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Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/01/wleb01.xml
Rise in Radical Islam Last Straw for Lebanon's Christians
[Sunday Telegraph-UK] Michael Hirst - Christians are fleeing Lebanon to escape political and economic crises and signs that radical Islam is on the rise in the country. According to a poll, nearly half of all Maronites, the largest Christian denomination in the country, said they were considering emigrating. More than 100,000 have submitted visa applications to foreign embassies. About 60,000 Christians have left since last summer's war between Israel and Hizbullah. "Lebanon has always been a bastion of religious tolerance, but now it is moving towards the model of Islamization seen in Iraq and Egypt," said Fr. Samir Samir, a Jesuit teacher of Islamic studies at Beirut's Universite' Saint-Joseph.