|TOP|The Palestinian Bible Society in the Gaza Strip is receiving strong persecution from Islamic extremists, who are threatening to blow up the centre if workers don’t close up shop and abandon their ministry by the end of February, according to Cybercast News Service.

Arab Christians are taking the threat very seriously, said a Palestinian Bible Society information officer who asked not to be named.

Around 1,500 Christians live among an estimated 1.2 million Palestinian Muslims in the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Bible society has operated since 1999.

Three weeks ago, a pipe bomb exploded around 11:00 p.m. outside the Bible Society, which is located in Gaza's city centre. Although there were no injuries, weeks later, threatening pamphlets were left by an unknown group at the front door of the Bible Society warning that the building would be blown up if the premises were not vacated by February 28.

|QUOTE|"We are waiting for a miracle," said the Palestinian Bible Society information officer. "The Bible Society is committed to the continuation of its ministry and service to the Palestinian people, and God will see us through this crisis."

The situation is so sensitive that the staff at the Palestinian Bible Society was not allowed to be interviewed, the officer said.

The Bible Society was threatened last July alongside the public library of the local Baptist Church, said the information officer.

The current threat against the Bible Society relates with the growing chaos in the Gaza Strip regarding the controversy involving published cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

|AD|"It's purely a case of Christian persecution. I think the cartoons played a big role in this," said the Bible Society's information officer. "Last week a Molotov cocktail was thrown at [a] church in Ramallah," he said.

According to the source, Hamas has offered to protect the Christians in Gaza; but with the current government not yet established, the situation is very chaotic, he said.

As part of the world fellowship of the United Bible Societies, the Palestinian Bible Society’s mission is to make the Bible available, in different languages and in different formats, to as many people as possible.

Several non-Christian groups in Gaza have expressed dismay over the threats and expressed their solidarity with the Christians. The neighbours, too, have tried to convince the Bible Society not to close down, said the officer.

"It really breaks our heart that some groups are against the whole idea. We ask Christians worldwide to pray, not only for us, but also for those who are trying to hurt us, as Christ commands us to do."