pan-Islamic fanaticism, however, the Copts were subjected to persecution...
...And it was only during the nationalist resurgence under Zaghloul Pasha, who had a Copt as one of his closest associates, that Coptic youth adopted Arabic...
...Greek Orthodox...
...Probably they think the Maronites are happy that their capital is the focus of a movement which seeks to reduce them to second-class citizenship...
...Then, he suggested, they could wrest the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and establish it as a Coptic homeland: "Were the people of Israel more miserable in Egypt than the sons of the Copts are now...
...This was in the days of King Farouk, when it was customary to have one Copt in the Cabinet...
...Nevertheless, Syria is carrying out a quiet economic boycott against Lebanon and is, moreover, encouraging Moslems in Lebanon to act as a fifth column in preparation for a Sudeten-style seizure of power...
...Consequently, when the Arab League was formed with the aid and blessing of the British Foreign Office, Lebanon could do nothing but join it...
...Although this struggle has received little notice, it has been going on with varying degrees of intensity for some time...
...There are twice as many Maronites living abroad as there are in Lebanon...
...Nevertheless, the people seem to fare much better—at least there is no restriction on building Copt churches...
...Malik says that Lebanon joined the Arab League on the express condition that her sovereignty would not be affected...
...Descendants of ancient Egyptians who established one of the earliest churches in Christendom, they number about 3 million...
...In his January 5 dispatch, he revealed: "Lebanese Christians, who achieved their privileged position only after centuries of intermittent persecution in the Moslem world, almost certainly would fight against any change in the status quo...
...Together, we could develop the desert, which would become the land of the Copts, its natural owners...
...An AP dispatch in the New York Times, on January 3, reports that less than half a million of the $4 million assigned to Lebanon by the United States has been used thus far...
...And many observers foresee actual civil war if the Moslems press their claims to the point of open revolt...
...The plight of the Christian in the Moslem world, however, is best demonstrated by Lebanon's predicament...
...They consider themselves descendants of the ancient Phoenicians and still use the Aramaic (or Syriac) language in their liturgy...
...With the sole exception of Churchill's abortive plan, no Western leader --or the Vatican-has encouraged it...
...They are particularly close to their native country, since Lebanon's constitution provides emigrants with the citizenship rights of actual inhabitants??a measure obviously designed to preserve the country's Christian character...
...In those days, the crescent and the cross were carried together in public demonstrations...
...By hampering the project's progress, the Moslems have acquired a new propaganda weapon...
...They tell their peasants that the slowdown is the result of a Yankee-Jewish plot...
...On March 5, 1951, the Arabic-language Coptic weekly, Al Manaret al-Misraynl...
...The Lebanese in America, whether writing in Arabic or in English, are usually less diplomatic than their country's official delegations...
...Its problem is nothing less than survival of the only sizable, autonomous Christian country in the Middle East...
...The Lebanese delegation in Washington has carefully avoided any mention of the real conflict...
...Its only comment regarding Lebanon's failure to use more than a fraction of the funds was that "Lebanon is not complaining of its inability to use the Point Four funds but of the relatively small amount assigned to it...
...Lebanon has other Christian communities: the Melkites (who pray in Greek but recognize the Pope's authority), refugee Assyrians, refugee Armenians...
...This area is the key to the irrigation of the entire Levant, and a hydroelectric project here could provide a livelihood for Maronite farmers and halt their emigration...
Vol. 37 • April 1954 • No. 16
