Well, the people there didn't like the original Christians either

My Google Reader starred list has a couple of items regarding how one particular Christian fared in the Gaza Strip.

From Red Stick Rant:

Another fine example of inter-faith dialogue and respect in an Islamic State:

"The body of Rami Khader Ayyad, the 32-year-old director of Gaza's only Christian bookstore, bore a visible gunshot wound to the head, and an official at Gaza's Shifa Hospital said he was also stabbed numerous times. Ayyad had been missing since Saturday afternoon.

Ayyad regularly received anonymous death threats from angry people who accused him of missionary work, a rarity among Gaza's Christians. His store, which is associated with a Christian group called the Palestinian Bible Society, was firebombed in April.

"We feel Rami was killed for his Christian faith," said Simon Azazian, a spokesman at the Bible Society's head office in Jerusalem."

I am (for now) an Episcopalian. Why isn't my Church speaking out about such real attacks on the Faith....What happened here is REAL persecution, folks. What happened here is real sacrifice for the Faith....

And remember, too, that the people who murdered this man couldn't give a tinker's damn about...how many General Convention resolutions were passed in support of peace in the Middle East and Palestinian rights. To them, the Christian Faith is not "another vehicle to the Devine", it is an abomination. An abomination that must, in the end, be eliminated.

True Discernment was also following this story:

The body of Rami Ayyad, who managed the only Christian bookstore in Gaza, reportedly was found Sunday riddled with gunshot and stab wounds. Ayyad had been abducted the previous night as he closed his shop, according to a local Christian group.

Ayyad, a Baptist, was accused by Gaza-based Islamic groups of engaging in missionary activity. His bookstore, owned by the Palestinian Bible Society, was firebombed in April after which he told relatives he received numerous death threats from Islamists....

Sheik Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadia Salafiya, an Islamic outreach movement that recently announced the opening of a “military wing” to enforce Muslim law in Gaza, told WND although his group “didn’t carry out the Ayyad attack,” all Christians in Gaza engaged in missionary activity will be “dealt with harshly.”

It was Abu Saqer’s group that had been accused of firebombing Ayyad’s bookstore in April. Jihadia Salafiya is also suspected of a slew of Islamist attacks, including firebombing Internet cafes and one in May against a United Nations school in Gaza after it allowed boys and girls to participate in the same sporting event. One person was killed in that attack....

Immediately after Hamas’ Gaza coup, Abu Saqer told WND in an exclusive interview Christians could continue living safely in the Gaza Strip only if they accepted Islamic law, including a ban on alcohol and on women roaming publicly without proper head coverings.

“[Now that Hamas is in power,] the situation has changed 180 degrees in Gaza,” said Abu Saqer, speaking from Gaza.

“Jihadia Salafiya and other Islamic movements will ensure Christian schools and institutions show publicly what they are teaching to be sure they are not carrying out missionary activity. No more alcohol on the streets. All women, including non-Muslims, need to understand they must be covered at all times while in public,” he said.

“Also the activities of Internet cafes, pool halls and bars must be stopped,” said Abu Saqer. “If it goes on, we’ll attack these things very harshly.”

Abu Saqer accused the leadership of the Gaza Christian community of “proselytizing and trying to convert Muslims with funding from American evangelicals.”

“This missionary activity is endangering the entire Christian community in Gaza,” he said.

Abu Saqer claimed there was “no need” for the thousands of Christians in Gaza to maintain a large number of institutions in the territory.

It's interesting that they think that Christians can be Christians WITHOUT engaging in military activity. Someone needs to let them know that in our religion, our God COMMANDS missionary activity.

Matthew 28:19 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

It's kind of like saying, "Be a Muslim, but don't submit to Allah." It's just not possible.

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