Farīdah al-Naqqāsh laments how many Christians are leaving Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine because of the "increasing influence of armed Islamic extremism that targets Christians."

She refers to a recent conference held in Lyons, France to commemorate three rational Arab intellectuals who passed away this year.

The works and ideas of such enlightened men should be propagated by the media and the educational system, as well as included in simplified form in educational curriculum so as to promote "the rational, objective side of Arab-Islamic culture," al-Naqqāsh writes.