JERUSALEM — The head of Gaza’s Catholic community believes that a local Christian was murdered by Muslim extremists in early October because he was engaging in missionary activity.

But the man’s colleagues vehemently deny that he was proselytizing.

Father Manuel Mussalem, pastor in Gaza’s tiny Catholic community, said that Rami Ayyad, the manager of the Palestinian Bible Society bookstore in Gaza, had defied repeated warnings by Muslim extremists to end what they viewed as proselytizing.

Ayyad, who had roots in both the Baptist and Orthodox churches, was kidnapped Oct. 6 and was found dead a day later, with a bullet wound to the head and numerous knife wounds all over his body. He and his wife were expecting their third child.

The attack shocked Gaza’s close-knit Christian community of about 2,300 people, which has dwindled over the decades to the point of near extinction. They live side-by-side with more than 1.4 million Muslims in a narrow, overcrowded strip of land plagued by poverty, violence and despair.

Christians in search of a better life have fled Arab-Israeli wars, the Israeli occupation and, most recently, intense violence between the Fatah and Hamas Palestinian military factions. Hamas, a radical Islamic organization that many Western governments have categorized as terrorist, forcibly took control of Gaza in June.

Ayyad’s kidnapping and murder was one of several attacks against Christians and Christian property in recent months. In May, the Bible Society bookshop was bombed by an unknown Muslim group and suffered extensive damage. A month later, extremists vandalized the convent and school run by the Sisters of the Rosary. The vandals laid waste to the chapel and burned religious items, including crosses and sacred books.

In September, a man carrying a club and a sharp tool forced his way into the home of 80-year-old Claire Farah Tarazi. The assailant yelled, “Where is the money, you infidel?” she told the Jerusalem Post. “I shouted back: ‘I’m not an infidel, I’m a proud Palestinian Arab,’” she added.

The Vatican has condemned all of the attacks, most recently in reaction to Ayyad’s killing. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See’s press office, called the murder “terrible news,” and said that “if suspicions are true, the incident may be one of grave religious intolerance on the part of Muslim extremists,” Vatican Radio reported.

Proselytizing?

In remarks bound to create controversy, Father Musallem intimated that Ayyad might have brought misfortune on himself by sharing his Christian faith with Muslims attending his library’s varied programs.

The priest insisted that “Christians overall are not facing persecution from Muslims. The issue is with the Baptist church. They were doing missionary work with Muslims, converting them to Christianity, distributing the holy Bible, attracting Muslims to their library and giving them courses. But during the courses they were preaching Christianity.”

Father Musallem said the library staff was well aware of the dangers from Muslim extremists.

 They called them several times, threatening them, calling on them to stop their activities. They attacked the library three or four times. They [the Christians] refused and continued their work. Finally, they killed him.”

 Despite the earlier attacks on Christians, including Catholics, Father Musallem insisted that “the community as a whole isn’t afraid. Those who are afraid are the ones that work with the Baptist church. They are hiding in their homes and rush home from church. They are requesting permits to escape Gaza.”

Due to the threat of Islamic militants, Father Musallem asserted that “this is not the time to convert Muslims to Christianity. Now is the time to dialogue, to speak to Muslims kindly and to learn about their faith. It is a time to cooperate and support them. Those who do missionary work know they are in danger.”

In response, Simon Azazian, director of information at the Palestinian Bible Society in Jerusalem, called Father Musallem’s accusations about missionary activity “not right,” and said his office was preparing “a formal complaint against the Catholic Church.”

He did not elaborate.

The administrator called the Bible Society “very much neutral and non-denominational. We serve all churches and have workers from all Christian denominations who are appointed by their local clergy,” Azazian said. “We are in Gaza serving the community, helping the people and giving them relief and food. Yes, we are a Bible shop and those people who want a Bible are always welcome to come in and ask for one. We make it available but don’t force anybody.”

Azazian said the library offers courses in English, computers and leadership, all of them practical subjects intended to help the Palestinian public gain new skills and self-empowerment.

“If our efforts were evangelizing, why have we had such a positive reaction from the community?” he asked.

Azazian said local Society members were “disappointed” by what they perceived as temerity on the part of local church officials in Gaza.

“We would have liked them to have a day of open condolence visits on Rami Ayyad’s behalf, as the Catholic Church did in Bir Zeit,” a West Bank village. “Such a day would motivate people to show they are against this violence.”

Whether out of the conviction that attacks on Christians are isolated incidents or because he fears reprisals from Muslim extremists, Father Musallem chose to highlight the positive rather than the negative.

“Just a week ago,” he said, “two Hamas ministers came to the [ransacked] Sisters’ House and showed me how they had repaired it to the condition it was before the attack. The school as well. We met; we spoke together.”

While Father Musallem acknowledged that Muslim extremists could strike again, he called them “the exception. There are extremists everywhere. … The reality is that Muslims and Christians live together. In Gaza, our church has two schools with 1,200 students combined, only 140 of them Christian. We are all the people of Palestine and everyone knows that.”

Michele Chabin writes

from Jerusalem.