Mid-East Christians 'in danger'

14 June 2011 Last updated at 17:19 GMT Dr Williams said there had been extremist atrocities already, especially in Egypt The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that there are extreme forces at work that have turned the Arab Spring into a "very anxious time" for Christians.

Dr Rowan Williams told the BBC that the vacuum left by the end of autocratic regimes was being filled by extremists.

He claimed there had been more killings of Christians and burnings of churches in Egypt than people were aware of.

Life was unsustainable for Christians in northern Iraq, and tensions in Syria were nearing breaking point, he added.

The Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity and home to some of the world's most ancient Christian denominations.

There is no agreed figure for the number of Christians in the region, though some experts believe there are as many as 10 million.

'Consistent pattern'

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's The World at One, Dr Williams said he was "guardedly optimistic" that the political upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa would bring greater democracy to the region.

"In the long term, of course, a real participatory democracy in the region is bound to be in the interests of minorities because good democracies look after minorities," he said.

But in the short term, he warned, people were using the chaos it had brought to attack Christian minorities.

"There is no doubt at all that it is a very anxious time for Christian communities. There have been extremist atrocities already, especially in Egypt," he said.

"It is a fairly consistent pattern over a number of months. Although at leadership level in the Muslim community in Egypt there is clear condemnation of this, it's evident that there are other forces at work which of course may not be native Egyptian," he added.

He suggested outside elements had entered Egypt from "more traditional sites of extremism", such as Saudi Arabia and northern Sudan, and did not rule out activity by al-Qaeda.

Dr Williams said violent extremism had made life unsustainable for Christians in northern Iraq, in a way that amounted to ethnic cleansing.

"The level of violence has been extreme," he said.

"More and more there is the talk of an 'enclave solution' to the problem in Iraq - that is a sort of safe territory for Christians, which Christians and their leaders don't particularly want, but many would think is the only practical outcome now."

He said even in Syria, where Christians and Muslims had long lived together peacefully, tensions were building to breaking point.

Even in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, Christians who had once been in the majority were now a "marginalised minority", he added.

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Star Trek's star urges two-state solution in Mid-East

9 June 2011 Last updated at 14:05 GMT By Yolande Knell BBC News, Jerusalem Leonard Nimoy played the half-Vulcan Mr Spock in the original Star Trek series Leonard Nimoy, the Jewish-American actor who starred as Mr Spock in Star Trek, has become the latest celebrity to weigh into the debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In an open letter published on the website of the non-governmental organisation, Americans for Peace Now, Mr Nimoy explains his support for a two-state solution.

He makes reference to his experience on the fictional Starship Enterprise to help express his views.

He characterises this as "a secure democratic Israel as the Jewish State alongside an independent Palestinian state".

The 80-year-old actor argues that the two-state solution "is still critical in this region for both Israel and the Palestinian people".

To illustrate his assertions that "the time for recriminations is over" and that "assigning blame over all priorities is self-defeating", Mr Nimoy describes an early Star Trek episode entitled, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.

"Two men, half black, half white, are the last survivors of their peoples who have been at war with each other for thousands of years, yet the Enterprise crew could find no differences separating these two raging men," he says.

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Assigning blame over all other priorities is self-defeating. Myth can be a snare. The two sides need our help to evade the snare and search for a way to compromise”

End Quote Leonard Nemoy "But the antagonists were keenly aware of their differences - one man was white on the right side, the other was black on the right side. And they were prepared to battle to the death to defend the memory of their people who died from the atrocities committed by the other."

The actor goes on that he does not mean "to belittle the very real issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians". However, he says, the fictitious scenario shows that "myth can be a snare".

"Security and prosperity"

In his letter, he writes in favour of the division of Jerusalem, which both Israel and the Palestinians claim as their capital.

He mentions how a group of 50 prominent Israelis, including the former heads of Israel's intelligence service, Mossad, and its internal security agency, Shin Bet, have called for two states for two nations.

The actor also describes recent events that have an impact on the peace process - from the murder of a Jewish settler family in the occupied West Bank to the Middle East uprisings.

He adds that strong American leadership is needed "to pivot from the zero-sum mentality of violence to an attitude that focuses on the parties shared interests: security and prosperity".

This line has been interpreted as a reworking of his famous Star Trek line: "Live long and prosper," which usually followed a Vulcan salute in the sci-fi series.

The letter has been extensively picked up by the Israeli media.

"It's only logical: Mr Spock supports two-state solution for Mid-East peace," reads the headline in the Haaretz newspaper.

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