As Christmas approaches, please write to the Church Times to rebut a letter in today's edition (22 December 2006) by the Reverend Tim Price, who claims that Palestinian Christians are persecuted by their Muslim compatriots.

It is especially relevant and important that Palestinian Christians respond to this. Arab Media Watch has been assured by the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Manuel Hassassian, who is Christian, that he will write in. As we enjoy the Christmas season, and as Christians in Palestine are unable to, this is the least we can do.

Write to letters@churchtimes.co.uk and bcc your letters to info@arabmediawatch.com. Please be concise and polite. If you want your letter to be published in the newspaper, indicate this in the subject line of your email (do not copy and paste the subject of this Action Alert) and provide your full name, address and contact details. Letter-writing tips are at:

http://www.arabmediawatch.com/amw/MediaLobbying/LetterWritingTips/tabid/134/Default.aspx

The letter is as follows:

Why Christians are fewer in Holy Land  

From the Revd Tim Price

Sir,

The Bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt Revd Abu El-Assal (Letters, 15 December), is in a state of denial when he attributes to Israel sole and exclusive responsibility for the exit of Palestinian Christians from the Middle East.

Bishop Riah fails to acknowledge the extreme intimidation of the dwindling Christian community by the Muslim majority in the Palestinian Territories.  His statement that "To us the gentle co-existence of Christians and Muslims is a source of strength" flies in the face of reality.  Many Palestinian Christians' lives have been threatened, members of their families have been forced to convert, and their churches have been destroyed, not by Israel, but by their own fellow nationals.

TIM PRICE
3 Home Farm, Tatworth, Chard, TA20 2SH