Persecution of Christians in the Middle East has been a recurring theme since the middle of the nineteenth century. The topic has experienced a resurgence in the last few years, especially during the Trump era. Middle Eastern Christians are often portrayed as a homogeneous, helpless group ever at the mercy of their Muslim enemies, a situation that only Western powers can remedy. The Politics of Persecution revisits this narrative with a critical eye. Mitri Raheb charts the plight of Christians in the Middle East from the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 to the so-called Arab Spring. The book analyzes the diverse socioeconomic and political factors that led to the diminishing role and numbers of Christians in Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan during the eras of Ottoman, French, and British Empires, through the eras of independence, Pan-Arabism, and Pan-Islamism, and into the current era of American empire. With an incisive expose of the politics that lie behind alleged concerns for these persecuted Christians-and how the concept of persecution has been a tool of public diplomacy and international politics-Raheb reveals that Middle Eastern Christians have been repeatedly sacrificed on the altar of Western national interests. The West has been part of the problem for Middle Eastern Christianity and not part of the solution, from the massacre on Mount Lebanon to the rise of ISIS. The Politics of Persecution, written by a well-known Palestinian Christian theologian, provides an insider perspective on this contested region. Middle Eastern Christians survived successive empires by developing great elasticity in adjusting to changing contexts; they learned how to survive atrocities and how to resist creatively while maintaining a dynamic identity. In this light, Raheb casts the history of Middle Eastern Christians not so much as one of persecution but as one of resilience.
Dr. Mitri Raheb is the Founder and President of Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture in Bethlehem. The most widely published Palestinian theologian to date, Dr. Raheb is the author of more than twenty books.
Introduction 1. Under Ottoman Rule 2. Religious Mobility 3. A Massacre on Mount Lebanon 4. Agents of Renaissance 5. Christian Zionism 6. The Road to Genocide 7. Minorities in Nation-States 8. A Catastrophe 9. Arab and Christian 10. A Turning Point 11. Petrodollars 12. Challenging Times Epilogue
This is an important book. The history of the region's Christian population is clearly and compellinglyrecounted. The importance of a continuing Christian presence is stressed. The final Epilogue needs to beread and pondered by Christians in the West. --Derek Tovey "Stimulus" The Politics of Persecution is a much-needed analysis on the representation of Middle Eastern Christians by the West and a necessary argument advocating for a renewed look at their agency. Mitri Raheb seeks to refocus attention on the potentialities for abundant Christian life in the region rather than on ruin, marginalization, and death. --Candace Lukasik "Journal of Church and State" Mitri Raheb offers a trove of information and analysis, written in lucid and approachable terms, both for Christians fascinated by the Holy Land and for anyone interested in the emergence of the modern Middle East. --Philip Jenkins "The Christian Century" Lutheran pastor and Palestinian civic leader Mitri Raheb has written an important work that counters much of the literature written in the past decades that predicts the disappearance of Middle Eastern Christians, presenting them as a persecuted minority in a hostile Muslim Arab world. Rejecting the category of victimhood, Raheb insists that he and his community are ever-resilient actors in the events that unfold in the Middle East today. Raheb's insider perspective provides historical context, contemporary analysis and critical reflection in contrast with the discourse of gloom and doom. --David M. Neuhaus SJ "Mission Studies" Raheb gives an insider's perspective on Middle Eastern Christians that provides historical context, contemporary analysis, and critical reflection standing in sharp contrast to much of the discourse on Middle Eastern Christians heard in the West. Raheb uncovers the genealogy of much of that discourse, which describes Christians as victims and Muslims as persecutors.... Raheb convincingly demonstrates how European powers used discourse about Christian persecution to further their own interests, a prefiguring of the discourse and practice of right-wing politicians in the United States in our own time. --David Neuhaus "Commonweal"
