Despite its propaganda claims to the contrary, Israel is not a country that respects freedom of religion. The story below concerns the attack within the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on a peaceful demonstration by its priests.
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| Zionist Propaganda Claim |
Only a few days ago the heads of the
Roman Catholic, Armenian, and Greek Orthodox churches in Jerusalem called on Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to block draft legislation, which is
reportedly aimed at expropriating their property.
In recent days a cemetery at a Christian monastery near the central Israeli town of Beit
Shemesh, near Jerusalem, has been vandalized. The monks responsible for its
upkeep, who visit the cemetery every few days, found some 30 smashed headstones
on Wednesday. A report Headstones
Smashed in Christian Cemetery Near Jerusalem in Suspected Hate Crime told how: this
was the second time that the cemetery of the Beit Jamal Monastery was defaced.
In 2013, a firebomb was thrown at a door and hateful slogans scrawled on
the monastery walls. It was also damaged in a
hate crime in 2016, when unknown perpetrators entered the prayer house and
smashed statues. ‘At the Beit Jamal
Monastery for the fourth time in five years headstones and crosses have been
smashed.’
Imagine the outcry if a Jewish synagogue in London was
vandalised four times in 5 years. The outcry about antisemitism would be
heard from John O'Groats to Lands End yet in Israel attacks on Christian and
Moslem places of worship are a regular occurrence, aided and abetted by the
atmosphere of religious intolerance in a government which doesn't even respect
liberal or reform strands of Judaism. See Israel Tells Reform Jews: You’re Not
Really Jewish, but Your Money Is Just Jewish Enough
Among a large section of the National Religious sector in Israel, there
is nothing but contempt and hatred for Christianity notwithstanding the support
of Christian Zionism for Israel. When the leader of the fascist Lehava, a group
which campaigns against miscegenation (mixed race sexual relations) Benzi
Gopstein called a few years ago for arson at mosques and churches nothing was
done to prosecute him despite a complaint
from the Vatican. Burning
of Christian churches in Israel justified, far-Right Jewish leader says
Unsurprisingly in the past few years there have been repeated attempts at
arson at major churches such as the Church
of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fisheries. Unlike other arson
attacks, the Police secured a conviction of Yinon Reuveni, who was sentenced
to 4 years imprisonment, for an attack which almost destroyed one of the most
ancient and important churches in Israel.
According to Ha’aretz
since 2009 53 mosques and churches have been vandalised with only 9
prosecutions.
We have also seen direct attacks by the Israeli State with the advent of
the Muezzin law which prevents the Muslim call to prayer in the morning by mosques
via loudspeakers. No such inhibition or restriction is placed on Jewish use of
amplified sound. Ramped-up
muezzin bill allows police to confiscate mosques’ loudspeakers
The arrests and attack on priests at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
are not new. In recent months there seems to have been a constant war of
attrition against one of the most holy sites in the Christian religion, where
Christ was reputed to have been crucified and entombed. See Israel’s
War on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre forces it to close
Tony Greenstein
Oct. 24,
2018 11:49 A.M. (Updated: Oct. 25, 2018 3:53 P.M.)
JERUSALEM (Ma'an)
-- Israeli forces and police assaulted several Coptic Orthodox priests in front
of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the Old City of occupied East
Jerusalem, and forcefully detained one of them on Wednesday morning.
Prior to the
assault, the Coptic Orthodox Church organized a peaceful protest near Deir
al-Sultan Monastery, located on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
against an Israeli decision denying the church the right to conduct the needed
renovation work inside the holy site.
It is
noteworthy that the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem continues to conduct
unauthorized renovation work for the Ethiopian Coptic Church section without
the approval of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Eyewitnesses
said that Israeli soldiers and police officers surrounded the priests who were
protesting, before assaulting and pushing them with excessive use of force,
causing them several injuries.
Witnesses
added that the Israeli police forcibly removed the priests and detained one of
them, before allowing the Israeli municipality workers into the holy site.
The Islamic
Christian Committee to Defend Jerusalem and Holy Sites condemned the assault on
the Coptic Orthodox priests and denounced the intervention of Israeli
authorities in the renovation works of the holy site.
The
committee pointed out that it is not within its jurisdiction to intervene in
issues of occupied East Jerusalem, considering the area is subjected to the
rules of international humanitarian law (IHL).
The
committee called upon the Egyptian government and the Christian world to
immediately intervene to stop Israeli authorities from these attacks and not to
enter the holy site under the pretext of restoration, since the Coptic Orthodox
Church is the only authorized body to do so.
The
committee also called on the world to stand by the Palestinian right to
sovereignty over its land in the holy city and the rest of its other occupied
territories, and to stop the measures carried out by the Israeli occupation in
violation of the resolutions of international law and international
humanitarian law.
