Arab Views: Do Jordan’s Christians feel safe after church attack?

AMMAN: For almost 2,000 years, Christians have lived, worshipped and built communities in the lands that now make up Jordan.

But on Oct. 23, that long history of coexistence was shaken by an act of violence that left a small village grieving and raised painful questions about the future of Christianity in the Middle East.

Gunmen opened fire on mourners gathered for a funeral at a church in Hamoud, in the southern governorate of Karak, killing nine people and injuring dozens more.

The attack, condemned as terrorism by King Abdullah II, prompted an outpouring of national grief and solidarity. Three suspects were subsequently arrested, while the country’s political and religious leaders rallied around the victims’ families.