Nazareth Priest: In Israel, Christians Have Freedom

Thursday, November 20, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff

Father Gabriel Naddaf, a Nazareth-based Greek Orthodox Christian priest of Aramean background, has become a symbol and vocal witness of the situation for Christians in Israel, and how that differs from the way Christians are treated everywhere else in the Middle East.

Speaking before US congressional leaders in Washington, DC this week, Father Naddaf explained:

“In the Middle East today, there is one country where Christians are affectionately granted freedom of expression, freedom of worship and security. It is Israel, the Jewish State. In Israel, Christians enjoy good education, employment, welfare, healthcare, and high socio-economic standing. In Israel, Christians have freedom, which no Muslim power has ever offered us.”

In telling the American lawmakers about his own journey of faith, Father Naddaf recalled moving as a young man to the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Haifa, where, in the course of meeting and working with Jews, he discovered that “the idea that I needed to be scared of Jews, or that there was something dangerous about them was simply not true. The myth was shattered.”

It is this same hate-filled misinformation about Israel’s Jews and their intentions that is fueling the current violence centering on Jerusalem.

Father Naddaf is currently in the US on a speaking tour on behalf of The Face of Israel organization.

Father Naddaf and his efforts amongst and on behalf of the Aramean Christian community in Israel is the focus of a feature story in the upcoming December issue of Israel Today Magazine. Don’t miss it - SUBSCRIBE NOW >>

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