"Kristallnacht" for Christians in Galilee.

Maghar -- The Christian residents of this small village, 10 miles from the Sea of Galilee, have recently found themselves under attack by fellow villagers. Maghar (pop. 13,000) has 4,000 Christian residents and around 9,000 Druze (a branch of Islam).

On Feb. 11-12, 2005, following a false rumour about photos posted on the Internet by a Christian schoolboy, mass violence was unleashed. For two days Druze youths rioted in the Christian quarter. 70 Christian homes and businesses were sacked and set on fire, and seven people were injured. St. George's Greek-Catholic-Melkite Church was stoned, the windows broken and the facade damaged. Half of the Christian residents fled their homes for the safety of neighbouring villages.

The most egregious aspect of the incident, however, was the attitude of the Israeli authorities. During the first two days of the attacks, Israeli police stood by without intervening. Finally, on February 13, following a protest by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the apostolic nuncio to Israel, 300 policemen arrived to restore order in the village.

At a Mass which he concelebrated with Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem and local clergy on February 21, the nuncio made a point of encouraging the refugee residents to "recover courage and come back to their community".

After conveying to them "the solidarity, prayers and apostolic blessing of the Holy Father", Archbishop Sambi condemned both the perpetrators of the violence and the authorities who had failed in their duty to stop it. While emphasising that "revenge is not part of our Christian cultural heritage," he nevertheless called for compensation for losses due to the violence and for Israel to give assurances against any repeat of such a "pogrom". He ended with an assurance to the people that "all the world will fix a watchful eye" on the protection of their dignity and safety. (Zenit Feb. 21, '05)