Palestinians burn West Bank YMCA
Pastor Dale Morgan
Palestinians burn West Bank YMCA*
Follows Muslim warnings for Christian group to leave Hamas-controlled
town or see violence
Posted: September 10, 2006
5:35 p.m. Eastern
News from Israel
JERUSALEM – Palestinian gunmen today attacked and set fire to the Young
Men's Christian Association headquarters in Qalqiliya, a large West Bank
city controlled by Hamas.
Local government sources identified the attackers as members of the
Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, saying the identities of the
gunmen are "well known" to Qalqiliya's security forces, which are
controlled by the Hamas government.
Today's arson follows a series of warnings by the Muslim leadership of
Qalqilya accusing the city's YMCA of missionary activity and demanding
the Christian organization close its offices and leave town or face
likely Muslim violence.
According to local reports, the gunmen today destroyed the locks on the
YMCA's entrance gates, crushed the gates, then entered the building and
set it ablaze. Local fire brigades reportedly rushed to the scene and
stopped the fire before it spread to neighboring buildings. The building
sustained serious damage, YMCA officials said.
The Qalqiliya police say they opened an investigation into the incident
and will hunt down and arrest the attackers.
One political source in the city said, "The identity of the attackers is
well known to Hamas. We don't expect the Hamas-controlled police, the
Hamas city council or the Hamas Interior Ministry to do anything about
this attack."
The source called the arson a "warning to YMCA's and Christian groups in
the Palestinian areas that they are not safe."
In April, it was reported that major Muslim organizations in Qalqiliya,
in conjunction with local mosques, the city's Mufti and municipal
leaders, sent a letter to the interior minister of the Hamas-led
Palestinian Authority accusing the YMCA of missionary activities and
demanding the Palestinian government immediately shut down the Christian
offices.
The PA did not act against the YMCA. The YMCA has operated in Qalqiliya
since 2000.
The petition, states, "We the preachers of the mosques and
representatives of major families in Qalqiliya ask you to close the
offices of the YMCA because the population of Qalqiliya doesn't need
such offices, especially since there are not many Christians in our city."
It warned, "The act of these institutions of the YMCA, including
attempting to convert Muslims in our city, will bring violence and tension."
Three days before the petition was delivered several Molotov cocktails
were thrown at Qalqiliya's YMCA. Local political sources said the
Molotov attacks followed Friday sermons in dozens of Qalqiliya mosques
in which preachers called upon the community to revolt against the YMCA.
"There was a coordination among the mosques to speak about the YMCA. One
major imam, for example, warned if the YMCA doesn't close down, it will
lead to 'acts that no one would like to see,'" said one political source
in April.
Joseph Medi, the YMCA manager in Qalqiliya, said that his operation has
never been involved with missionary activity.
"It's not what we're about. There is no missionary activity here
whatsoever. The YMCA is in the city to serve the population with
financial help, sporting activities and general educational programs,"
he said.
Medi pointed out many employees at his branch of the YMCA are Muslim. He
said the YMCA was instrumental in establishing a number of community
programs, including contributing to the financing of the Al Ahli Club, a
mostly Muslim local soccer organization that has competed in national games.
Medi said Qalqiliya's YMCA received a final notification from local
leaders warning the association to close its offices before "drastic
measures" were taken. He said no specific measures were specified.
Qalqiliya is located at the West Bank's point of closest proximity to
the Mediterranean Sea. There are reported only about 50-100 Christians
in a population of about 28,300. The city's mayor, Sheikh Waji Qawwas,
is a Hamas member who was just released from Israeli prison.
Hamas swept all 15 municipal offices in local elections in Qalqiliya
last December. The terror group went on to win the vast majority of
Palestinian parliamentary seats in January and officially took over the
Palestinian Authority four months ago.
Christian persecution trend in West Bank, Gaza
One Christian leader, an aide to Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Michel
Sabah who asked his name be withheld out of fear of Muslim retaliation,
called the threats against Qalqiliya's YMCA part of a general trend of
Christian persecution in Palestinian areas.
"It's been happening all over the West Bank and Gaza," said the aide.
There have been rampant reports of abuses and persecution in several
West Bank towns taken over by the PA.
Anti-Christian riots have been reported in Ramallah, Nazareth and
surrounding villages as well as in towns in Gaza. In Bethlehem, local
Christians have long complained of anti-Christian violence. The city's
Christian population, once 90 percent, declined drastically since the PA
took control in December 1995. Christians now make up less than 25
percent of Bethlehem, according to Israeli surveys.
Some analysts called the demands for the YMCA to close one of many
indications Hamas may be seeking to impose Islamic rule on the
Palestinian population.
Israeli officials say Hamas in the Gaza Strip has established hard-line
Islamic courts and created the Hamas Anti-Corruption Group, which is
described as a kind of "morality police" operating within Hamas'
organization. Hamas has denied the existence of the group, but it
recently carried out a high-profile "honor killing" widely covered by
the Palestinian media.
A Hamas-run council in the West Bank came under international criticism
last year when it barred an open-air music and dance festival, declaring
it was against Islam.
Hamas chieftain: West can learn from Islamic values
In response to the uproar, Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar said
during an exclusive interview: "I hardly understand the point of view of
the West concerning these issues. The West brought all this freedom to
its people but it is that freedom that has brought about the death of
morality in the West. It's what led to phenomena like homosexuality,
homelessness and AIDS."
Asked if Hamas will impose hard-line Islamic law on the Palestinians,
al-Zahar responded, "The Palestinian people are Muslim people, and we do
not need to impose anything on our people because they are already
committed to their faith and religion. People are free to choose their
way of life, their way of dress and behavior."
Al-Zahar said his terror group, which demands strict dress codes for
females, respects women's rights.
"It is wrong to think that in our Islamic society there is a lack of
rights for women. Women enjoy their rights. What we have, unlike the
West, is that young women cannot be with men and have relations outside
marriage. Sometimes with tens of men. This causes the destruction of the
family institution and the fact that many kids come to the world without
knowing who are their fathers or who are their mothers. This is not a
modern and progressed society," al-Zahar explained.
The terror chieftain said the West can learn from his group's Islamic
values.
"Here I refer to what was said in the early '90s by Britain's Prince
Charles at Oxford University. He spoke about Islam and its important
role in morality and culture. He said the West must learn from Islam how
to bring up children properly and to teach them the right values."