AMMAN — Greek Orthodox Patriarch
of Jerusalem
Theophilos III has expressed concern over Christian existence in
Jerusalem, stating in a column published in the Times of London, that radical
Israeli groups seek to ultimately expel Christian communities from the holy
city.
اضافة اعلان
“Our brothers and sisters are the victims of
hate crimes. Our churches are regularly desecrated and vandalized. Our clergy
are subjected to frequent intimidation,” stated Theophilos III in his column.
Israeli officials have disagreed with the
patriarch’s comments, describing them as unfounded claims.
The patriarch also commented on a joint
statement released by multiple heads of churches based in Jerusalem, saying the
statement did not explicitly say that attacks in Jerusalem were made by Israeli
actors. “The statement by Church leaders in Jerusalem is particularly
infuriating given their silence on the plight of many
Christian communities in
the Middle East suffering from discrimination and persecution.”
Theophilos III also clarified that such
discriminatory actions by radicals “are not representative of the state of
Israel or the Jewish people”, reminding that Jerusalem should be an inclusive
city for the three Abrahamic faiths.
In an article provided by the office of
Theophilos III to a local news outlet, the patriarch said that a key point of
disagreement between Jerusalem’s Christians and some Zionist extremist groups
is based on certain developments at the Jaffa Gate, which acts as the famous
entrance that leads to the Christian quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The
article states that certain Israeli groups want to gain control of two large
buildings related to the gate through illicit means. “Such actions will lead
some Christians to feel unwelcome”, the article stated.
Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian journalist and
publisher of Maghtas.com, a website dedicated to Christians in Jordan and
Palestine, told
Jordan News, “Christians have been present in Jerusalem since
the birth of Christianity more than 2000 years ago. The activities in Jaffa
Gate reflect an unholy alliance between various institutions of the government
of Israel and the right-wing settler movement. They divide the roles but the
goal is the same: to make Jerusalem less Palestinian Arab and more Jewish.”
Commenting on the ways in which
Zionist extremists are harming Christian interests in Jerusalem, he stated that this is
done through many ways. “The government is not vandalizing Christian sites, but
it is turning a blind eye to those who are. They prey on differences between
Palestinians, weakness of the Church to take over more property using the
carrot and the stick; but more the stick,” he said, citing a recent episode in
which the Israeli court fined the Orthodox Church $13 million after acknowledging
the fact that “criminal Israelis” who are in jail forged documents related to
land deals. “This is the best example of this duplicity,” he noted.
Issa Kassisieh, Palestinian ambassador to the
Holy See, told
Jordan News that in order to maintain the presence of Christians
in Jerusalem, “we need to have a resilience plan, through building bridges
rather than building walls”. The number of Christians in Jerusalem currently
ranges between 9,000 to 10,000.
The ambassador also said that beyond focusing on the
number of Christians, “we need to focus on their contributions to the city”. He
said that a study by the Pontifical Mission to Jerusalem and
Dar Al Kalima University College of Arts and Culture from a year ago has reported that
churches and their related institutions are the third largest employers in
Palestine, just behind the Palestinian Authority and
UNRWA.
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