Mitri Raheb – författare

Persecution of Christians in the Middle East has been a recurring theme since the middle of the nineteenth century. The topic has experienced a resurgence in the last few years, especially during the Trump era. Middle Eastern Christians are often portrayed as a homogeneous, helpless group ever at the mercy of their Muslim enemies, a situation that only Western powers can remedy. The Politics of Persecution revisits this narrative with a critical eye.Mitri Raheb charts the plight of Christians in the Middle East from the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 to the so-called Arab Spring. The book analyzes the diverse socioeconomic and political factors that led to the diminishing role and numbers of Christians in Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan during the eras of Ottoman, French, and British Empires, through the eras of independence, Pan-Arabism, and Pan-Islamism, and into the current era of American empire. With an incisive exposé of the politics that lie behind alleged concerns for these persecuted Christians—and how the concept of persecution has been a tool of public diplomacy and international politics—Raheb reveals that Middle Eastern Christians have been repeatedly sacrificed on the altar of Western national interests. The West has been part of the problem for Middle Eastern Christianity and not part of the solution, from the massacre on Mount Lebanon to the rise of ISIS.The Politics of Persecution, written by a well-known Palestinian Christian theologian, provides an insider perspective on this contested region. Middle Eastern Christians survived successive empires by developing great elasticity in adjusting to changing contexts; they learned how to survive atrocities and how to resist creatively while maintaining a dynamic identity. In this light, Raheb casts the history of Middle Eastern Christians not so much as one of persecution but as one of resilience.

This work represents the current and most relevant content on the studies of how Christianity has fared in the ancient home of its founder and birth. Much has been written about Christianity and how it has survived since its migration out of its homeland but this comprehensive reference work reassesses the geographic and demographic impact of the dramatic changes in this perennially combustible world region. The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East also spans the historical, socio-political and contemporary settings of the region and importantly describes the interactions that Christianity has had with other major/minor religions in the region.

This work represents the current and most relevant content on the studies of how Christianity has fared in the ancient home of its founder and birth. Much has been written about Christianity and how it has survived since its migration out of its homeland but this comprehensive reference work reassesses the geographic and demographic impact of the dramatic changes in this perennially combustible world region. The Rowman & Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East also spans the historical, socio-political and contemporary settings of the region and importantly describes the interactions that Christianity has had with other major/minor religions in the region.

In recent decades there has been a seismic shift in world Christianity. Whereas formerly Christianity existed as a Caucasian Euro-American phenomenon, the majority of Christians today reside in the Southern Hemisphere, or the Global South. And what is true for the demographics of Christianity has followed lockstep for its theological developments. The era of German theologians setting the tone for global church are gone. Today, some of the loudest and most creative voices in theology speak from the emerging contingencies of the Global South, for example, promoting Latinx, Black, Caribbean, and Asian theologies and their influence often influences the conversation in the United States and Europe. In addition, just as the center of Christianity has moved geographically from north to south, so with theological seminaries in the west, which have declined as training centers for clergy. These events coincide with new theological centers are opening in Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America. The bottom line is--contemporary Christianity today looks significantly different than it did a century ago, and publications have been slow to acknowledge, let alone describe and elaborate upon, this major shift to the largest religion in the world.These shifts guide our intentions in this book. Such a reference book, which could also be used as a textbook, therefore is very much needed. In fact, there is nothing like the contents of this single-volume book in the publishing market which allows for high-quality, interdisciplinary, and international dialogue.

The situation of Christians in the Middle East has become an important topic of international discussion as well as an important theme covered in the media, as several CBS Sixty Minutes programs have highlighted the plight of Christians in Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. In the Eye of the Storm tells the story of the plight of twenty-first-century Middle Eastern Christians in five countries (Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt) in the context of the so-called Arab Spring and within a destabilized region that is a geopolitical triangle shaped by Israeli hegemony and Arab-Iranian tensions. The book places the situation of the Christians within the wider sociopolitical context of the Middle East in the twenty-first century. A unique feature of this book is that it is written mainly by native Christians who have spent their entire lives in the region and continue to live there. In the Eye of the Storm, therefore, provides an insider perspective rather than a hegemonic and colonial outsider perspective. This book hopes to offer a sociopolitical framework for the Christians of the Middle East, thus allowing them to tell their own story as they see it and not one that has been projected onto them by outside forces.

The Christian church was born in the Middle East and grew there for centuries. Its interaction with Islam turned Christianity in this once predominantly Christian region into a marginalized jewel, surviving at great peril within a difficult, even sometimes hostile, political and religious climate. Of course, the story of Christianity over the last 1,300 years is not solely one of conflict, marginalization, and persecution but is also about accommodation, interchange, and cooperation. This introductory book details the history of the church in its Middle Eastern birthplace through the past two thousand years. It is a story described as "a lost history" by Philip Jenkins, but it is here uncovered and placed on display. For those with eyes to see, the church of the Middle East is here revealed as a precious jewel, still catching the light.

In Resisting Occupation, international scholars discuss the radical denial of human flourishing caused by the occupation of mind, body, spirit, and land. They explore how religious perspectives can be, and often are, constructed by occupiers to justify their actions, perpetuate exploitation, and domesticate indigenous landholders. In the name of Christianization and civilization, which has proven to be a global phenomenon beyond time and space, a consistent domestication process is established. The colonized are taught to want, to yearn for, and to embrace their occupation, seeing themselves through the eyes of their colonizers. Writing from different spots around the globe, the scholars of this book demonstrate how occupation, a synonym for empire, is manifested within their social context and reveal unity in their struggle for liberation. Recognizing that where there is oppression, there is resistance, the contributors turn to religion. While questioning the logic, rationale, theology, and epistemology of the empire’s religion, they nonetheless seek the liberative response of resistance – at times using the very religion of the occupiers.

In Resisting Occupation, international scholars discuss the radical denial of human flourishing caused by the occupation of mind, body, spirit, and land. They explore how religious perspectives can be, and often are, constructed by occupiers to justify their actions, perpetuate exploitation, and domesticate indigenous landholders. In the name of Christianization and civilization, which has proven to be a global phenomenon beyond time and space, a consistent domestication process is established. The colonized are taught to want, to yearn for, and to embrace their occupation, seeing themselves through the eyes of their colonizers. Writing from different spots around the globe, the scholars of this book demonstrate how occupation, a synonym for empire, is manifested within their social context and reveal unity in their struggle for liberation. Recognizing that where there is oppression, there is resistance, the contributors turn to religion. While questioning the logic, rationale, theology, and epistemology of the empire’s religion, they nonetheless seek the liberative response of resistance – at times using the very religion of the occupiers.