CRS is developing programs that will assist these schools. Without these schools many children would not receive an education. The Christian population in the Holy Land is decreasing at an alarming rate. Today, only 2-3 percent is. The number continue to decrease as violence and oppression increase, homes are destroyed, and basic human rights are violated.
Christians seem to be a specific target of Israeli violence.
Franciscan Father Peter Vasko, a native of New York, the English Definitio for the Custody of the Holy Land, has established the Holy Land Foundation which provides job training, academic scholarships, and housing for the diminishing Christian community. Information about the Foundation is available by writing the Foundation at 1400 Quincy Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017. Israeli security forces control the entrance to the Temple Mount, regularly denying access or making it difficult for Palestinian Muslims to enter the Haram. In September Ariel Sharon and over 1,000 Israeli soldiers invaded the Temple Mount. They marched through one of the holiest Muslim sites, offending the Palestinians and setting in motion demonstrations and violence.