Who cares about Christians being persecuted in Pakistan?

Tucker Carlson in Miami on Nov. 17, 2022. Credit: Aleksandr Dyskin/Shutterstock.

by Jonathan Feldstein

If you were to read this article about the first Christian woman in Pakistan to become a brigadier general, you’d think that Pakistan was a bastion of tolerant interfaith liberalism. Nothing is further from the truth. Let’s look at this in the proper context.

Last month, something horrible happened in Bethlehem. “Christ at the Checkpoint” is a clever name for a nefarious orgy of hatred organized by people who call themselves Christians, but who advocate for the destruction of Israel, and the massacre of Jewish people. It is built on a biblically baseless foundation riddled with replacement theology, propagating the lie that God no longer has a covenant with the Jewish people.

Unfortunately, more and more people believe and advocate for this, including a recent interview by Tucker Carlson with Reverend Munther Isaac, one of the leaders of Palestinian liberation theology, and biggest proponents of the hollow theology that it represents.

I was reminded of this recently when a Christian friend in Pakistan contacted me to ask for my help. I cannot write anything that will reveal who or where she is, but her circumstances along with that many Christians in Pakistan, are harrowing. I, an Orthodox Jew, have been helping them for years.

My friend and her family have been subject to multiple instances of persecution and assault. Recently she and another family member were hospitalized due to Moslems beating them just because they’re Christian. I’ve seen the X-rays for broken bones that will heal, but in a society that is hopeless in its hate. The most recent attack on her family is the third in recent months, as they try to force them to convert to Islam, and force their women to marry Moslem men.

My friend is incredibly strong in her faith. I wish I could share everything that I know. But she, her family, and countless other Christians live in fear. I have a number of Christian friends in Pakistan who tell me the same story.

She asked for my help because they fear for their lives. They need to leave Pakistan, to flee to another country.

She told me where they can go to claim asylum, and how much it will cost. On the one hand, she is my friend and I want to help in any way I can personally. Because of my work building bridges between Jews and Christians, I am also focused on helping Christians who are in dire need, especially here in the Middle East, and especially when facing similar threats from Moslems as we do in Israel. From a human perspective, it’s hard to say no.

Another friend has been asking me for months if I can help him get a visa to any country where he can find work. Unfortunately, I have no connections to help him, and unfortunately, even other Christians with links to Pakistan who I have asked to help have been unresponsive. You can walk across the Mexican border with no problem — but actually getting a visa to flee, that’s insurmountable.

I know that if it were possible, there would be a huge number of Christians who would flee Pakistan and other Arab Islamic countries. There’s a timeless Jewish teaching that “he who saves one live saves the world.” The Genesis 123 Foundation is committed to saving as many lives as possible.

I thought of Tucker Carlson‘s horrible interview because he not only allowed, but propagated, a lie of Christians suffering at the hand of Israel. He and Munther Isaac blamed the suffering of Palestinian Arab Christians on Israel, without once mentioning anything about Islam, or the actual Moslem neighbors who truly threaten Christians, and under whose control Bethlehem has gone from a city of 80 percent Christian to less than 10 percent.

I also know the truth of Christians being persecuted and threatened in the Palestinian Authority, and in Israel by their Moslem neighbors, firsthand, from Arab Christians who share with me their frustration and fear.

Tucker Carlson asked rhetorically why more people don’t stand up for Christians in the Middle East, to set up a way to blame Israel rather than actually identify the cause. Since I have worked helping Christians in Pakistan, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian Authority for years, my response is very clear. Christians typically are not as tribal as Jews, and do not see the suffering of Christians in other parts of the world as being something for which they have an inherent responsibility, or ability to overcome. Jews consider helping one another an imperative.

In the past, when I initiated major campaigns to help Christians in the Middle East, I have been frustrated with the lack of support, wondering why at least a million Christians don’t donate $10 to make a real difference. Maybe $25.

Nevertheless, I cannot stop advocating for my friends, Christians living in Arab and Moslem nations, and for Christians in general.

For my friend’s family of five it will cost $37,000 to pay for their visas, airfare, and initial setting up of a home in another country. That’s $7400 each to give them a new life free of fear, free of violent assaults, and with the ability to live as Christians. But it’s also half of an average annual Pakistani income. So, the dream of leaving is no more possible than the unbearable nightmare of their reality. Somewhere in there is a clever Mastercard commercial. But this is life and death, and saving a single life is “priceless.”

I suspect that the closest that Tucker Carlson ever has come to actually doing something tangible on behalf of Christians in the Middle East is his disappointing and dishonest diatribe blaming Israel for problems rather than looking for actual solutions, instead of truly doing anything to help directly. That is shameful. It’s one thing to be dispassionate and do nothing. But it’s another thing to spread lies that make the situation for Christians in the Middle East even worse. Maybe Tucker will see this, and maybe he will surprise us and donate the $37,000.

But let’s assume that he doesn’t and let’s assume that nobody else will step up. As a network of Jews and Christians working together, worldwide, I have asked and received a warm response so far for people to join the Genesis 123 Foundation to make a difference and help at least this one family, since there are far more persecuted Christians in Pakistan than those promoted to brigadier general.

Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six, and a growing number of grandchildren. He has become a respected bridge between Jews and Christians and serves as president of the Genesis 123 Foundation, www.Genesis123.co, and recently published a stunning book, “Israel the Miracle,” featuring 75 essays by Christian leaders around the world writing why Israel is so significant. He writes regularly on major Christian websites around the world about Israel, sharing unique experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He is host of the popular Inspiration from Zion podcast. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.