MNAMA, 10 July 2007 — Archbishop of Sevastia Thedosios Atallah Hanna, a leading Palestinian cleric of the Orthodox Church, has issued a warning about the dangers to Al-Aqsa Mosque and other holy sites in occupied Palestine as a result of the continuing Israeli efforts to Judaize the ancient city of Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem is on the brink of a huge calamity. The threat posed by Israel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the same the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is facing,” the archbishop said in a recent interview with Al-Majallah magazine, a sister publication of Arab News.
The archbishop, who has been put forward as a candidate as the patriarch of Jerusalem, called on the civilized people of the world, particularly those who want to see the world’s cultural heritages and religious monuments preserved to work hard to save Jerusalem’s historic sites.
Archbishop Hanna believes that none of Israel’s plans will succeed because everything in Jerusalem is Arab and speaks loudly of its Arabic character. “The malicious mask with which the Zionists are trying to conceal the real face of Jerusalem will fall off revealing the glistening face of Arab Muslims and Christians,” the archbishop said with a note of optimism.
He added that Israel is committing a huge crime against the region’s religious and cultural heritage by destroying Muslim and Christian holy sites. “Under the guise of reconstructing Solomon’s Temple, the Jewish government is attempting to wipe out the ancient features of the holy city and thus embarking on a program of destroying historical landmarks,” he said.
The archbishop added that Jerusalem is a typical Arab city with large numbers of mosques, churches, religious endowments, properties and edifices. “Now they are being crushed under the weight of the Israeli occupation. They aim at altering the city’s Arab character to make it look like a Jewish colony. Their digging activities might cause the collapse of the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he said, adding that by violating the mosque’s sanctity, Israel was provoking Muslims.
Expressing the pain and anguish felt by Christians at the Israeli outrage against the mosque, the archbishop said: “Any aggression against Muslims in Palestine is an aggression against Christians as well. Muslims also feel the same way when Christians are subjected to Israeli aggression... I affirm, emphatically, that the assault on the Al-Aqsa Mosque is an attack on Muslims as well as Christians because we all belong to a single Arab community and a single Palestinian nation.”
The archbishop said the Zionist occupation does not differentiate between Muslims and Christians while going ahead with its much-hated Judaization policies. Just as Muslims are prevented from visiting Al-Aqsa, Christians have been barred from visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
The archbishop told Al-Majallah that since 1948 the Jews have taken over several Christian religious properties and converted them into Jewish establishments. An important religious edifice called Diar Mar Yohanna, which is close to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was seized by a group of Jewish settlers decades ago. Efforts by the church officials have failed to get the squatters evicted; the squatters are trying to assume control of more church properties.
“We are determined to defend our holy places and cooperate with the same determination with our Muslim brothers in defending their holy mosques,” he said.
Asked about his efforts to defend and maintain the identity of Jerusalem, the archbishop said he has been in consultation with several legal experts to find ways of winning back church properties and other religious endowments usurped by the Israelis. The legal channels would, obviously, be more effective because the Zionist occupation does not have any legal ground to support their annexations, he pointed out.
Commenting on a recent report in the Israeli press that an Israeli group has been attempting to take control of a church property close to Bab Al-Khaleel, which would in effect enable the Israelis to block the entrance to the Aqsa Mosque, the archbishop said, “We would not stand idly in the face of such Israeli violations. We will scuttle any new plan to usurp our properties.”
As part of his efforts to resist Jewish plans to change the Christian and Islamic identity of Jerusalem, the archbishop sought the assistance of Orthodox churches across the world and the Vatican with which the Orthodox Church maintains cordial relations.
In reply to a question, the religious leader said that the Christians and Muslims belong to a single Arab community so they could live in complete amity in Palestine. The Palestinian national sentiments and the Arabic language bind them together. They share a common future and face common issues. “Above all we all believe in one God. The factors that bring us together are more than the differences that keep us apart,” he said.
Archbishop Hanna said that the Palestinians, both Christians and Muslims, have always been successful in maintaining their national unity in spite of repeated Israeli attempts to divide them. He added that in order to strengthen this solidarity representatives of both faiths have launched an Islamic-Christian Common Front.
“Our aim is to speak to the world at large in a single Muslim-Christian voice. The enemies have been attempting to drive a wedge between the Christians and Muslims in Palestine, Iraq and elsewhere. We have, however, been countering those attempts with steadfastness, tolerance and solidarity,” he added.
“I tell you that the Zionist occupation does not distinguish between the Palestinians on the basis of their faith. Therefore, our battle is for the common cause against the occupation,” he said, stressing the need for joint action by both Muslims and Christians to protect the holy sites of Muslims and Christians in Jerusalem.
The archbishop urged Arabs to devise an action plan for the protection of Muslim and Christian religious sites in Jerusalem. “We have started to move in this direction with real earnestness and will be shortly holding a meeting in Amman to finalize an action plan for the protection of Christian locations. After that we would collaborate with our Muslim brothers to take steps for the protection of Islamic sites and thus all religious sites would be taken care of,” he said. He demanded steps for the regular repair and maintenance of ancient sites, and commended the efforts undertaken by the Al-Aqsa Mosque’s endowment in this direction.
Archbishop Hanna revealed that he was trying his best to annul the illegal sale of a key church property to the Jews by a greedy member of his church.
At the close of the interview, the archbishop condemned every type of occupation and suppression. “The Orthodox Church rejects any kind of surrender and submission to the occupation. We also reject any type of agreement that would even slightly infringe upon the rights of the Palestinians. I have my own reservations about what is called peace proposals, which sometimes amount to surrendering,” he said.
The archbishop added that Israel is in the habit of claiming it is striving for peace while in reality it is only masking its real intentions and image. “We do not judge Israel by its words but by its acts of brutality, suppression of the Palestinians and its Judaizing operations on a daily basis and, consequently, we do not trust it at all,” he said.
The widely respected religious leader said he did not believe that Israel had changed since its inception in 1948. Israel was the same in 1967 and remains the same in 2007. “It has only intensified its savagery over the years. Only the names of its leaders and the style of their language have changed. At the core it is racist. The racism manifesting in the form of hatred and discrimination against the Arabs is an active force in Israel. It is an undeniable fact. Israel’s daily activities are the telltale evidence of racist injustice and brutality. If you want to see the real face of Israel just look at the Wall of Racial Divide, which it built on Palestinian territory and which reflects Israel’s repulsiveness and meanness,” the archbishop concluded.