Israel Condemns Iran, Not Saudi Arabia, for Persecuting Christians
By Julio Severo
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu called on a group of Christian journalists to put a spotlight on the
persecution of Christians under Iran’s Islamic regime. Speaking at the first
Christian Media Summit in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said it’s time to speak out for
suffering Christians in Iran,” according to the Christian Broadcasting
Network (CBN), of Pat Robertson last October.
If it’s time to speak out for
suffering Christians in Iran, what about Christians persecuted by Saudi Arabia?
Netanyahu added, “Some world
leaders are willing to ignore this repression and seek to appease Iran, but I
am not one of them. I think that how a country treats religious minorities is a
very good indicator of how it will treat its fellow citizens and its
neighbors.”
You
should measure if Netanyahu’s priority is correct by evaluating how Iran and
Saudi Arabia treat Christians and Jews.
How
many Christian churches are there in Iran?
There are at least 600 Christian churches
and 300,000–370,000 Christians in Iran.
There are official and non-official churches
in Iran. The official church, founded in 1830, is the Evangelical Presbyterian
Church of Iran, which is not persecuted because it is registered and a member
of the World Council of Churches, which is a left-wing organization.
Most
Christians persecuted in Iran are Pentecostal. For example, Iranian pastor
Youcef Nadarkhani has been persecuted because he is a member of a
non-registered Pentecostal church. Iranian ministers of official, registered
Presbyterian churches also condemned Nadarkhani because, for them, he is an
“heretic” who has no theological formation.
How
many churches are there in Saudi Arabia?
According to Paul Marshall in his book
“Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians” (Thomas Nelson, 2013), “Saudi
Arabia bans all churches and public manifestations of Christianity. It does not
even permit churches that are state regulated. Moreover, secret congregations
that pray together in private homes risk being raided and shut down, and seeing
their members flogged, beaten, jailed, deported, or even killed. The only
secure prayer services are ones quietly held in US and various European
embassies for their nationals.”
Is
the Bible allowed in Iran?
Yes.
Is
the Bible allowed in Saudi Arabia?
Bible distribution is illegal in Saudi Arabia.
Judaism
is a recognized religion in Iran. Despite Iran’s official distrust of the
country of Israel, the Iranian government does not directly attack Judaism
itself.
Are
Jews allowed in Saudi Arabia?
No. Besides, Judaism is not a recognized
religion in Saudi Arabia.
Yes.
By law and practice, religious minorities can be elected to a representative
body or to hold senior government or military positions, and have 5 of a total
270 seats in the majlis. Three of these seats are reserved for members of the
Christian faith, including two seats for the country’s Armenian Christians, and
one for Assyrians. There is also one seat for a member of the Jewish faith.
Are
Christians and Jews allowed in government posts in Saudi Arabia?
No. No Christians or Jews are allowed to
hold government or military positions in Saudi Arabia.
So if Christians and Jews are
allowed to live in Iran and even have their churches and synagogues and if they
cannot have churches and synagogues in Saudi Arabia, why is Iran, not Saudia
Arabia, condemned by Israel? Because Israel has a geopolitical partnership with
the United States, Saudi Arabia, which is a military ally of the United States
and persecutes Christians more violently than Iran does, is spared, and Iran
not.
If Israel really were worried about
persecution of Christians, it would save Christians from ISIS. In an editoral
article titled “A
plea to Israel: Save Mideast Christians,” WorldNetDaily chief Joseph Farah
asked Israel to reach out “to save Christians of the Middle East who are right
now facing a mini-holocaust, nothing short of genocide, persecution
unparalleled since the rise of Islam 1,300 years ago.”
The responsible for this
mini-holocaust, or genocide, is ISIS. Its Christian victims are in the reach of
Israel. Yet, Israel
has been running military operations to save terrorists who slaughter
Christians.
Eighty percent of wounded Syrians receiving medical care in Israel are Islamic
male rebels fighting against Christians.
Israel has never given attention to
Farah’s plea.
ISIS, which was founded by the
left-wing Obama administration, is funded and armed by Saudi Arabia, which was
a strong ally of Obama and now
is a strong ally of Trump.
So because of U.S.
geopolitical interests,
Israel is not helping Christians. It is helping their oppressors.
Because of the U.S. geopolitical
interests, Israel condemns Iran, but it does not condemn Saudi Arabia for its
worst record of persecution of Christians and for its sponsorship of ISIS,
which is committing a mini-holocaust, or genocide, of Christians.
Even
so, American Christians worry too much about Israel and its security, while
Israel does not worry about Christians and their safety — at least not about Christians
slaughtered by ISIS.
Christians could object by saying
that Israel has reasons to single out Iran because of Iranian threats to make
a nuclear bomb to attack Israel. In no way Christians can support the Iranian
hatred for Israel. But could such hatred be largely explained by the U.S.
geopolitical meddlings?
Even though the U.S. is incapable of guarding its own borders, the U.S. is
“guarding” the Iranian borders: Iran
is surrounded by over 40 U.S. military bases.
If Iran makes a nuclear bomb, is
Israel defenseless? No. Right now, while Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb,
Israel
has 200 nuclear warheads all pointed at Iran.
If Israel had no nuclear defense,
there would be justification for the hysteria against Iran. But Israel has
extreme and abundant military defense. And the Iranian hatred is justified: It
is surrounded by intrusive U.S. military bases.
The
United States has a long record of meddling in the national affairs of Iran in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Predictably, this meddling has provoked hatred in Iran. Because Israel and
Saudi Arabia are the closest U.S. allies in the Middle East, Iran vents
its anger on both of them.
The
many U.S. bases surrounding Iran could have a best function protecting
Christians from ISIS, but they are not doing it. Or they could guard the
defenseless U.S. borders. There is no reason for the U.S. to have so many bases
to protect Saudi Arabia, which deserves no protection. There is no reason for
the U.S. to bully Iran, not Saudi Arabia.
Israel can defend itself. It has
200 nuclear warheads against Iran. And it has many other nuclear warheads to
protect itself from other Muslim nations.
How
many nuclear warheads have Christians in the Middle East to defend themselves
against ISIS and its sponsor, Saudi Arabia? Absolutely nothing.
How can Netanyahu condemn Iran for
partial persecution of Christians and not condemn Saudi Arabia for full
persecution of Christians?
How can Netanyahu condemn Iran for
partial persecution of Christians and not condemn ISIS for its mini-holocaust,
or genocide, of Christians?
How can Netanyahu send military
units to save Islamic terrorists who slaughter Christians instead of sending
them to save Christians?
I
support Netanyahu’s efforts to defend Israel in its rightful Promised Land. But
I cannot defend his hypocritical attitude of ignoring Christians persecuted by
ISIS and Saudi Arabia to serve the U.S. neocons ambitions.
While Netanyahu is condemning Iran
for partial persecution of Christians, the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and
Lutheran churches have accused
Israel of undermining Christianity in the Holy Land.
Netanyahu will have a right to
condemn Iran for partial persecution of Christians only after Israel condemns
Saudi Arabia and ISIS for full persecution of Christians.
Netanyahu will have a right to
condemn Iran for partial persecution of Christians only after Israel stops from
saving Islamic terrorists and begins to save Christians from Saudi Arabia and
ISIS.
Portuguese
version of this article: Israel condena Irã, não a Arábia Saudita, por perseguir cristãos
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