The sour expression on his gray and lined face suggests that His Eminence Lufti Laham, the visiting patriarchal vicar for the Orthodox Melkite Church in Jerusalem, disapproves of Nina Shea--her message, her demeanor, even her presence on the same dais.
Shea is a stone-serious conservative Catholic, the religion expert at the human rights group Freedom House and a leader in the fight against the persecution of Christians overseas. Archbishop Laham represents a group of West Bank Christians who are experiencing growing discrimination from their fundamentalist Muslim neighbors. And yet Laham appears physically pained each time Shea mentions the word "persecution."
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