14 june 2012
Hamas asks UNESCO to reject Israeli moves against Nativity Church
Hamas urged the UNESCO-affiliated World Heritage Committee not to heed Israeli attempts not to include the Church of Nativity on the list of international heritage under the name of Palestine.
Hamas, in a press release on Thursday, said that Israel was trying to wipe out Islamic and Christian land marks in occupied Jerusalem and to isolate the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem with its racist, separation wall.
The Israeli violations should be rejected by UNESCO, and the Church of Nativity should be listed as Palestinian heritage, Hamas said.
It called on UNESCO member countries to foil the Israeli attempt in their upcoming meeting in Russia and to pressure Israel into stopping further violations of the international heritage in occupied Palestine.
Hamas, in a press release on Thursday, said that Israel was trying to wipe out Islamic and Christian land marks in occupied Jerusalem and to isolate the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem with its racist, separation wall.
The Israeli violations should be rejected by UNESCO, and the Church of Nativity should be listed as Palestinian heritage, Hamas said.
It called on UNESCO member countries to foil the Israeli attempt in their upcoming meeting in Russia and to pressure Israel into stopping further violations of the international heritage in occupied Palestine.
13 june 2012
Al-Azhar condemns agreements between the Vatican and Israel
Al-Azhar condemned news about agreements between the Vatican and the Israeli occupation about the holy city of Jerusalem, stressing that it is impossible to change the city's legal, diplomatic, demographic, cultural, and religious status.
Al-Azhar issued a statement regarding the arbitrary Israeli measures in occupied Jerusalem and the other Palestinian territories such as the illegal settlements, falsifying history and features, and blurring Arab civilization, in addition to the aggression on the religious sites by drilling in search of illusory history, expulsion of the Palestinian Christians and Muslims from their houses and denying their Jerusalemite identities in total violation of international and humanitarian laws and the UN resolutions.
The statement added: "In light of this aggression, al-Azhar Al-Sharif was shocked, that the bodies which are supposed to be concerned about the implementation of international and humanitarian law and international resolutions concerning the Palestinian occupied territories, think of holding agreements that grant legitimacy to the Israeli occupation authority that has been violating the international law. It also warned if that agreement would cause the Palestinians and Jerusalemites, Muslims and Christians, any harm that can intensify their suffering.
Al-Azhar called on the decent people of the world to take part in ending injustice and harm, and to stop supporting the oppressors by giving them recognition and legitimacy. “We still hope that the agreement, even if it is only an economic agreement, with the illegitimate authority which stands above the international law will be dropped,” Al-Azhar said.
Al-Azhar issued a statement regarding the arbitrary Israeli measures in occupied Jerusalem and the other Palestinian territories such as the illegal settlements, falsifying history and features, and blurring Arab civilization, in addition to the aggression on the religious sites by drilling in search of illusory history, expulsion of the Palestinian Christians and Muslims from their houses and denying their Jerusalemite identities in total violation of international and humanitarian laws and the UN resolutions.
The statement added: "In light of this aggression, al-Azhar Al-Sharif was shocked, that the bodies which are supposed to be concerned about the implementation of international and humanitarian law and international resolutions concerning the Palestinian occupied territories, think of holding agreements that grant legitimacy to the Israeli occupation authority that has been violating the international law. It also warned if that agreement would cause the Palestinians and Jerusalemites, Muslims and Christians, any harm that can intensify their suffering.
Al-Azhar called on the decent people of the world to take part in ending injustice and harm, and to stop supporting the oppressors by giving them recognition and legitimacy. “We still hope that the agreement, even if it is only an economic agreement, with the illegitimate authority which stands above the international law will be dropped,” Al-Azhar said.
12 june 2012
Vatican: the Holy See’s Position on East Jerusalem Remains “Unchanged”
The Vatican Tuesday stated that their position on the annexation of East Jerusalem 'is unchanged', according to the Vatican’s Under-Secretary for Relations with States, Mgr Ettore Balestrero.
Balestrero told the Vatican Radio, in response to rumors, the Vatican was set to recognize Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem that 'the Holy See's position has not changed.'
Balestrero said the position of the Holy See remains in accordance to the main agreement signed between the Vatican and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
He said the agreement with Israel will not include property of the Catholic Church in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Palestinian officials have expressed concern over the meeting between the Holy See and Israel and the results concerning the state of East Jerusalem.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel met at the Plenary level, in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, to carry on negotiations pursuant to the Fundamental Agreement Art. 10 paragraph 2, dealing with economic and fiscal matters between the two states.
A statement from the Vatican said negotiations took place in a thoughtful and constructive atmosphere. The Commission took notice that significant progress was made towards the conclusion of the Agreement.
The meeting was headed by Balestrero, and the Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Danny Ayalon.
The Parties have agreed upon future steps, as well as they agreed to hold the next plenary meeting on December 6, at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Palestinian Christians Concerned over Vatican Agreement with Israel
Palestinian Christians expressed concern over an agreement the Vatican plans to sign with Israel regarding church property in occupied East Jerusalem, the National Coalition of Christian Organizations said in a letter sent to the Papal office at the Vatican.
“We, representatives of the Christian-related organizations in Palestine, have learned of the possible agreement to be signed between the Holy See and the State of Israel with respect to legal and financial issues, following the Fundamental Agreement of 1993,” said the letter dated June 10.
“We write you today with a serious concern regarding this prospect,” added the letter.
The letter said that the Christian community in the Palestinian Territory was mainly concerned by the timing of the agreement and its political character.
“Israel is doing all in its capacity to exclusively control the occupied city of Jerusalem and jeopardize any possibility of a lasting peace settlement,” said the letter.
It charged that Israel was building more illegal settlements around and within occupied East Jerusalem, demolishing Jerusalem houses, forcing the indigenous Palestinians out of the city through residency revocations and limitation on family unification, putting institutions at the mercy of its bureaucracy through granting privileges and taking taxes, closing Jerusalem to Christians from Bethlehem, Gaza, and other cities and Arab countries, systematically working to put all of Jerusalem under its full control and thus transforming the multi-religious, multi-cultural identity of this historic divine city into an exclusively Jewish city, an exclusive capital for Israel, and demanding recognition as a Jewish state as an instrument of legitimizing its exclusion of “the other.”
The letter said that “at a time of such aggressive injustice and continuous loss, we fear that the agreement between the Holy See and Israel will be used as another pillar along the same path.”
The Palestinian Christians said that “we see that this new agreement is not merely a fiscal or technical agreement. It has also a political character and it could have an impact on the alteration of the ‘human and historic’ status of the city.”
“The point is: the agreement covers Israel (within the pre-1967 borders) and Arab East Jerusalem that is Occupied Territory, according to the international law and the constant standing position of the Holy See,” explained the letter.
“If East Jerusalem goes unmentioned in the agreement, this will serve as an implicit acknowledgment of its annexation by Israel: a dangerous precedent that will be understood as a change in the constant position of the Holy See and would pose a serious setback with respect to political and human rights for all Palestinians, both Christians and non-Christians,” said the letter.
The National Coalition of Christian Organizations, a coalition of around 40 groups, urged the authorities at the Vatican “to do your best to put on hold the coming agreement until its wording is clearly differentiating between Israel proper and occupied territories under Israeli administration and control such as and in particular East Jerusalem.”
Balestrero told the Vatican Radio, in response to rumors, the Vatican was set to recognize Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem that 'the Holy See's position has not changed.'
Balestrero said the position of the Holy See remains in accordance to the main agreement signed between the Vatican and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
He said the agreement with Israel will not include property of the Catholic Church in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Palestinian officials have expressed concern over the meeting between the Holy See and Israel and the results concerning the state of East Jerusalem.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel met at the Plenary level, in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, to carry on negotiations pursuant to the Fundamental Agreement Art. 10 paragraph 2, dealing with economic and fiscal matters between the two states.
A statement from the Vatican said negotiations took place in a thoughtful and constructive atmosphere. The Commission took notice that significant progress was made towards the conclusion of the Agreement.
The meeting was headed by Balestrero, and the Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Danny Ayalon.
The Parties have agreed upon future steps, as well as they agreed to hold the next plenary meeting on December 6, at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Palestinian Christians Concerned over Vatican Agreement with Israel
Palestinian Christians expressed concern over an agreement the Vatican plans to sign with Israel regarding church property in occupied East Jerusalem, the National Coalition of Christian Organizations said in a letter sent to the Papal office at the Vatican.
“We, representatives of the Christian-related organizations in Palestine, have learned of the possible agreement to be signed between the Holy See and the State of Israel with respect to legal and financial issues, following the Fundamental Agreement of 1993,” said the letter dated June 10.
“We write you today with a serious concern regarding this prospect,” added the letter.
The letter said that the Christian community in the Palestinian Territory was mainly concerned by the timing of the agreement and its political character.
“Israel is doing all in its capacity to exclusively control the occupied city of Jerusalem and jeopardize any possibility of a lasting peace settlement,” said the letter.
It charged that Israel was building more illegal settlements around and within occupied East Jerusalem, demolishing Jerusalem houses, forcing the indigenous Palestinians out of the city through residency revocations and limitation on family unification, putting institutions at the mercy of its bureaucracy through granting privileges and taking taxes, closing Jerusalem to Christians from Bethlehem, Gaza, and other cities and Arab countries, systematically working to put all of Jerusalem under its full control and thus transforming the multi-religious, multi-cultural identity of this historic divine city into an exclusively Jewish city, an exclusive capital for Israel, and demanding recognition as a Jewish state as an instrument of legitimizing its exclusion of “the other.”
The letter said that “at a time of such aggressive injustice and continuous loss, we fear that the agreement between the Holy See and Israel will be used as another pillar along the same path.”
The Palestinian Christians said that “we see that this new agreement is not merely a fiscal or technical agreement. It has also a political character and it could have an impact on the alteration of the ‘human and historic’ status of the city.”
“The point is: the agreement covers Israel (within the pre-1967 borders) and Arab East Jerusalem that is Occupied Territory, according to the international law and the constant standing position of the Holy See,” explained the letter.
“If East Jerusalem goes unmentioned in the agreement, this will serve as an implicit acknowledgment of its annexation by Israel: a dangerous precedent that will be understood as a change in the constant position of the Holy See and would pose a serious setback with respect to political and human rights for all Palestinians, both Christians and non-Christians,” said the letter.
The National Coalition of Christian Organizations, a coalition of around 40 groups, urged the authorities at the Vatican “to do your best to put on hold the coming agreement until its wording is clearly differentiating between Israel proper and occupied territories under Israeli administration and control such as and in particular East Jerusalem.”
11 june 2012
Hamas, Islamic Jihad urge The Vatican not to recognize occupation
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have urged The Vatican not to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over Christian areas and churches in Jerusalem.
Hamas expressed concern, in a statement on Monday, over The Vatican step, describing it as a serious concession in favor of the Israeli occupation government that is daily violating the international law and going farther in its Judaization process.
“The Islamic and Christian holy shrines and landmarks (in Jerusalem) would remain Palestinian and Arab”, the movement said, adding that the Israeli occupation authority would never be responsible for those holy shrines.
Hamas asked The Vatican not to recognize the status quo in occupied Jerusalem, and held it responsible for consequences of its decision.
Hamas called on the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to immediately intervene to stop this unprecedented step and to protect the Islamic and Christian holy shrines from the IOA schemes.
For his part, Khaled Al-Batesh, an Islamic Jihad leader, rejected the proposed economic agreement between the IOA and The Vatican.
He explained in a statement on Monday that the agreement is rejected because it gives Israel legitimacy in the occupied holy city.
Batesh described The Vatican’s position as “hostile” to the Middle East Muslims and Christians, advising it to re-consider its decision and to preserve the relations of respect with the Arab and Islamic peoples.
Press reports indicated that The Vatican was planning to sign an economic agreement with Israel that would entail a recognition of the illegal status imposed by Israel on the Christian areas and churches in occupied Jerusalem.
Official Concerned over Vatican’s Position on Jerusalem
Fatah Commissioner of International Relations Nabil Shaath Monday expressed concern over a purported draft agreement between Israel and the Vatican that reportedly recognizes Israel’s illegal annexation and control over occupied East Jerusalem.
“We trust that the Holy See will clarify the situation and affirm that it will uphold its legal and moral responsibility, as a High Contracting Party to the Fourth Geneva Convention, and ensure that any agreement upholds the Holy See’s position affirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and independence on the territory Israel occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem,” said Shaath in a statement.
Hamas expressed concern, in a statement on Monday, over The Vatican step, describing it as a serious concession in favor of the Israeli occupation government that is daily violating the international law and going farther in its Judaization process.
“The Islamic and Christian holy shrines and landmarks (in Jerusalem) would remain Palestinian and Arab”, the movement said, adding that the Israeli occupation authority would never be responsible for those holy shrines.
Hamas asked The Vatican not to recognize the status quo in occupied Jerusalem, and held it responsible for consequences of its decision.
Hamas called on the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to immediately intervene to stop this unprecedented step and to protect the Islamic and Christian holy shrines from the IOA schemes.
For his part, Khaled Al-Batesh, an Islamic Jihad leader, rejected the proposed economic agreement between the IOA and The Vatican.
He explained in a statement on Monday that the agreement is rejected because it gives Israel legitimacy in the occupied holy city.
Batesh described The Vatican’s position as “hostile” to the Middle East Muslims and Christians, advising it to re-consider its decision and to preserve the relations of respect with the Arab and Islamic peoples.
Press reports indicated that The Vatican was planning to sign an economic agreement with Israel that would entail a recognition of the illegal status imposed by Israel on the Christian areas and churches in occupied Jerusalem.
Official Concerned over Vatican’s Position on Jerusalem
Fatah Commissioner of International Relations Nabil Shaath Monday expressed concern over a purported draft agreement between Israel and the Vatican that reportedly recognizes Israel’s illegal annexation and control over occupied East Jerusalem.
“We trust that the Holy See will clarify the situation and affirm that it will uphold its legal and moral responsibility, as a High Contracting Party to the Fourth Geneva Convention, and ensure that any agreement upholds the Holy See’s position affirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and independence on the territory Israel occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem,” said Shaath in a statement.
22 may 2012
Mother of 4 jailed sons: Christians suffer for homeland
“Since 2004, the whole family did not gather, not even once. Someone is always missing,” recounted Alexandra Halabi, a Christian mother of four sons imprisoned by Israeli forces.
When Alexandra’s eldest son Raed was detained in July 2004, she did not know it was only the beginning of a struggle that would scatter her family.
Raed, 28, was given a two-year suspended sentence and released in 2005, but toward the end of his probation he was handed to Israel by a collaborator, Alexandra says, and ordered to serve two years plus two months in jail.
He had two jobs, working for the Global Movement for Children and in a hotel, and had no time for political activism, she added.
Nael, 25, was detained four months after Raed and has spent four-and-a-half years in prison. He was studying sociology at Birzeit University but was detained again in April 2011.
He is due to be released on June 5 but an Israeli officer has already threatened Alexandra that he will be detained again, she says. He went on hunger strike in solidarity with Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi, and was twice punished with solitary confinement and denied family visits. He also joined the mass prisoner hunger strike which ended on May 14 following a deal with Israeli authorities.
Nasser, 22, was studying hotel management at Bethlehem University before he was detained in 2009 and spent two years in prison.
Nasser was detained again in March and a week later Rami, 26, was imprisoned. He was studying accounting at Al-Quds Open University. Alexandra says she is most worried about Rami because it’s his first experience in an Israeli prison.
They are all accused of involvement in Kutab Tulabi, an activist group in Birzeit University affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
She said her sons’ continued imprisonment contradicts recent claims by Israel’s ambassador in the US, Michael Oren, that it ensures “complete equality of all its citizens irrespective of religion.”
“He’s a liar,” Alexandra said. She says Israeli prison guards and soldiers discriminate against Christians, but inside prison Muslim and Christian detainees are like brothers “They are true friends.”
Nael shared a cell with three Hamas members, and when they left the cell to pray they would insist he joined them and pretended to pray. They were concerned that prison guards might attack Nael if he was left alone, Alexandra explained.
Chris Bandak, a Christian prisoner who was released in October 2011 in Hamas’ prisoner swap deal with Israel, also said Israeli jailers targeted Christian detainees.
Prison guards treat Christian detainees “with more cruelty as they consider us to be against the Christian habits which they think have nothing to do with the homeland,” he said.
“All prisoners used to celebrate all holidays with me, I felt everyone to be so engaged in making the feast better in jail,” Bandak added.
Alexandra said the soldiers who search her before visiting her sons in prison or in court were more aggressive with her than with veiled women. “The Palestinian cause is for all the Palestinian people, whether Muslims or Christians,” she stressed.
Other women visiting relatives in prison were often surprised when they saw Alexandra and her daughter wearing crosses and said it was unusual to find Christians in jail. She tells them “Religion is for God and the country is for everyone. If I’m Christian, don’t I have a homeland?”
These days, Nael and Nasser are held in Ashkelon prison while Raed and Rami are held in Ofer detention center, and Alexandra says she is more relaxed since her sons have a brother with them.
She must obtain a different permit to visit each one, and it’s hardest to get permission to see Nael, she says. “(Israel’s) excuse was always that there’s no family relationship.”
She said she felt one of the Israeli soldiers who arrested Nael was ashamed to be detaining a Christian and asked “Why are you carrying the Palestinian cause on your shoulders?”
Alexandra added “The officer told me ‘You are from Jerusalem not the West Bank’ but I responded that I have a Palestinian ID and he said he knew.”
All Alexandra’s sons have Israeli ID cards, but she has a Palestinian ID. Her permits state that she is visiting non-Palestinians, and this makes it harder for Alexandra to get permission to visit her sons.
Alexandra’s nephew Khaled Halabi is also in prison in Israel. She said an Israeli officer told Khaled’s father in court “we want to teach Christians a lesson by the sentence of your son.” Khaled was sentenced to 28 years.
“What (the world’s Christians) should know is that Jesus Christ made the first sacrifice, on the cross. He was tortured and crucified. Therefore, we as Christians should put Christ in front of our eyes, how he suffered for the homeland, for religion and for everything, we also have a country, religion and entity (to suffer for).”
When Alexandra’s eldest son Raed was detained in July 2004, she did not know it was only the beginning of a struggle that would scatter her family.
Raed, 28, was given a two-year suspended sentence and released in 2005, but toward the end of his probation he was handed to Israel by a collaborator, Alexandra says, and ordered to serve two years plus two months in jail.
He had two jobs, working for the Global Movement for Children and in a hotel, and had no time for political activism, she added.
Nael, 25, was detained four months after Raed and has spent four-and-a-half years in prison. He was studying sociology at Birzeit University but was detained again in April 2011.
He is due to be released on June 5 but an Israeli officer has already threatened Alexandra that he will be detained again, she says. He went on hunger strike in solidarity with Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi, and was twice punished with solitary confinement and denied family visits. He also joined the mass prisoner hunger strike which ended on May 14 following a deal with Israeli authorities.
Nasser, 22, was studying hotel management at Bethlehem University before he was detained in 2009 and spent two years in prison.
Nasser was detained again in March and a week later Rami, 26, was imprisoned. He was studying accounting at Al-Quds Open University. Alexandra says she is most worried about Rami because it’s his first experience in an Israeli prison.
They are all accused of involvement in Kutab Tulabi, an activist group in Birzeit University affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
She said her sons’ continued imprisonment contradicts recent claims by Israel’s ambassador in the US, Michael Oren, that it ensures “complete equality of all its citizens irrespective of religion.”
“He’s a liar,” Alexandra said. She says Israeli prison guards and soldiers discriminate against Christians, but inside prison Muslim and Christian detainees are like brothers “They are true friends.”
Nael shared a cell with three Hamas members, and when they left the cell to pray they would insist he joined them and pretended to pray. They were concerned that prison guards might attack Nael if he was left alone, Alexandra explained.
Chris Bandak, a Christian prisoner who was released in October 2011 in Hamas’ prisoner swap deal with Israel, also said Israeli jailers targeted Christian detainees.
Prison guards treat Christian detainees “with more cruelty as they consider us to be against the Christian habits which they think have nothing to do with the homeland,” he said.
“All prisoners used to celebrate all holidays with me, I felt everyone to be so engaged in making the feast better in jail,” Bandak added.
Alexandra said the soldiers who search her before visiting her sons in prison or in court were more aggressive with her than with veiled women. “The Palestinian cause is for all the Palestinian people, whether Muslims or Christians,” she stressed.
Other women visiting relatives in prison were often surprised when they saw Alexandra and her daughter wearing crosses and said it was unusual to find Christians in jail. She tells them “Religion is for God and the country is for everyone. If I’m Christian, don’t I have a homeland?”
These days, Nael and Nasser are held in Ashkelon prison while Raed and Rami are held in Ofer detention center, and Alexandra says she is more relaxed since her sons have a brother with them.
She must obtain a different permit to visit each one, and it’s hardest to get permission to see Nael, she says. “(Israel’s) excuse was always that there’s no family relationship.”
She said she felt one of the Israeli soldiers who arrested Nael was ashamed to be detaining a Christian and asked “Why are you carrying the Palestinian cause on your shoulders?”
Alexandra added “The officer told me ‘You are from Jerusalem not the West Bank’ but I responded that I have a Palestinian ID and he said he knew.”
All Alexandra’s sons have Israeli ID cards, but she has a Palestinian ID. Her permits state that she is visiting non-Palestinians, and this makes it harder for Alexandra to get permission to visit her sons.
Alexandra’s nephew Khaled Halabi is also in prison in Israel. She said an Israeli officer told Khaled’s father in court “we want to teach Christians a lesson by the sentence of your son.” Khaled was sentenced to 28 years.
“What (the world’s Christians) should know is that Jesus Christ made the first sacrifice, on the cross. He was tortured and crucified. Therefore, we as Christians should put Christ in front of our eyes, how he suffered for the homeland, for religion and for everything, we also have a country, religion and entity (to suffer for).”
21 may 2012
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem sells Real Estate to Zionists
The Hebrew newspaper "Maariv" has revealed, on Monday (21/5), a new scandal about selling real estate in Jerusalem to the occupation by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem which had previously been involved in suspicious transactions over the past years.
The newspaper pointed out that an agreement has recently reached after four years of negotiations to sell real estate in Jerusalem of approximately 1500 Square meters to Zionist settlers for 10 million dollars. The agreement was between Ozarim Company and the Zionist business man Bani Nahamia and the international company for Real Estate representing the Patriarchate Greek Orthodox.
The newspaper revealed that mentioned real estate is located in western Jerusalem on King David Street near the hotel "King David", and that it was rented for many years to the Zionist company that built upon it a residential tower called "King David Residency" that contains 88 apartments one of them was sold for about $ 7 million.
The deal is a rare one because the Patriarchate Greek Orthodox had refrained from selling its properties to Zionists, and it used to rent it for so many years without ceding it to Zionists, pointing out that this deal was approved by the higher authorities in the Orthodox Church in Greece.
Such deal is considered dangerous because the Greek Patriarchate owns many Real Estate in Jerusalem, it is the second largest owner of land in Jerusalem after the Jewish National Fund " Keren Kayemet".
The newspaper pointed out that an agreement has recently reached after four years of negotiations to sell real estate in Jerusalem of approximately 1500 Square meters to Zionist settlers for 10 million dollars. The agreement was between Ozarim Company and the Zionist business man Bani Nahamia and the international company for Real Estate representing the Patriarchate Greek Orthodox.
The newspaper revealed that mentioned real estate is located in western Jerusalem on King David Street near the hotel "King David", and that it was rented for many years to the Zionist company that built upon it a residential tower called "King David Residency" that contains 88 apartments one of them was sold for about $ 7 million.
The deal is a rare one because the Patriarchate Greek Orthodox had refrained from selling its properties to Zionists, and it used to rent it for so many years without ceding it to Zionists, pointing out that this deal was approved by the higher authorities in the Orthodox Church in Greece.
Such deal is considered dangerous because the Greek Patriarchate owns many Real Estate in Jerusalem, it is the second largest owner of land in Jerusalem after the Jewish National Fund " Keren Kayemet".
4 may 2012
Israeli persecution forces Christians to emigrate
By Khalid Amayreh
Israeli ambassador to the United State Michael Oren recently tried to bully CBS to kill a story exposing Israeli persecution, harassment and mistreatment of Palestinian Christians, forcing many of them to emigrate.
Oren, a Jewish supremacist, reportedly described the '60 Minutes' broadcast of 12+ minute story on Israel's mistreatment of Palestinian Christians as "a strategic threat" to Israel. He didn't explain how a short documentary would be a threat to a nuclear power that is armed to the teeth and which also happens to tightly control the government and Congress of the only superpower on the planet, namely the United States.
The story was prepared by veteran CBS reporter, Bob Simon who is expert on the Arab Israeli conflict. It began with a segment about the disappearance of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land, with emphasis on a family whose Bethlehem home, once on the busiest street in town, is now surrounded on three sides by Israeli military walls.
Eventually, the story gained special attention as Oren approached CBS before the story was even completed and demanded that the network not air the story because it would do such a "hatchet job" on Israel.
I watched the story and honestly it never raised my eyebrows. I knew too well and all along that Israel had been persecuting and tormenting Christians since time immemorial, even before Oren and Simon were born.
Israel is not only a harsh and insidious occupier and persecutor, but is also a deceitful, pernicious liar. It knowingly and deliberately torments its victims, and then tries to turn the black into white and the big lie into a "truth" glorified by millions.
Long history of anti-Christianity
Does anyone still remember the fate of the depopulated Christian villages of Iqrit and Bir'im in the Galilee, which Israeli forces expelled their Christian inhabitants in 1948? Four 64 years, the banished inhabitants who had been dispersed all over the region and beyond pleaded to successive Israeli governments to allow them to return to their ancestral homes and land, but to no avail.
Israeli courts ruled on several occasions in favor of the villagers, but the Zionist establishment stubbornly refused to heed the rulings as Zionist leaders argued that carrying out the rulings would open up a Pandora's box for Israel, an allusion to millions of Palestinians uprooted from their homes and villages when Israel was created in 1948.
But the special hatred (and contempt) of Christians by Jews, especially Orthodox Jews, goes deep in history and certainly precedes modern Zionism by numerous centuries.
According to Yisrael Shahak, author of Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, Judaism is imbued with a very deep hatred toward Christianity, combined with ignorance about it.
Israeli ambassador to the United State Michael Oren recently tried to bully CBS to kill a story exposing Israeli persecution, harassment and mistreatment of Palestinian Christians, forcing many of them to emigrate.
Oren, a Jewish supremacist, reportedly described the '60 Minutes' broadcast of 12+ minute story on Israel's mistreatment of Palestinian Christians as "a strategic threat" to Israel. He didn't explain how a short documentary would be a threat to a nuclear power that is armed to the teeth and which also happens to tightly control the government and Congress of the only superpower on the planet, namely the United States.
The story was prepared by veteran CBS reporter, Bob Simon who is expert on the Arab Israeli conflict. It began with a segment about the disappearance of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land, with emphasis on a family whose Bethlehem home, once on the busiest street in town, is now surrounded on three sides by Israeli military walls.
Eventually, the story gained special attention as Oren approached CBS before the story was even completed and demanded that the network not air the story because it would do such a "hatchet job" on Israel.
I watched the story and honestly it never raised my eyebrows. I knew too well and all along that Israel had been persecuting and tormenting Christians since time immemorial, even before Oren and Simon were born.
Israel is not only a harsh and insidious occupier and persecutor, but is also a deceitful, pernicious liar. It knowingly and deliberately torments its victims, and then tries to turn the black into white and the big lie into a "truth" glorified by millions.
Long history of anti-Christianity
Does anyone still remember the fate of the depopulated Christian villages of Iqrit and Bir'im in the Galilee, which Israeli forces expelled their Christian inhabitants in 1948? Four 64 years, the banished inhabitants who had been dispersed all over the region and beyond pleaded to successive Israeli governments to allow them to return to their ancestral homes and land, but to no avail.
Israeli courts ruled on several occasions in favor of the villagers, but the Zionist establishment stubbornly refused to heed the rulings as Zionist leaders argued that carrying out the rulings would open up a Pandora's box for Israel, an allusion to millions of Palestinians uprooted from their homes and villages when Israel was created in 1948.
But the special hatred (and contempt) of Christians by Jews, especially Orthodox Jews, goes deep in history and certainly precedes modern Zionism by numerous centuries.
According to Yisrael Shahak, author of Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, Judaism is imbued with a very deep hatred toward Christianity, combined with ignorance about it.
He argues that Jewish hatred of Christianity, though partly aggravated by Christian persecution of Jews, was mainly religious and theological in nature.
According to the Talmud, Jesus was executed by a proper rabbinical court for idolatry, inciting other Jews to idolatry, and contempt of rabbinical authority.
Shahak, who died at the age of 68 in 2001, clarified that all classical Jewish sources which mentioned Jesus' execution were quite happy to take responsibility for it. Jesus is also accused in the Talmud of witchcraft, a charge the punishment for which is death.
"The very name Jesus was for Jews a symbol of all that is abominable, and this popular tradition still persists. The Gospels are equally detested, and they are not allowed to be quoted, let alone taught, even in modern Israeli Jewish schools."
Christianity is classified as a pagan, idolatrous religion by most if not all Orthodox rabbis. Israel firsters will not intimate this fact to their naïve but hysterical Christian Zionist evangelical allies.
Nor will they tell them that whenever an orthodox Jew mentions the name Jesus, he or she must recite the following curse: "May his name is damned, and memory erased." Would people like Pat Robertson and John Hagee, who pretend to be the spiritual guardians of Christianity, or even the Holy See, approach their Jewish friends and plead to them to see to it that this vulgar literature is expurgated from the Talmud or at least not taught in hundreds of Yishivot or Talmudic schools throughout Israel. Or perhaps these Zionist or Zionized "Christian" leaders are too pusillanimous to raise such "divisive issues."
Chesronot Shas
According to the Talmud, Jesus was executed by a proper rabbinical court for idolatry, inciting other Jews to idolatry, and contempt of rabbinical authority.
Shahak, who died at the age of 68 in 2001, clarified that all classical Jewish sources which mentioned Jesus' execution were quite happy to take responsibility for it. Jesus is also accused in the Talmud of witchcraft, a charge the punishment for which is death.
"The very name Jesus was for Jews a symbol of all that is abominable, and this popular tradition still persists. The Gospels are equally detested, and they are not allowed to be quoted, let alone taught, even in modern Israeli Jewish schools."
Christianity is classified as a pagan, idolatrous religion by most if not all Orthodox rabbis. Israel firsters will not intimate this fact to their naïve but hysterical Christian Zionist evangelical allies.
Nor will they tell them that whenever an orthodox Jew mentions the name Jesus, he or she must recite the following curse: "May his name is damned, and memory erased." Would people like Pat Robertson and John Hagee, who pretend to be the spiritual guardians of Christianity, or even the Holy See, approach their Jewish friends and plead to them to see to it that this vulgar literature is expurgated from the Talmud or at least not taught in hundreds of Yishivot or Talmudic schools throughout Israel. Or perhaps these Zionist or Zionized "Christian" leaders are too pusillanimous to raise such "divisive issues."
Chesronot Shas
Some of the most vulgar anti-Christian passages in the Talmud are called "Chesronot Shas," literally the "Omissions of Shas." The omissions were originally omitted from the Talmud in the middle ages for fear of upsetting Christians, especially in Europe.
However, when Israel was created in 1948, Chesronot Shas were reincorporated into the Talmud. The Hebrew translation of the originally Aramaic passages can now be purchased in any large bookstore in Israel. |
Rabbis try hard to avoid as much as possible any public discussion of Chesronot Shas, also spelled Hesronot Shas, for fear of drawing stringent Christian reactions.
However, it has been established that the omissions use the most vulgar and abusive epithets to describe Jesus and his mother, such as calling him "the son of a prostitute and a Roman soldier, who learned witchcraft in Egypt and who beguiled Jews to worship him as an idol." Jesus, who is called Balaam the son of Beor the soothsayer, is also boiling in a huge cauldron in hell, full of excrement and human semen.
Hence, one can safely claim that Jewish and Judaic hostility to Christianity is inherent and intrinsic and transcends all Christian pogroms, including the holocaust.
Hitler of Bethlehem
However, it has been established that the omissions use the most vulgar and abusive epithets to describe Jesus and his mother, such as calling him "the son of a prostitute and a Roman soldier, who learned witchcraft in Egypt and who beguiled Jews to worship him as an idol." Jesus, who is called Balaam the son of Beor the soothsayer, is also boiling in a huge cauldron in hell, full of excrement and human semen.
Hence, one can safely claim that Jewish and Judaic hostility to Christianity is inherent and intrinsic and transcends all Christian pogroms, including the holocaust.
Hitler of Bethlehem
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A few years ago, I was discussing religion with a prominent rabbi in the southern West Bank. I was dumbfounded when the otherwise bland rabbi referred to Jesus as "Hitler of Bethlehem." I had to terminate the conversation because as a Muslim, I was not supposed to tolerate any bad mouthing about Jesus and other prophets of God, including also Noah, Abraham, Moses, Muhammed, and others.
But I discovered that even 2000 years later, many Jews are not willing to forgive Jesus and still relating rather gleefully And vengefully to his "execution." (to be honest, we Muslims don't believe in the crucifixion story altogether) . A few years ago, settler youngsters near Hebron chased a number of totally innocuous Christian Peace activists, hurling stones at them and telling them "we killed your God, you Nazis"!! Some of the rabbis tried to restraint the youngsters, telling them that what they were saying would find its way to TV Screens in Christian countries such as the United States and would seriously damage Israel's image. But the insolent youngsters, who routinely assaulted unprotected Palestinian civilians, wouldn't give a damn about hasbara and PR because "Jews control these nations anyway!!" There is no doubt that Jewish hostility, dormant or otherwise, to Christianity is being deliberately kept secret as much as possible by much of the media in the West. This per se constitutes a conspiracy. After all, why of all themes and subject, Talmudic perceptions of Christianity and Christians remain more or less a taboo in western scholarship? Indeed, the CBS story, a merely 12-minutes of understated facts, represents an exceptional anomaly in the western media treatment of the systematic Israeli persecution of Palestinian Christians. It is also clear, that the more religious and nationalist Israel becomes, the more aggressive and hostile toward Christians it will be. |
Many Christians around the world may not be in the mood to listen to this "strange warning." However, the drought of Christians from the Holy Land, which many fear will reach a terminal stage in the foreseeable future, should awaken concerned Christians and others from their self-imposed dormancy.
I am saying this because, without the Christians of Palestine, an original part of Palestine would be missing. And Palestine wouldn't be the same without its Christian component.
I am saying this because, without the Christians of Palestine, an original part of Palestine would be missing. And Palestine wouldn't be the same without its Christian component.