The Palestinian Authority has done little to protect Christians against assaults by Muslims -- including rape, intimidation, land theft and financial extortion. But these are all "sensitive" issues that many Christian leaders do not want to discuss in public out of fear of being accused of serving the Israeli "propaganda machine."

This is why Batarseh and many leaders of the Christian community deliberately ignore what happened in 2002 in Bethlehem, when dozens of Muslim gunmen stormed the Church of Nativity to escape from Israeli soldiers. The gunmen hid inside the church on Manger Square for five weeks. Priests later complained that they and some nuns had been held hostage by the gunmen, who also desecrated the church by smoking, drinking alcohol and littering.

Christian leaders who ignore the torching of churches in Egypt and the persecution of Christians there and in Iraq and other Arab countries are betraying the cause of their people. Have these leaders ever asked what is happening to the few Christians who still live under Hamas in the Gaza Strip?

It is hard to see how boycotting Israel "culturally and educationally" could help solve the plight of Arab Christians.