Christians persecuted in Bethlehem?

Just hours after the leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in Bethlehem was killed during an Israeli anti-terror operation, top radio host Rusty Humphries and WND Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein today conducted interviews with the group's gun-toting senior leadership to be broadcast tonight on Humphries' national program.

The Brigades, currently the most active Palestinian terror group, today forced Christian and Muslim schools and shops in Bethlehem to close early in protest of the death of its leader, Raad Abiat, who reportedly was killed after refusing to disarm or put down an explosive device he was carrying during an Israeli raid.

The Al Aqsa Brigades has been accused the past few years of leading the persecution of local Christians in Bethlehem. The city's Christian population, once 90 percent, has declined drastically since the Palestinian Authority took control in December 1995. Christians now make up less than 25 percent of Bethlehem, according to Israeli surveys.

Speaking mostly on condition of anonymity, Christians in Bethlehem have told the media they regularly are targeted by Muslims, particularly members of Fatah, of which the Brigades is a part.

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The Brigades several times the past few months has stormed Bethlehem municipal buildings.

In December, an aid to Jerusalem's Latin patriarch told WND the Palestinian Authority has been appropriating lands of the Greek Orthodox Church in Bethlehem and building mosques on the formerly Christian land. He said he is aware of several cases in which Christian women were raped and murdered, but the alleged criminals were not arrested.

"The Palestinian security forces know who did these crimes," said the aide. "They know where the criminals live. Still nothing to arrest them."

One religious novelty-store owner in Bethlehem in December cited examples to WND of Muslim gangs defacing Christian property, the PA replacing Christian leaders on public councils with Muslims and armed Palestinian factions stirring tensions.

Cases involving other alleged anti-Christian violence in Bethlehem include attacks against Christians in 2001 after a Palestinian Muslim leader called for a "jihad" against both Jews and Christians; riots that spilled over from Ramallah in 2002 in which Muslim mobs burned Christian businesses and attempted to destroy churches; and regular reports of shootings and threats.

In one of the most infamous cases of anti-Christian violence, The Al Aqsa Brigades in 2002 holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and refused to release the religious staff inside. There were reports the gunmen, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, looted the facilities, desecrated the church and even used the Bible as toilet paper.

Today's radio interview with the Brigades members will be broadcast on "The Rusty Humphries Show," which is live tonight from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m Eastern and is featured on over 230 radio stations nationwide, including WDBO in Orlando, WCBM in Baltimore, KSFO in San Francisco, KOKC in Oklahoma City, WNIS in Norfolk, KHBZ in Honolulu and KVI in Seattle.

The show tonight will be hosted from the Israel National Radio studios in Beit El, adjacent to Ramallah in the West Bank.

Humphries this week is scheduled to broadcast from various hotspots in Israel and will conduct exclusive interviews with regional leaders and newsmakers. Last week Humphries hosted his show live from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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Humphries has been named one of America's 100 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts six years in a row by Talkers Magazine, was nominated as Talk Radio Personality of the Year by Radio and Records and was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Hall of Fame as its youngest inductee ever.

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