Church in Egypt. Photo: wiki commons.

While the CBS program “60 Minutes” comes under fire for a recent segment on Christian Palestinians allegedly leaving historically Christian areas like Nazareth and Bethlehem due to Israeli security policies, persecution of Christians in Arab countries persists.

Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheik Abdul Aziz al-Asheik, considered one of the Islamic world’s highest religious authorities, said in March that it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.” The same month, a Christian man accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad in Egypt was sentenced to six years in prison, noted Raymond Ibrahim in a column for theGatestone Institute.

Additionally, recently in Pakistan, a 60-year-old Christian woman who converted to Islam but converted back to Christianity six months later received threats from Islamic clerics. In Bethlehem, the Palestinian Authority itself declared a Baptist church illegal, yet “60 Minutes” focused on the alleged plight of Christian Palestinians.