Magic Statistics

Since Hamas assumed power in Gaza and the West Bank, more and more Christian women are wearing headscarves in an effort to keep a low profile in mixed Christian-Muslim areas.

Palestinian educator Dr. Maria Khoury geared up for the winter chill with what was at the time a meaningless purchase: a black silk scarf with silver stripes to drape around her neck. But now, on her daily excursions from the West Bank's Taiba to nearby Ramallah, the scarf serves as a political symbol of the changing times.

"Since Hamas took over, I cover my head in Ramallah," she says. "I don't feel comfortable."

In the largely cosmopolitan Ramallah, though they comprise some 10 percent of the population, Christians are becoming less and less visible.
. . .
"I see more and more women covered up," Khoury says, explaining that for now, it's preferable to play it safe and assimilate on the street, even if she would never choose to cover her head otherwise.

"Years ago I even used to go in short sleeves," she says. "You'd have to put a gun to my head to get me to wear short sleeves now."
. . .
A small minority, estimated to be between one to two percent of the total Palestinian population, Christians have long been in an awkward position, managing a balancing act of simultaneously being insiders and outsiders.
. . .
Further exaggerating the balancing act in recent years is an insecure relationship with western Evangelical Christians, who fervently support Israel, leaving indigenous Palestinian Christians on the other side of the security fence sometimes feeling neglected or like the enemy, despite a shared reverence for the Christian Gospels.

Read the whole thing.

via Dhimmi Watch.

Dr Khoury was the subject of a post last September after her home town of Taybeh/Taiba was attacked by a mob of Muslims.

Sir Trevor Phillips, chairman of the UK Commission for Racial Equality, says that freedom of speech is a core value of the British people, and must be accepted by all who wish to live in the UK. People are allowed to say what they please, short of threats or intimidation–however absurd, however unpopular–and that includes the freedom to express views that offend others.

Sir Trevor told ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme: "What some minorities have to accept is that there are certain central things we all agree about, which are about the way we treat each other. That we have an attachment to democracy, that we sort things out by voting not by violence and intimidation, that we tolerate things that we don't like."

And that commitment to freedom of expression should also allow Muslim preachers to make comments about homosexuality that are offensive to broad segments of the British population, he said.
. . .
He also rejected the idea of Shariah law in Muslim communities in the UK.

"We have one set of laws. They are decided on by one group of people, members of Parliament, and that's the end of the story. Anybody who lives here has to accept that's the way we do it. If you want to have laws decided in another way, you have to live somewhere else," he said.

Sensible words, but British Islamists will not stop agitating just because Sir Trevor says Shariah law is not on in the UK. When push comes to shove, as it will sooner or later, I hope the government backs Sir Trevor's words with actions.

via The Free West.