The Christmas tree at Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, West Bank, Dec. 3, 2022.[/caption]
Shadi Khoury, age 15, is part of a beloved and influential Christian family in Jerusalem. That did not stop Israeli police from arresting him on false charges and beating him bloody last October. Here is an update on his case.
In 1967 Israel ordered the razing of Emmaus (the site where the Bible says the resurrected Jesus broke bread with two of his disciples). Israeli soldiers forced the inhabitants to trek for days to refuge – 22 people & an infant died. Israel then built its famous Canada Park on the location. This was part of a long pattern of Israeli attacks on Christian sites… (see video)
Anti-Christian hate crimes in Jerusalem have been soaring since Israel’s new extremist government took over – Easter is one of many targets by the government and Jewish radicals. (One priest has been spat on more than 90 times so far in 2023)
Israeli police burst into his home, broke his nose and a tooth, then dragged him by force, bound and blindfolded, to their van. After 41 days of beatings in an Israeli prison, 16-year-old Shadi Khoury is finally released to house arrest
His family had to break their usual tradition of visiting his grandmother on Christmas in Bethlehem and attending Christmas mass because of Shadi’s house arrest…
His mother is concerned that his adolescence has been lost forever…
There is an ongoing elimination of Christianity in the region where it was born being carried out by Israel and its friends. The United States has been the enabler of much of the change in spite of the prevalence of self-described devout Christians in Congress, many of whom ironically are vocal and even enthusiastic supporters of Israeli “security” policies.
Hasn’t the time come to examine the way enmity toward Christians is inculcated and nurtured among the Jewish population in Israel? New book reports that the life of Jesus and the religion he spawned are taught in Israeli schools in a way that’s inconsistent with their influence on European culture and Western civilization…
Israeli assailants strive to intimidate monks who gathered to pray at Saint Saba Monastery in a deliberate attempt to stop the prayers.
The number of Christians in Gaza has been reduced to just about 1,000… Israeli policies are causing suffering and impeding their ability to visit Christian holy sites…
Israel announces it will not allow Gaza’s Christians to visit Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year
Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, seeks worldwide support for maintaining the status quo in Jerusalem, where settler groups are vandalizing church property and covertly buying up land in the Old City; Jerusalem’s city council wants $200 million in back taxes from churches; land may be expropriated. Phone Congress!