Gaza's Christians Keep Low Xmas Profile*

By SARAH EL DEEB,
Associated Press Writer

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gaza's tiny Christian community is keeping a low
profile this Christmas, traumatized by the killing of a prominent
activist in the wake of Hamas' takeover of the coastal territory.

No Christmas trees are on display, churches are holding austere services
and hundreds of Christians hope to travel to the moderate-controlled
West Bank to celebrate the holiday in Bethlehem. Many say they don't
plan on returning to Gaza.

"We have a very sad Christmas," said Essam Farah, acting pastor of
Gaza's Baptist Church, which has canceled its annual children's party
because of the grim atmosphere.

About 3,000 Christians live in Gaza, an overwhelmingly conservative
Muslim territory of 1.5 million people. It has been virtually cut off
from the world and its residents driven deeper into poverty since the
June takeover by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by
Israel and the United States.

Christians and Muslims have generally had cordial relations over the
years in Gaza, but that relationship has been shaky since Hamas seized
control and tensions were exacerbated with the recent death of
32-year-old Rami Ayyad.

Ayyad, a member of the Baptist Church, managed Gaza's only Christian
bookstore. In early October, he was found shot in the head, his body
thrown on a Gaza street 10 hours after he was kidnapped from the store.

He regularly received death threats from people angry about his
perceived missionary work _ a rarity among Gaza's Christians _ and the
store was firebombed six months before the kidnapping.

No group claimed responsibility for the killing, and no one has openly
accused Hamas of persecution. But Christians fear that the Hamas
takeover, along with the lack of progress in finding Ayyad's killers,
has emboldened Islamic extremists.

Hamas has tried to calm jittery Christians with reassuring handshakes
and official visits promising justice.

Hamas "will not spare any effort to find the culprits of this crime and
bring them to justice," said spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. He insisted the
killing was not religiously motivated.

At the Baptist Church on Sunday, just 10 people attended the regular
weekly prayer service, down from an average of 70. There was no
Christmas tree in sight.

Farah said the church's full-time pastor, along with his family and 12
employees of Ayyad's store, have relocated to the West Bank, where
President Mahmoud Abbas heads a pro-Western government. Farah said he
prayed for forgiveness and love among Muslims and Christians.

Community leaders say an unprecedented number of Christian families are
already migrating from Gaza _ rattled by the religious tensions and
tough economic sanctions Israel imposed on the area after the Hamas
takeover.

While no official statistics were available, the signs of the flight are
evident. Rev. Manuel Musallem, said he alone knows of seven families
that sold their properties and left the area, and 15 more are preparing
to do the same.

Musallem blamed Israeli sanctions and excessive violence in Gaza for the
flight.

"In previous years we didn't see this rate of migration," Musallem said.
"Now, exit is not on individual basis. Whole families are leaving,
selling their cars, homes and all their properties."

The signs of despair are evident at Ayyad's home. Posters declaring him
a "martyr of Jesus" hang on the walls. There is no Christmas tree this year.

Ayyad's older brother, 35-year old Ibrahim, said his 6-year old son,
Khedr, was nagged in school about his uncle's murder. Muslim schoolmates
call him "infidel."

Ayyad's wife, Pauline, 29, left for Bethlehem a month ago with her two
children. She said their 3-year-old son, George, has been shattered by
his father's death.

"I tell him Papa Noel (Santa Claus) is coming to see you, and he tells
me he wants Papa Rami," she said tearfully during a telephone interview.

Pauline, who is seven months pregnant, said she plans to come back to
Gaza for the birth.

But many Christians privately said they would use their travel permits
to leave Gaza for good, even if that means remaining in the West Bank as
illegal residents. Israeli security officials said they were permitting
400 Gaza Christians to travel through Israel to Bethlehem for Christmas.

A family of four, refusing to be identified for fear their permits would
be revoked, have sold their house and car and packed their bags. The
wife has transferred her job to the West Bank and enrolled her son and
daughter in school there. "We fear what is to come," said the husband.

Fouad, a distant relative of Ayyad, said he also is packing up. He said
his father, a guard at a local church, was stopped recently by unknown
bearded men who put a gun to his head before he was rescued by passers-by.

"We don't know why it happened," the 20-year-old police officer said.
"We can't be sure how they (Muslims) think anymore."

Those who are staying are trying to limit the risks. Nazek Surri, a
Roman Catholic, walked out from Sunday's service with a Muslim-style
scarf covering her head.

"We have to respect the atmosphere we are living in. We have to go with
the trend," she said.