The ramp-up to the municipal Palestinian elections has created a bizarre story.
Both Hamas and Fatah are scrambling to get votes, and a small bombshell was detonated a couple of days ago when Jibril Rajoub, the PA sports minister and prominent Fatah member, made fun of Christians who voted for Hamas ten years ago and referred to them as the “Merry Christmas bunch” in an interview on Egyptian TV.
Even though Christians are only 1% of the population, both Fatah and Hamas as vying for their votes.
Now, both Islamic Jihad and Hamas – Islamist terror groups who view Christians with the same disdain they view Jews – are condemning Rajoub for his remarks.
Hamas said the statement was “offensive to our religion and our people and our history and our values.” Almost unbelievably, Hamas added that “they are Palestinian citizens with full citizenship rights and we may not be discriminate against anyone based on race, religion or sex.”
Christians in Gaza are in constant fear ever since Hamas took over, and there have been a number of attacks against them.
Islamic Jihad said the statement was “inappropriate and harm the Palestinian people and its culture and Islamic values and national traditions.”
The PFLP likewise condemned Rajoub.
Fatah is scrambling to contain the damage. They issued a statement from a Fatah committee member, not mentioning Rajoub but saying how important Christians have been in the intifada against Israel and that no one has the right to cause discord between Muslims and Christians.
Christians have been fleeing the territories by the thousands since 1948, when they were the majority in some towns and made up some 10% of the population. Their flight accelerated under the rule of Fatah and Hamas who are now pretending to love them so much.
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