Dhimmitude in Bethlehem

This from the History News Network by way of FrontPageMag.com.

"The Mayor of Bethlehem is Christian, but it’s Hamas that’s in charge and they plan to return their Christian brethren to Dhimmitude, or to the inferior status traditional Islam grants to the people of the book. The Italian website "Chiesa Online reports:

The general plan of Hamas also includes the imposition of a special tax, called al-jeziya, upon all of the non-Muslim residents in the Palestinian territories. This tax revives the one applied through all of Islamic history to the dhimmi, the second-class Jewish and Christian citizens.

In an interview with Karby Legget, published in the December 23-26 edition of “The Wall Street Journal,” Masalmeh, the leader of the Hamas contingent at the municipal council of Bethlehem, confirmed: “We in Hamas intend to implement this tax someday. We say it openly – we welcome everyone to Palestine but only if they agree to live under our rules.”

Why is there no general Christian outcry? Because the Christian mayor supports incorporating Hamas into the political system. Pity. As this is the time they have most leverage and could have conditioned Hamas' participation in the elections on its commitment never to return non-Muslim Palestinians to Dhimmitude.

In other words, Bethlehem Christians are repeating the mistakes German Jews when the Nazis were running for office and secular Iranians and minorities made when Khomeini was negotiating his return. Bethlehem Christians behave like children who refuse to learn from the experience of others and their co-religionists, including the Vatican, are following their example.