From the NYT (sorry the link doesn’t work)
Just over 30 years ago Lebanon still had a majority of 70 % Christians. Now you have about 30 % Christians and they have to fear for their lives.
Jihad is the pinnacle of Islam and incumbent on every male and female. Those who die in jihad have their place in paradise secured. The Koran commands Muslims to wage war until all religion belongs to Allah…
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Terror Attack Takes Aim at Civilians in Lebanon
Today’s attack took place in the village of Ein Alaq, just south of the town of Bikfaya, some 30 miles northeast of the Lebanese capital.
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 13 — A day before Lebanon prepared to mark the second anniversary of the assassination of its former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, three people were killed Tuesday and 19 others seriously wounded when two buses were bombed as they ferried passengers to work, to shop and to bible study classes.
For a country so fragile and on edge because of its internal political struggles, the bombers managed to escalate tensions, not by attacking government ministers or the politically outspoken. Instead, the targets were passengers who paid the equivalent of about 80 cents to pile into the mini-buses for the half-hour ride to Beirut.
“Just over 30 years ago Lebanon still had a majority of 70 % Christians.”
I don’t know exactly the figures, but that is way off.
I think Lebanese Christians lost position of majority some 60 years ago. A Christian majority of 70% must have ended long before that.
Fine, lets have a closer look:
Check with Brigitte Gabriel or other refugees from Lebanon. Or do some serious research and contribute to the site, you are very welcome. I spent a brief time in Lebanon just before the (jihad) civil war 1972/73 and as far as I remember back then there was still a Christian majority.
With all respect, talking to refugees is not exactly a “serious research”.
I have a few Christian Lebanese friends and they maintain that they lost majority status sometime in the seventies. I don’t want to say that “my refugees” are a better source of information than “your refugees”, but I would suggest that there are sources more reliable, or at least better established, than testimonies of private persons.
A quick poke in the Wikipedia (I know, it is not Encyclopeadia Britannica) yields:
“The Christian population majority is believed to have ended in the early 1930s, ” and:
“The 1932 census stated that Christians made up 55% of the population. Maronites, largest among the Christian sects and then largely in control of the state appartus, accounted for 29% of the total population”
And this is directly from Brigitte Gabriel when interviewed by Jamie Glazov:
“That situation was aggravated by the influx of the Palestinians coming from Jordan after King Hussein kicked them out in Black September. That’s what tipped the scale in Lebanon. Not only had Moslems become the majority…”
The Black September occurred in 1970 or 36 years ago.
Wouldn’t you agree that although the above may not be too exact it nevertheless makes one seriously doubt that 30 years ago Christians constituted a 70% majority in Lebanon?
Lebanon: Armed Shi’ite Muslims prevent land survey that could resolve dispute over chapel site in favor of Christians
The Shi’ites occupying the site claim it was previously the site of a mosque. If they get their way, the chapel will thus most likely become a trophy-mosque, like so many other churches, including the Hagia Sophia and the former Church of St. John the Baptist in Damascus. “In Lebanon, Shiites take possession of a chapel of the Virgin,” by Fady Noun for Asia News, July 28:
Beirut (AsiaNews) – For over two week the Maronite Church has been involved in strenuous efforts to reclaim large areas of land which has been taken over by part of the Shiite population of Lassa, a village in the district of Jbeil Mount Lebanon. The affair erupted when official land surveyors tried survey land on which stands a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. Since 2011 the building has been used, against the advice of the Church as a place of worship for women. In spite of all the past efforts to regulate this sensitive and highly symbolic issue the chapel key was never returned to the Church. For several days the population has prevented the team, with the threat of arms, from carrying out the survey.
Their behavior only sends the message that they know the facts are not on their side.
The conflict has ancient roots, some details date as far back as the nineteenth century. So the Shiites population [sic] claims that the Maronite chapel was already a Shiite place of worship. The Maronite Patriarchate, for its part argues that the plot of land was purchased by the Maronite Church in the nineteenth century, as supported by documents such as title deeds and cadastral surveys dating to 1939. These are the facts that the Church seeks to confirm today, once and for all, with the help of the Lebanese state.
The use of threats by the Shiite population of Lassa has awakened feelings of confessional hostility in Maronite environments. Nurtured by certain personalities this anger has begun to manifest itself. To avoid exacerbating these feelings the patriarchate of Bkerke called a meeting involving all parties concerned, including representatives of Hezbollah and the Amal Shiite movement. The patriarch chaired the meeting, which was also attended by representatives of the police and army. Closing the meeting, and confirming his original direction, the Patriarchate has appointed a commission to resolve the legal problem, expressing the desire to confine the issue to a strictly legal framework and avoid any political and confessional drift.
Legal documents show that the land belongs to the Maronite Church in the village where a Shiite majority and a Maronite minority coexist in about 3.6 million square meters, divided into 95 plots. The plots were registered in 1939. Over 80 cases of trespassing on land belonging to the Maronite Church have been registered, in the form of illegal construction or unauthorised agricultural use. Most buildings were built at the beginning of this century, thanks to the mayor’s illegal authorization of the village and with the passive complicity of the local police, responsible for repressing violations of construction law.
Moreover, not content with occupying the Church land illegally, the Shiite population prevents the development of Christian farmers on their own uncontested agricultural land. To the point that one of them was beaten and kicked off the land that he had rented. The lawyers of the Patriarchate, who are in direct contact with a Hezbollah official, Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, ensure that this party does not give political cover to the families illegally occupying the property of the Maronite Church, and that an attitude of firmness is required by all so that justice is done….