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radioPaul Calvert reports on his trip to the most densely populated place on earth
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The whole area looked very third world with grey buildings and dusty streets. The roads weren't bad, but there were times when they had to slow down because there was no road.
I had to remember that when I was outside, I had to be careful not to drink water in public as it was Ramadan and I didn't want to offend Muslims who were taking there fast.
We went straight to the Bible Societies building in Gaza city. The big question was would there be electricity? We weren't disappointed; they were actually getting about eight hours a day, which was good.
The Bible Society building was made up of offices, an Internet Centre and a Christian Bookstore; but there was sadness there because the Internet Centre and the Christian Bookstore had been forced to close down because of a bombing there by fundamental Islamists. They had even killed a Bible Society member called Rami about 4 years ago.
There is a lot said about suicide bombers being shahids or martyrs, but Rami was a true martyr; standing up and showing the Christian faith to all those around him and he died for his faith.
Through the talks and interviews that I did on the trip it was clear that the Christian community was struggling. There are about 400 Christian families living there in the Gaza Strip and the total population is 1.7 million.
The Christian community feel like they are surrounded by the enemy; Israel is an enemy on one side and fundamental Islam is an enemy on the other side.
The Church is struggling with fear, persecution and hopelessness.
It is especially difficult for Christian women who stand out a mile because they don't cover their head. This tells people straight away that she is a Christian woman.
The young people want to leave and you can't blame them; unemployment is at about 45%, but as young people leave the Christian witness is dying off.
The Church seems to need good biblical discipleship. They need to know what they know and how to answer questions and challenges.
They seem to have lost their aim too. Fear has caused them just to lose that power of the spirit to live a powerful life and witness.
With all the social pressures the easiest thing for the young Christian to do would be to convert to Islam; at least life would be simpler and easier. The sad fact is that it is happening. There are forced conversions and there are, I am sure, true conversions because of the pressure. In fact there have been at least 30 Christians convert in the last six years.
Conversion breaks the heart of the Christian community as it is like a death in the family. The converted person is cut off from the rest of the community. It's a very small and close community; everyone knows each other and is married to each other.
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This was a good article, thank you.
While Christians and people of all faiths are free in Israel, sadly in the Palestinian territories there is much persecution - as you point out.
I'm not saying there's no persecution in Israel as some extreme Jewish groups can be very anti Christian. But in terms of overall government structure there's a big difference between a liberal democracy (Israel) and a dictatorship that doesn't allow religious freedom (Gaza - Hamas).
The Christians throughout Israel and Palestinian territories need our prayers.
Finally - Pam may I suggest that if you want Gaza to export freely you start campaigning for Hamas to stop throwing rockets at Israel every 5 minutes? Let's remember Israel gave the Gaza strip to the Palestinians in exchange for peace. That was the deal! Once again, the Palestinian leadership has failed its people.
Hmm. Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005 because it risked its, undeserved, reputation as 'democratic'. With 20%+ of Israel's population Palestinian a further 1.5 million (now 1.7) represented a 'demographic threat'. The rockets from Gaza only commenced when Israel supported by US & UK refused to accept the democratic will of the people and put in place the siege and boycott. Israel kills far more people in Gaza than does Hamas or any of the other Islamic movements do in Israel. Christians should support neither Israel not Hamas but the many Jews, Christians and Muslims who are trying to work for peace.
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