Where there were once fifty thousand Christians, only three thousand remain. While following the 1995 Synod for Lebanon 'confessionalism' is no longer politically correct, Lebanese church leaders still insist on an established Christian role in Lebanon as a way of preserving not only the Lebanese Church but the Church in the region. Some observers, like Father John Donohue of the Jesuit Universite Saint Joseph in Beirut, fear that Lebanon's pact is threatened by a lack of real engagement between Christians and Muslims. Christians no longer know Muslims, Muslims no longer interact with Christians, and dialogue is an empty formality. In Israel, Arabs make up about twenty per cent of the population.
Christians make up only between fifteen and twenty per cent of the Israeli Arab population.
Until recently, Christian and Muslim Arabs have lived in harmony. In Galilee, as contrasted with the West Bank, Christians have long played a leading role in local politics. A Christian from Haifa even ran for prime minister this spring. This Easter, however, Muslim protestors attacked Christians leaving Easter Vigil services in the city of Nazareth, and tensions grew until Church authorities united in closing all the churches in Israel for two days in response to the violence. The tensions came to a head after meddling by right-wing Israeli politicians looking for Muslim votes in this month's Israeli elections.