« Syrian Spy Story Finds Its Heroes | Main | The Schweitzenbasheringen Problem »

Washington Discovers Christian Persecution

21 Dec 1997 12:00 pm

The sour expression on his gray and lined face suggests that His Eminence Lufti Laham, the visiting patriarchal vicar for the Orthodox Melkite Church in Jerusalem, disapproves of Nina Shea--her message, her demeanor, even her presence on the same dais.

Shea is a stone-serious conservative Catholic, the religion expert at the human rights group Freedom House and a leader in the fight against the persecution of Christians overseas. Archbishop Laham represents a group of West Bank Christians who are experiencing growing discrimination from their fundamentalist Muslim neighbors. And yet Laham appears physically pained each time Shea mentions the word "persecution."
Read more


Copyright © 2008 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.