✝️ “The Christian Community Is at Risk of Extinction.” A Letter From Palestine Every Christian Must Read

Jewish settlers firebombed a Christian family’s home in the West Bank. Their two-year-old nearly died. The Bishop of the Holy Land is begging the world to listen. So I am.

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I was a Christian pastor for 15 years.

I went to seminary. I preached the Gospel. I baptized believers. I led communion. I prayed with and for Christians every day of my life. And I believed — with all my heart — in the example of Jesus, the son of Mary.

I still do.

Now, as a Muslim, my faith has only grown deeper. Because I follow a Prophet ﷺ who actually taught us to protect and defend Christians and Jews. People of the Book. Followers of Isa (Jesus) عليه السلام. People whose churches and prayers and families are supposed to be safe under our care — especially in the Holy Land.

So when I read the letter above — written by Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar, the Evangelical Lutheran Bishop of Jordan and the Holy Land — I felt it not as an outsider, but as a witness. A brother.

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The attack in Taybeh

Bishop Azar writes about an attack that took place just before 2 a.m. on July 28, 2025.

Israeli settlers firebombed the home of a Palestinian Christian family in the village of Taybeh — the last fully Christian town in the West Bank. The father, Jeries, is a photographer. He was home with his wife and their two-year-old son.

The fire trapped them inside.

Smoke began to fill the house. They called for help.
But the flames blocked the door.
They were nearly killed.

Jeries’s son began to cough from the smoke.
By the grace of God, they were able to escape through a neighbor’s home.
But by then, it was too late.

The car was destroyed. So was all of Jeries’s photography equipment — his only source of income.

The family can no longer return home.

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Then the Bishop writes the line that broke me:

“The Christian community is at risk of extinction.”

That’s not exaggeration. That’s not metaphor. That’s a warning.

And it’s coming from the Bishop of the Holy Land. A man whose church has existed there for centuries. A man who has watched his people be hunted, displaced, and burned out of their homes while the world looks away.

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This is what genocide looks like.

It’s firebombs at 2 a.m.
It’s a toddler coughing from smoke while settlers laugh outside.
It’s a father losing his livelihood.
It’s a church losing its community.
It’s a bishop begging the world to listen — and hearing nothing back.

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And where are the American Christians?

Where are the churches?
Where are the pastors?
Where are the thousands of churches who send groups to “walk where Jesus walked” — but say nothing as his followers are erased?

Taybeh is 20 miles from Bethlehem.
The family who was attacked prays in the same churches American tourists post about on Instagram.
They celebrate Christmas. Easter. They follow Christ with their whole lives.

But when they are firebombed, and their children nearly die — it’s silent.

No statements.
No sermons.
No hashtags.

Just silence.

I covered previous attacks on Christians by Jewish Supremacists just 2 days ago here.

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Islamically, I have to speak.

Our Prophet ﷺ said:

“Whoever harms a Christian or Jew under protection has harmed me.”

The Sahaba defended churches.
The righteous Caliphs wrote treaties promising safety for Christians and Jews.

Umar ibn al-Khattab refused to pray inside a church in Jerusalem — not out of disrespect, but to protect it from future harm because he knew if he prayed there that Muslims would want to take it over. So he prayed outside instead.

This is our tradition.
To protect. To defend. To speak.

And I will not be quiet while one of the oldest Christian communities in the world is threatened with extinction.

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So now I’m asking you — especially if you are a Christian:

What will you do as the Christians of Palestine are erased?

What will you say when your silence is no longer an accident, but a choice?

If this was happening to Christians in Europe — you would care.
If it was happening in Africa — you would pray.
If it was a white child trapped in a burning home — the story would lead the news.

But because these are Palestinian Christians, with Arabic names and brown skin — and because the attackers are Israeli settlers, protected by the state — it’s not even mentioned.

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Don’t let this community die alone.

The fire may have been small.
But the warning is enormous.

“The Christian community is at risk of extinction.”

If that doesn’t move you — something in your soul has gone quiet.

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