ICC Note: The situation for Christians across the Middle East is dire. Entire communities have been nearly wiped out as specific persecution has eliminated Christians in the midst of instability, war, and the rise of extremist groups.

1/1/2015 Middle East (IBTimes) Christian populations across much of the conflict-stricken Middle East have rapidly declined in recent decades, and now many church leaders fear their ancient presence in the region could soon disappear, the Economist reported Friday. While Muslims make up the vast majority of victims in the Middle East’s wars, minorities have been disproportionately impacted as Christians have seen their numbers dwindle across the region from 14 percent in 1910 to just 4 percent today.

Some have left due to violence, others due to economic unease. Still others complain of a generally hostile environment, including the spread of militant Islamic ideologies. Circumstances of Christian populations vary by country. Palestinian Christians, for example, widely complain Israeli policies — and not Palestinian militant groups — have hurt their communities, causing a massive exodus of Christians from the land that is at the heart of Christianity. For Christmas, hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza were granted rare approval to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave, and many were expected to look beyond Gaza and settle elsewhere. Ten years ago, there were some 3,000 Palestinian Christians in Gaza; today, little more than 1,000 remain.

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