'Tis the season for blaming Jews for Christians fleeing the territories

It is an annual event - clueless journalists reporting that, somehow, Israel is discriminating against Christians in areas that are so terrible that Muslims are happily filling the vacuum.

This year's first such report comes from USA Today:

After 2,000 years, Christians disappearing from Gaza

Despite the packed pews at Gaza’s Church of St. Porphyrius just weeks before Christmas, Christianity is not booming here. Rather, the worshipers at the 1,600-year-old shrine believe they may be the last group of Christians in Gaza, where they have lived and prayed since the birth of Jesus.

The ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and the highest unemployment rate in the world are prompting Christians to leave the besieged area in droves, some using the holiday season to their advantage.

Although Israel rarely grants permits to leave the Palestinian territory, dozens of Christians are allowed to visit Bethlehem and Jerusalem during Easter and Christmas, and some take the opportunity to never return home so they can start a new life elsewhere.

“People might think we’re leaving because of Hamas, but no it’s because of ... (Israeli) policies on Gaza,” Jaber Jilder, an official with the Greek Orthodox Church said, referring to the militant group that governs Gaza and is labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and others.

Let's parse that bolded sentence. Israel supposedly doesn't let Palestinians leave (which is false) but the Gazan Christians who are being particularly discriminated against by Israel are deciding to live in a different territory under Israeli control. Hmmm.

The Christian population in the West Bank has also been on the decline for similar reasons, said George Abueed, a Palestinian-Christian from Bethlehem.

"Palestinian Christians ... receive no tolerance or mercy from the Israeli occupation. Their land has been confiscated, their houses have been destroyed, and they have been subjected to daily humiliation on checkpoints when they travel," he said. "Same discriminatory measures for everyone. Christians and Muslims."

Um, then why are only the Christians fleeing? And if everyone suffers the same, how is it discrimination?

USA Today's reporter doesn't think about such simple questions. If the Christian Gazans who have been leaving since the beginning of Palestinian Authority rule say that it is because of Israel, then it must be true.

Forget reports about Muslim intimidation of and attacks on Christians in Bethlehem and Gaza. Forget about Christians from Gaza - when not talking to Western media - bitterly upset over Muslims kidnapping them.

I noted last year in a similar AFP article that the Christians who want to blame Israel for their woes proudly use their names, but those who mention attacks and intimidation by Muslims prefer anonymity when talking to reporters. Obviously, Christians who are frightened of their wonderful Muslim neighbors are going to go public with the politically correct story of everything being Israel's fault. This is a consistent pattern with articles about Christians in Gaza that bother to look slightly beneath the platitudes.

But this reporter didn't even bother to look for those who might tell the truth. Because when you have an agenda, why spend time trying to derail it?

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