"The plight of Christian minorities in the Middle East is one of the 20th century tragedies to which we pay least attention." --Stephen Crittenden "For too long the plight of Christian Arabs has been put on the back-burner or ignored altogether." --Rev. Malcolm Hedding
"The systematic persecution of Christian Arabs in Palestinian areas is being met with nearly total silence by the international community." --Justus Reid Weiner
"As far as the 'peace process' is concerned, Christians are notable by their absence!" --Walid Phares
Christianity is the world's most popular religion, with 2.6 billion adherents worldwide. It is also the most persecuted. Despite its overwhelming worldwide majority, there are many countries where "the majority is a minority" and Christians suffer the worst harassment, discrimination, persecution, violence and even death. Ironically, one of the places where Christians suffer the most is the very place where Christianity began, the Middle East - Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") as well as the Gaza Strip.
In 1947, when decades of anti-Jewish incitement sent the clear message that Muslims would never accept the Jews' presence, let alone self-determination, in the Jews' ancient homeland, the world had a solution: partition of the region into two states - one Jewish, one Muslim.
Today, it is the Christians of Judea, Samaria and Gaza who are persecuted and threatened with extinction. Today, Gene Schwimmer argues in his provocative new book, author Gene Schwimmer argues that the time has come to establish a third state in the Middle East: a Christian state.
In The Christian State, Schwimmer argues that was right for the Jews in 1947 is right for the Christians today. It is time the Middle East's 14 million Christians had what its Jews and Muslims have: the right of self-determination in their own state.
Read The Christian State - and visit the companion Web site, http://www.thechristianstate.com, to keep abreast of the latest developments and to contribute your own views and suggestions.