Farah column now open letter to Bush

A column written by WorldNetDaily Editor and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Farah will be reprinted tomorrow as a full-page ad in the Washington Times in the form of an open letter to President Bush on Mideast policy.

The column, "Why Christians leave Mideast," first published Dec. 30, forms the basis for the full-page ad sponsored by the American Committee for the Preservation of the Land and People of Israel.

"Dear President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of State Designate Rice," begins the ad. "We send this article entitled 'Why Christians leave the Mideast' written by a 'Christian Arab,' not a Jew! If you allow the Sharon/Peres government to continue with its suicidal plans for the Jews in Israel, the rest of the 'Christian world,' including those in the United States, will most probably suffer the same fate as the Christian Arabs of Bethlehem."

The ad then urges the president, Vice President Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice to read Farah's column, reprinted in its entirety.

The column charges the New York Times with distorting the real story of the massive Christian exodus from the Palestinian Authority territory – particularly traditionally Christian towns like Bethlehem.

Farah's column focuses on a pre-Christmas news story by New York Times staff writer Greg Myre, who blames the exodus, at least in part, on the Israeli security fence.

"Now, ask yourself a question," Farah suggests in the piece. "Why would the security fence disproportionately affect Christians? If the security fence were contributing to the exodus, it should be causing an exodus of Muslims as well, right?

"Why is the New York Times lying?

"Because, for the life of this reporter and his editors back home, they can't think of a single legitimate way to blame Israel for the Christian exodus," writes Farah.

Farah says the problem is real. Christians are leaving the territories – in fact, the entire Mideast – in droves.

"If the Israelis contributed in any way to the exodus of Christians it was by withdrawing from Bethlehem and the so-called 'Palestinian territories' in the West Bank," Farah explains. "Since they left, the Palestinian Authority has waged a jihad against the Christian community, raping women, extorting businessmen, lynching 'collaborators' and seizing homes.

"That's why the Christians have left and continue to leave. They enjoyed life while their towns were under the control of Israel. Once they were turned over to the terrorists, there wasn't much left to keep them in the areas in which their families lived for generations.

"That's the story the New York Times, the 'newspaper of record,' dares not tell."

Farah is an American of Lebanese and Syrian ancestry who has written and covered the Middle East extensively for 25 years.