28 dec 2015
Haaretz newspaper has affirmed that the Israeli authorities refused to compensate for the damage which extremist Jewish settlers had caused last June to the Palestinian Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha near the Sea of Galilee.
The Israeli authorities even refuses to repair the extensive material damage which the Church has sustained in the settlers' arson attack, the newspaper added.
Haaretz newspaper quoted Father Nicodemus Schnabel, spokesman for the Benedictine Order in the 1948 occupied lands, as saying that the Israeli property tax authority had informed the Church leaders that it would not pay any compensation for the fire damage at the pretext that it was an anti-Christian hate crime and not a terror attack.
The Israeli authorities even refuses to repair the extensive material damage which the Church has sustained in the settlers' arson attack, the newspaper added.
Haaretz newspaper quoted Father Nicodemus Schnabel, spokesman for the Benedictine Order in the 1948 occupied lands, as saying that the Israeli property tax authority had informed the Church leaders that it would not pay any compensation for the fire damage at the pretext that it was an anti-Christian hate crime and not a terror attack.
23 dec 2015
archive photo: Dr. Ahmad Tibi
This video is from a speech made by Arab Member of Knesset, Dr. Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Change, who denounced recent racist statements of the leader of the right-wing group, Lehava, who called for the expulsion of non-Jews from Israel, and described the Christians as “bloodsucking vampires”.
Translated to English from Arabic by Saed Bannoura:
“Members of Knesset, approximately two hours ago, my comrades Ayman Odeh, Osama Sa’adi and myself, visited the village of Beitello, northeast of Ramallah, where at night, a terrorist of the Price Tag Israeli group broke a window of a Palestinian home, about one after midnight, and hurled gas bombs into the building, where Hussein Najjar, his wife and child were sleeping.
“The question is how come gangs of Price Tag groups feel free to attack, to write racist graffiti such as ‘greetings from the detainees of Zion’. Why do they feel they can freely move around, invade Palestinian towns, and carry out ugly crimes, to kill and to burn entire Palestinian families?”
“I link all of this to what am reading and seeing today regarding Benzi Gopstein, the horrible things he said against the Christians, against the Muslims”, Tibi said. “He said the Christians are bloodsucking vampires that must be expelled.
“Expelled from where? From their Homeland? From their land? From their homes?”
Tibi went on to say, “Isn’t it enough you expelled the Christians from Eqreth and Birim village, as well as so many other towns? And, then, you attack Muslims too. What we are talking about, here, is the highlight of the Israeli racism.
“If those statements of Gopstein were said in German, they would have appeared much more difficult and racist, and even more realistic,” Dr. Tibi said. “Therefore, I am here telling him, you get out of here, you racist, disciple vile small, but very dangerous, person.
“The Christians aren’t just from here, they are the indigenous to this land, they are the owners, and nobody is doing them a favor by allowing them to stay, the same way Um al-Fahm inhabitants are indigenous, all Muslims and Christians in this land are the natives, the indigenous.”
“The Jews who believe in coexistence and tolerance must rebel against people like this vile person, and all of what he represents. They must stand against incitement and violence, and here I repeated what Imad Shafe’ey said: ‘Shun the vile ignorant, as everything he says is what he really is’
“And, to Gopstein and his followers, I say this: the soles of our Christian brothers’ shoes are worth more than you and everyone who stands with you. The Christians in this country are the natives of the land.”
This video is from a speech made by Arab Member of Knesset, Dr. Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Change, who denounced recent racist statements of the leader of the right-wing group, Lehava, who called for the expulsion of non-Jews from Israel, and described the Christians as “bloodsucking vampires”.
Translated to English from Arabic by Saed Bannoura:
“Members of Knesset, approximately two hours ago, my comrades Ayman Odeh, Osama Sa’adi and myself, visited the village of Beitello, northeast of Ramallah, where at night, a terrorist of the Price Tag Israeli group broke a window of a Palestinian home, about one after midnight, and hurled gas bombs into the building, where Hussein Najjar, his wife and child were sleeping.
“The question is how come gangs of Price Tag groups feel free to attack, to write racist graffiti such as ‘greetings from the detainees of Zion’. Why do they feel they can freely move around, invade Palestinian towns, and carry out ugly crimes, to kill and to burn entire Palestinian families?”
“I link all of this to what am reading and seeing today regarding Benzi Gopstein, the horrible things he said against the Christians, against the Muslims”, Tibi said. “He said the Christians are bloodsucking vampires that must be expelled.
“Expelled from where? From their Homeland? From their land? From their homes?”
Tibi went on to say, “Isn’t it enough you expelled the Christians from Eqreth and Birim village, as well as so many other towns? And, then, you attack Muslims too. What we are talking about, here, is the highlight of the Israeli racism.
“If those statements of Gopstein were said in German, they would have appeared much more difficult and racist, and even more realistic,” Dr. Tibi said. “Therefore, I am here telling him, you get out of here, you racist, disciple vile small, but very dangerous, person.
“The Christians aren’t just from here, they are the indigenous to this land, they are the owners, and nobody is doing them a favor by allowing them to stay, the same way Um al-Fahm inhabitants are indigenous, all Muslims and Christians in this land are the natives, the indigenous.”
“The Jews who believe in coexistence and tolerance must rebel against people like this vile person, and all of what he represents. They must stand against incitement and violence, and here I repeated what Imad Shafe’ey said: ‘Shun the vile ignorant, as everything he says is what he really is’
“And, to Gopstein and his followers, I say this: the soles of our Christian brothers’ shoes are worth more than you and everyone who stands with you. The Christians in this country are the natives of the land.”
22 dec 2015
Benzi Gopstein
The leader of the right-wing group Lehava, which calls for the expulsion of non-Jews from Israel, has issued a statement that Christians, like Muslims, should be violently removed from the Holy Land.
Benzi Gopstein, in his statement, called for a ban on Christmas in the Holy Land, and said that the Christian Church is the deadly enemy of the Jewish people, and has been for hundreds of years.
In the article, published on a Haredi website in Israel, stated, “Christmas has no place in the Holy Land. Let us remove the vampires before they once again drink our blood.”
This is not the first time that Gopstein has engaged in incitement and threatening speech. But so far, the Israeli Prosecutors office has declined to pursue any charges of incitement against the extremist leader.
He was briefly arrested last year after the 'Hand in Hand' peace school in Jerusalem was burned by members of his group, but was soon released by the Israeli police.
His Facebook page at the time was full of posts showing doctored photos of Palestinian legislators hanging from nooses, and numerous racist slanders.
Two weeks ago in Jerusalem, 'Lehava' held a protest outside of the YMCA in Jerusalem, shouting at Palestinian Christian children and families as they were entering and leaving the annual Christmas-tree decoration party.
The group frequently protests against 'mixed marriages' between Jews and people of other religions.
In November, Gopstein was invited to speak before the Israeli Knesset, where he was cheered by right-wing legislators.
The leader of the right-wing group Lehava, which calls for the expulsion of non-Jews from Israel, has issued a statement that Christians, like Muslims, should be violently removed from the Holy Land.
Benzi Gopstein, in his statement, called for a ban on Christmas in the Holy Land, and said that the Christian Church is the deadly enemy of the Jewish people, and has been for hundreds of years.
In the article, published on a Haredi website in Israel, stated, “Christmas has no place in the Holy Land. Let us remove the vampires before they once again drink our blood.”
This is not the first time that Gopstein has engaged in incitement and threatening speech. But so far, the Israeli Prosecutors office has declined to pursue any charges of incitement against the extremist leader.
He was briefly arrested last year after the 'Hand in Hand' peace school in Jerusalem was burned by members of his group, but was soon released by the Israeli police.
His Facebook page at the time was full of posts showing doctored photos of Palestinian legislators hanging from nooses, and numerous racist slanders.
Two weeks ago in Jerusalem, 'Lehava' held a protest outside of the YMCA in Jerusalem, shouting at Palestinian Christian children and families as they were entering and leaving the annual Christmas-tree decoration party.
The group frequently protests against 'mixed marriages' between Jews and people of other religions.
In November, Gopstein was invited to speak before the Israeli Knesset, where he was cheered by right-wing legislators.
6 dec 2015
The right-wing Jewish group 'Lehava' held a protest outside of the YMCA in Jerusalem, shouting at Palestinian Christian children and families as they were entering and leaving the annual Christmas-tree decoration party.
Lehava is a group that calls for the expulsion of the indigenous Palestinian population from their homes in what is now Israel, in Jerusalem and in the West Bank. At a protest last year outside of a business that had some Palestinian employees, the group chanted “Stop hiring Arabs,” “stop dating our women” and “employing Arabs equals Assimilation.”
The group, whose name in Hebrew stands for the "Organization for the Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land", has also disrupted weddings between Palestinians and Israeli Jews, and handed out fliers saying they are trying to "save the daughters of Israel" by preventing them from dating or marrying Arab men.
A 2011 investigation by the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz found that around half of the annual budget of the controversial Lehava organization was funded directly by the Israeli government.
The leader of the group, Benzi Gopstein, was reportedly present at the YMCA protest on Friday. Gopstein is on the record voicing support for Pinhas Aburamed, an Israeli man who murdered a Palestinian who he thought was trying to flirt with a Jewish girl. Gopstein said that Aburamed is a hero and should receive a medal.
The event that the right-wing Jewish Lehava group chose to protest was a family event described on the YMCA's website as "A festive evening in the YMCA lobby decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols and enjoying holiday treats."
The protesters shouted anti-Palestinian and anti-Christian slogans at the children who came to decorate the Christmas tree, including, “The Arabs won’t defeat us with knifes, and the Christians won’t buy us with presents,” and “Jews want a hanukkiah [menorah], not a fir tree", according to Israel National News.
Around 1% of the population of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza is Christian. The percentage had been higher before the Israeli military occupation and theft of Palestinian land began. The emigration of Palestinian Christians to other countries increased significantly after the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993 and Israeli settlement expansion increased exponentially.
Many Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth can trace their ancestry back to early Christians who have remained continuously on the land where Christians believe that Jesus was born, died and resurrected.
Lehava is a group that calls for the expulsion of the indigenous Palestinian population from their homes in what is now Israel, in Jerusalem and in the West Bank. At a protest last year outside of a business that had some Palestinian employees, the group chanted “Stop hiring Arabs,” “stop dating our women” and “employing Arabs equals Assimilation.”
The group, whose name in Hebrew stands for the "Organization for the Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land", has also disrupted weddings between Palestinians and Israeli Jews, and handed out fliers saying they are trying to "save the daughters of Israel" by preventing them from dating or marrying Arab men.
A 2011 investigation by the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz found that around half of the annual budget of the controversial Lehava organization was funded directly by the Israeli government.
The leader of the group, Benzi Gopstein, was reportedly present at the YMCA protest on Friday. Gopstein is on the record voicing support for Pinhas Aburamed, an Israeli man who murdered a Palestinian who he thought was trying to flirt with a Jewish girl. Gopstein said that Aburamed is a hero and should receive a medal.
The event that the right-wing Jewish Lehava group chose to protest was a family event described on the YMCA's website as "A festive evening in the YMCA lobby decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols and enjoying holiday treats."
The protesters shouted anti-Palestinian and anti-Christian slogans at the children who came to decorate the Christmas tree, including, “The Arabs won’t defeat us with knifes, and the Christians won’t buy us with presents,” and “Jews want a hanukkiah [menorah], not a fir tree", according to Israel National News.
Around 1% of the population of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza is Christian. The percentage had been higher before the Israeli military occupation and theft of Palestinian land began. The emigration of Palestinian Christians to other countries increased significantly after the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993 and Israeli settlement expansion increased exponentially.
Many Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth can trace their ancestry back to early Christians who have remained continuously on the land where Christians believe that Jesus was born, died and resurrected.
1 dec 2015
Secretary General of the National Christian Coalition in the Holy Lands Dmitri Diliani said the extremist Jewish Lahava Organization demands expelling of Palestinian Christians out of their lands all over Palestine.
He pointed out that these calls were launched in a demonstration organized by Lahava Organization in protest against activities of the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) in the western side of Occupied Jerusalem for celebrating Christmas.
In a press statement on Monday, Diliani charged Israeli government with responsibility in full for such calls and its subsequences of crimes. He stressed that the Christians are part of the history and civilization of the Palestinian people.
Diliani called on the international community to intervene to oblige Israel to ban the terrorist Lahava Organization.
He pointed out that these calls were launched in a demonstration organized by Lahava Organization in protest against activities of the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA) in the western side of Occupied Jerusalem for celebrating Christmas.
In a press statement on Monday, Diliani charged Israeli government with responsibility in full for such calls and its subsequences of crimes. He stressed that the Christians are part of the history and civilization of the Palestinian people.
Diliani called on the international community to intervene to oblige Israel to ban the terrorist Lahava Organization.
10 nov 2015
The Orthodox Church in Egypt on Monday turned down an invitation by the Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to visit Jerusalem as long as it is occupied.
Spokesperson for the church Paul Halim said, in a statement posted on his Facebook page, he firmly refuses to visit Jerusalem as long as it is occupied by Israel.
Halim’s statement was released following a visit paid by the PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to the Pope of the Egyptian Church Tawadros II in eastern Cairo.
Tawadros voiced his hope that the diplomatic endeavors would lead to a radical solution for the Palestinian cause, promising to visit Jerusalem by then.
Abbas said any projected stopover by the Egyptian Church in Occupied Jerusalem would give a push to the Palestinian people and boost their determination.
The Orthodox Church, however, said visits to Occupied Jerusalem amount to acts of normalization.
Several parties have often turned down Abbas’s invitation to visit Occupied Jerusalem in line with their refusal of any act of normalization with the Israeli occupation.
Spokesperson for the church Paul Halim said, in a statement posted on his Facebook page, he firmly refuses to visit Jerusalem as long as it is occupied by Israel.
Halim’s statement was released following a visit paid by the PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to the Pope of the Egyptian Church Tawadros II in eastern Cairo.
Tawadros voiced his hope that the diplomatic endeavors would lead to a radical solution for the Palestinian cause, promising to visit Jerusalem by then.
Abbas said any projected stopover by the Egyptian Church in Occupied Jerusalem would give a push to the Palestinian people and boost their determination.
The Orthodox Church, however, said visits to Occupied Jerusalem amount to acts of normalization.
Several parties have often turned down Abbas’s invitation to visit Occupied Jerusalem in line with their refusal of any act of normalization with the Israeli occupation.
18 oct 2015
By Khalid Amayreh
Fr. Manuel Musallam, Pastor of the only Catholic Church in Gaza, has lambasted a Jordanian Sheikh who reportedly called the stabbing of Israeli soldiers and settlers by Palestinians "a savage and barbarian act."
"Your eminence, I am Palestinian and a man of religion like you; I completely reject what you said. Arabs and Muslims wouldn't have left us alone in the field of Jihad and resistance to defend Palestine, had it not been for the fact that the voices of true patriotic speakers fainted, whereas the voices of defeatist elements like you got louder and louder."
In an earlier Friday sermon, a government-appointed Jordanian cleric named Umar Talha lashed out at Palestinians who stab Israeli settlers and soldiers, calling such attacks "barbarian and savage."
"Your attitude is markedly incompatible with those of free men and women who took to the streets in solidarity with Palestine and Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinians have been carrying out widespread protests over increasingly daring and highly provocative efforts by government-backed Messianic Jewish fanatics to gain a foothold at the Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site.
As many as 36 Palestinians and 8 Israelis have been killed in two weeks of sporadic violence, also sparked off by the collapse of a peace process that would have given millions of Palestinians, languishing under a decades-old harsh occupation by Israel, a hope for freedom and independence.
"I would have forgiven you had you not crossed all the red lines by hurling abuse at our freedom fighters and shamelessly calling them 'savages.'
Disgrace be on you."
"We are the masters of the Arabs, desert-dwellers as well as city-dwellers alike."
Musallam went on:
But it is not strange at all that cowards like you would consider the brutal occupation of Palestine by Zionist gangs and the expulsion and extirpation of its native people an expression of civility and enlightenment whereas the noble resistance to Zionist savagery and barbarianism is viewed as an expression of savagery and barbarianism."
Musallam went on wondering if the Jordanian cleric thought that the tight blockade being imposed on Gaza for the ninth consecutive year, which causes indescribable suffering and agony to Gaza’s children, men and women, represented true civilization.
He added, “Is the hermetic closure of al-Quds (East Jerusalem) in the face of Muslims and Christians, its annexation to Israel and obliteration of its Arab-Islamic identity an expression of civility?"
Musallam's remarks were reported on Saturday, 17 October, in the Jordanian newspaper As-Sabeel.
Fr. Manuel Musallam, Pastor of the only Catholic Church in Gaza, has lambasted a Jordanian Sheikh who reportedly called the stabbing of Israeli soldiers and settlers by Palestinians "a savage and barbarian act."
"Your eminence, I am Palestinian and a man of religion like you; I completely reject what you said. Arabs and Muslims wouldn't have left us alone in the field of Jihad and resistance to defend Palestine, had it not been for the fact that the voices of true patriotic speakers fainted, whereas the voices of defeatist elements like you got louder and louder."
In an earlier Friday sermon, a government-appointed Jordanian cleric named Umar Talha lashed out at Palestinians who stab Israeli settlers and soldiers, calling such attacks "barbarian and savage."
"Your attitude is markedly incompatible with those of free men and women who took to the streets in solidarity with Palestine and Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinians have been carrying out widespread protests over increasingly daring and highly provocative efforts by government-backed Messianic Jewish fanatics to gain a foothold at the Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site.
As many as 36 Palestinians and 8 Israelis have been killed in two weeks of sporadic violence, also sparked off by the collapse of a peace process that would have given millions of Palestinians, languishing under a decades-old harsh occupation by Israel, a hope for freedom and independence.
"I would have forgiven you had you not crossed all the red lines by hurling abuse at our freedom fighters and shamelessly calling them 'savages.'
Disgrace be on you."
"We are the masters of the Arabs, desert-dwellers as well as city-dwellers alike."
Musallam went on:
But it is not strange at all that cowards like you would consider the brutal occupation of Palestine by Zionist gangs and the expulsion and extirpation of its native people an expression of civility and enlightenment whereas the noble resistance to Zionist savagery and barbarianism is viewed as an expression of savagery and barbarianism."
Musallam went on wondering if the Jordanian cleric thought that the tight blockade being imposed on Gaza for the ninth consecutive year, which causes indescribable suffering and agony to Gaza’s children, men and women, represented true civilization.
He added, “Is the hermetic closure of al-Quds (East Jerusalem) in the face of Muslims and Christians, its annexation to Israel and obliteration of its Arab-Islamic identity an expression of civility?"
Musallam's remarks were reported on Saturday, 17 October, in the Jordanian newspaper As-Sabeel.
Bishop Attalla Hanna, the Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, expressed his refusal of Israeli policy of collective punishment, saying that Palestinians are victims of the Israeli occupation.
Hanna said he was shocked at the Israeli measures aiming at tightening the noose on the people of Jerusalem under the pretext of security.
Bishop Hanna along with clerics visited the districts of the Old City of Jerusalem which are under Israeli curfew. The forces attempted to disrupt Bishop Hanna’s access to some of Jerusalem's neighborhoods.
The Bishop condemned the Israeli policy of disinformation and incitement against Palestinians.
Hanna said he was shocked at the Israeli measures aiming at tightening the noose on the people of Jerusalem under the pretext of security.
Bishop Hanna along with clerics visited the districts of the Old City of Jerusalem which are under Israeli curfew. The forces attempted to disrupt Bishop Hanna’s access to some of Jerusalem's neighborhoods.
The Bishop condemned the Israeli policy of disinformation and incitement against Palestinians.
11 oct 2015
Archbishop Atallah Hanna said Muslims and Christians are united in the face of Israel’s notorious apartheid policies against the Palestinian people.
Hanna said during a solidarity visit to the holy al-Aqsa Mosque: “Today we are facing a new apartheid—a kind of oppressive politics rejected by all Palestinians alike, be them Muslims or Christians.”
He spoke out against what he dubbed a “preplanned terrorism” perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces and vandals against the Palestinian people.
Hanna referred to cold-blooded murder and field executions as the most atrocious cases in point.
Hanna, along with a delegation of Christian clergy, also popped in Jerusalem hospitals to keep tabs on the health condition of the wounded Palestinians, wishing them a swift recovery.
According to the Archbishop, the tour carried out by Jerusalem’s mayor while holding a machinegun and inciting murder of Arabs is “a criminal act.”
He called for immediately ceasing racism against and attacks on the peaceful Muslim congregation at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.
“Such racist policies are no less atrocious and perilous than South Africa’s ill-famed apartheid,” Archbishop Hanna said.
He hailed all Palestinians for standing firm against Israel’s ongoing terrorism and aggression on Islamic and Christian holy sites.
Hanna said during a solidarity visit to the holy al-Aqsa Mosque: “Today we are facing a new apartheid—a kind of oppressive politics rejected by all Palestinians alike, be them Muslims or Christians.”
He spoke out against what he dubbed a “preplanned terrorism” perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces and vandals against the Palestinian people.
Hanna referred to cold-blooded murder and field executions as the most atrocious cases in point.
Hanna, along with a delegation of Christian clergy, also popped in Jerusalem hospitals to keep tabs on the health condition of the wounded Palestinians, wishing them a swift recovery.
According to the Archbishop, the tour carried out by Jerusalem’s mayor while holding a machinegun and inciting murder of Arabs is “a criminal act.”
He called for immediately ceasing racism against and attacks on the peaceful Muslim congregation at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.
“Such racist policies are no less atrocious and perilous than South Africa’s ill-famed apartheid,” Archbishop Hanna said.
He hailed all Palestinians for standing firm against Israel’s ongoing terrorism and aggression on Islamic and Christian holy sites.
30 sept 2015
Priests Call on Abbas to Address Cremisan Issue at UN
Delivered by Fr. Ibrahim Shomali:
Thank you, Mr. President,
The CCIA of the World Council of Churches would like to express its deep concern on the building of the Israeli annexation and separation wall in the Cremisan valley, near Bethlehem, in occupied Palestine.
As a priest of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, and having been myself following the Cremisan case for many years, I’m here to alert the international community to the latest developments in the Cremisan area in Beit Jala, upper Bethlehem, which we consider almost as the last nail in Bethlehem’s coffin, condemning Palestinian Christians to being out of place in their own country.
In the last 6 weeks, Israeli forces have been uprooting hundreds of olive trees in the area, one of the last green areas in Bethlehem, very crucial for the survival of thousands of people. I call on you to remember the situation of Christians in Palestine, the birthplace of Christianity. Are you going to allow Bethlehem to die?
Mr. President, Israel is attempting to change the Palestinian identity of our occupied country. So far, the international community has failed to take any concrete actions to stop this and, furthermore, the countries that consider Israel as a “Jewish State”, are complicit in fuelling extremism; the most recent example is the silence of the international community on Israel’s continued attacks against religious sites, in particular the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Occupied East Jerusalem. What we need in our region are democratic states with equal rights for all their citizens and not exclusive Jewish or Muslim states.
I call upon all of you to take meaningful action in order to stop the Israeli strangulation of Bethlehem. The Wall in Cremisan must be stopped. But most importantly, a just and lasting peace must be achieved by respecting the rules and principles of international law.
Therefore, Mr. President, we call upon:
1. The Government of Israel:
a. to immediately stop building the Wall in Cremisan.
b. to dismantle the sections already constructed on all occupied territory as recommended by the ICJ; and
c. to immediately cease confiscating Palestinian land for settlement construction,
2. The Human Rights Council and the international community to take effective measures to make sure the government of Israel is held accountable for the grave violations of international law, including forced displacement of population.
28 sept 2015
Palestinian Christians threaten to close churches
Palestinian Christians within the Green Line threatened to close their churches in protest at Israeli racist policies against them, most recently was reducing the state subsidies allocated for the Christian schools.
Wadie Abu Nassar, an adviser to the conference of bishops in the Holy Land, told Quds Press that the Israeli authorities continue to manipulate in reaching a permanent solution for the budget constraints and lack of funding experienced by Palestinian Christian schools in Israel.
47 Christian schools across Israel which cater for 33,000 Arab students have staged a protest strike rejecting the Israeli racist policy against them, where they had been allocated less than a third of state subsidies for equivalent Jewish schools.
Israel had earlier decided to reduce the state subsidies allocated for the Christian schools from 57 per cent to only 29 per cent of the schools’ needs, while continued to cover 100 per cent of Jewish schools’ costs, Abu Nassar said.
Israel’s racist policy does not only target Christian schools, but it also affects Muslims as 70 per cent of most of these schools’ students are Muslims, he pointed out.
The strike, Abu Nassar continued, affected 33,000 students for the fourth consecutive week amid total disregard on the part of the Israeli government.
He revealed that more escalatory steps would be taken in the coming days including closing churches in order to internationalize the Christian schools crisis.
21 sept 2015
Priests Call on Abbas to Address Cremisan Issue at UN
Delivered by Fr. Ibrahim Shomali:
Thank you, Mr. President,
The CCIA of the World Council of Churches would like to express its deep concern on the building of the Israeli annexation and separation wall in the Cremisan valley, near Bethlehem, in occupied Palestine.
As a priest of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, and having been myself following the Cremisan case for many years, I’m here to alert the international community to the latest developments in the Cremisan area in Beit Jala, upper Bethlehem, which we consider almost as the last nail in Bethlehem’s coffin, condemning Palestinian Christians to being out of place in their own country.
In the last 6 weeks, Israeli forces have been uprooting hundreds of olive trees in the area, one of the last green areas in Bethlehem, very crucial for the survival of thousands of people. I call on you to remember the situation of Christians in Palestine, the birthplace of Christianity. Are you going to allow Bethlehem to die?
Mr. President, Israel is attempting to change the Palestinian identity of our occupied country. So far, the international community has failed to take any concrete actions to stop this and, furthermore, the countries that consider Israel as a “Jewish State”, are complicit in fuelling extremism; the most recent example is the silence of the international community on Israel’s continued attacks against religious sites, in particular the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Occupied East Jerusalem. What we need in our region are democratic states with equal rights for all their citizens and not exclusive Jewish or Muslim states.
I call upon all of you to take meaningful action in order to stop the Israeli strangulation of Bethlehem. The Wall in Cremisan must be stopped. But most importantly, a just and lasting peace must be achieved by respecting the rules and principles of international law.
Therefore, Mr. President, we call upon:
1. The Government of Israel:
a. to immediately stop building the Wall in Cremisan.
b. to dismantle the sections already constructed on all occupied territory as recommended by the ICJ; and
c. to immediately cease confiscating Palestinian land for settlement construction,
2. The Human Rights Council and the international community to take effective measures to make sure the government of Israel is held accountable for the grave violations of international law, including forced displacement of population.
28 sept 2015
Palestinian Christians threaten to close churches
Palestinian Christians within the Green Line threatened to close their churches in protest at Israeli racist policies against them, most recently was reducing the state subsidies allocated for the Christian schools.
Wadie Abu Nassar, an adviser to the conference of bishops in the Holy Land, told Quds Press that the Israeli authorities continue to manipulate in reaching a permanent solution for the budget constraints and lack of funding experienced by Palestinian Christian schools in Israel.
47 Christian schools across Israel which cater for 33,000 Arab students have staged a protest strike rejecting the Israeli racist policy against them, where they had been allocated less than a third of state subsidies for equivalent Jewish schools.
Israel had earlier decided to reduce the state subsidies allocated for the Christian schools from 57 per cent to only 29 per cent of the schools’ needs, while continued to cover 100 per cent of Jewish schools’ costs, Abu Nassar said.
Israel’s racist policy does not only target Christian schools, but it also affects Muslims as 70 per cent of most of these schools’ students are Muslims, he pointed out.
The strike, Abu Nassar continued, affected 33,000 students for the fourth consecutive week amid total disregard on the part of the Israeli government.
He revealed that more escalatory steps would be taken in the coming days including closing churches in order to internationalize the Christian schools crisis.
21 sept 2015
The Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, on Monday, have released statement expressing serious concerns regarding recent violent development on Haram al Sharif (Al Aqsa Mosque).
“We condemn all threats of change to the historical (Status Quo) situation in the Al-Aqsa Mosque (Haram Asharif) and its courtyard, all buildings, and in the city of Jerusalem. Any threat to its continuity and integrity could easily lead to unpredictable consequences which would be most unwelcome in the present delicate political climate,” statement said, according to the PNN.
The statement continued by saying that Muslims have the right to free access to and worship within the Al Aqsa Mosque.
“There is a great importance of the custody of the Hashemite kingdom on Al Aqsa Mosque and the holy places in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. We believe that all Holy Sites need constant watchful protection so that reasonable access to them can be maintained according to the prevailing Status Quo of all three Abrahamic faiths.”
The Heads of Churches finally renewed calls that the existing agreed Status Quo governing these sites needs to be fully respected for the sake of the whole community.
“We condemn all threats of change to the historical (Status Quo) situation in the Al-Aqsa Mosque (Haram Asharif) and its courtyard, all buildings, and in the city of Jerusalem. Any threat to its continuity and integrity could easily lead to unpredictable consequences which would be most unwelcome in the present delicate political climate,” statement said, according to the PNN.
The statement continued by saying that Muslims have the right to free access to and worship within the Al Aqsa Mosque.
“There is a great importance of the custody of the Hashemite kingdom on Al Aqsa Mosque and the holy places in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. We believe that all Holy Sites need constant watchful protection so that reasonable access to them can be maintained according to the prevailing Status Quo of all three Abrahamic faiths.”
The Heads of Churches finally renewed calls that the existing agreed Status Quo governing these sites needs to be fully respected for the sake of the whole community.
16 sept 2015
Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia Atallah Hanna visited Wednesday morning the Jerusalemite youths who were injured over the past three days while trying to prevent Israeli settlers and forces’ break-ins into al-Aqsa mosque.
During a press conference held shortly after his visit to Makassed Hospital, Archbishop Hanna denounced Israeli escalated attacks on al-Aqsa Mosque and sit-inners.
He stressed the urgent need for a real action in defense of al-Aqsa Mosque and holy sites in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
Christians in occupied Jerusalem express total rejection of the Israeli escalation in the city against Muslims’ holy shrines, he said.
Israel’s escalation, according to him, could only strengthen "our steadfastness, determination, and rejection to its unfair practices".
"We, as Christians, share the same pain and sorrow as our Muslim brothers in occupied Jerusalem", he continued. “Al-Aqsa Mosque is the main issue for all the Palestinian people, Christians and Muslims.”
He concluded by hailing the heroic steadfastness of those who sacrificed their lives in defense of al-Aqsa Mosque.
During a press conference held shortly after his visit to Makassed Hospital, Archbishop Hanna denounced Israeli escalated attacks on al-Aqsa Mosque and sit-inners.
He stressed the urgent need for a real action in defense of al-Aqsa Mosque and holy sites in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
Christians in occupied Jerusalem express total rejection of the Israeli escalation in the city against Muslims’ holy shrines, he said.
Israel’s escalation, according to him, could only strengthen "our steadfastness, determination, and rejection to its unfair practices".
"We, as Christians, share the same pain and sorrow as our Muslim brothers in occupied Jerusalem", he continued. “Al-Aqsa Mosque is the main issue for all the Palestinian people, Christians and Muslims.”
He concluded by hailing the heroic steadfastness of those who sacrificed their lives in defense of al-Aqsa Mosque.
