As Arafat ails, some Catholics fear extremists will gain strength

Published: 2004-11-08

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNS) -- Amid continuing speculations over Palestinian National Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's deteriorating health, some Catholics expressed fear extremist Islamic groups would gain strength after he dies. At Ramallah's Holy Family Catholic Church, Father Ibrahim Hijazin acknowledged that one of the main concerns of Christians at the moment is how Islamic groups will react in the face of a power vacuum within the Palestinian National Authority. "There is this fear for the future as Christians -- but there is that fear in Iraq, in Jordan -- everywhere in the Arab world," Father Hijazin said Nov. 7. "What will be after Arafat? Some fear there will be infiltration (of radical Islamic forces). They are fearing there will be some problems (within) the Palestinian Authority which will reflect itself ... especially (on) the Christians." The Arab Muslim world connects local Christians to what they perceive as the "Christian countries" of the United States and Britain acting in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said.

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