Are Christian groups in the Middle East thriving — growing — or struggling for survival?
The Baileys: Persecution takes different forms. For the most part, in the Middle East, Christians are not physically threatened or abused. Occasionally individual Christians or even a single congregation will be attacked by extremists. That has happened, for example, in Upper Egypt, in the Sudan, in the Magreb of Northern Africa and in Iran. In Israel there have been problems for Christian institutions and for Christians from other countries coming in to do church work or humanitarian work. Persecution may involve being shunned or economically discriminated against. It may also involve governmental restrictions on the practice of the faith. Those forms of persecution would be much more common. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel and the Sudan would be examples. Israel has made it impossible for Christians living in the West Bank or Gaza to reach their Holy Places in Jerusalem, in contravention of international law. Such actions are sometimes the result of official governmental policies rather t
