Old City Christian Arabs vented their ire at Theophilos some two-and-a-half years ago when it was learned that he had sold property near the Jaffa Gate to Israeli Jews.
By GREER FAY CASHMANAn Israel Railways train passes through Ein Yael in Jerusalem(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The Ein Yael Museum, the future of which is currently reliant on a court case initiated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate – which owns the land on which the outdoor museum is located – is among a series of controversial issues involving land ownership and sale of land by the Patriarchate. The current controversy centers on a claim filed in the Jerusalem District Court that the museum is operating illegally on church land.The Patriarchate admits that it signed documents two years ago for the development of the museum, but said it was unaware that the museum was already operating.Many Jerusalemites whose apartments are located on land that was owned by the Patriarchate at the time of purchase, discovered that the land was sold in 2016 to private developers Komemyut Investors. Komemyut’s representatives claimed that the land which had been previously leased to Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund had been sold when the Patriarchate got fed up with the organization’s failure to pay the leasing fees over a 10-year period, despite warnings that this could lead to the eventual sale of the land.The contract that the Patriarchate had with the JNF remains in force under the new ownership for the duration stipulated in the contract, however, it essentially poses a threat to apartment owners who may have to vacate in close to 30 years’ time. The previous Greek Patriarch Irenaeus, was also involved in the sale of church property. Because of that, he was deposed from his position, even though he claimed that his signature had been forged on the bill of sale that transferred the ownership of strategic church property to Ateret Cohanim.Irenaeus had lived in Jerusalem for most of his life, arriving in the city in 1953 as a student when he was 12 years old. Over the years, he occupied many positions in the Church in Jerusalem and Greece, until his appointment as patriarch in 2000. Following his ouster, he remained in solitary confinement in a small room at the top of the Patriarchate. He suffered from serious heart trouble and was hospitalized several times. He eventually returned to Greece at the end of August 2019. Irenaeus was replaced by Theophilos III in 2005.Old City Christian Arabs vented their ire at Theophilos some two-and-a-half years ago when it was learned that he had sold property near the Jaffa Gate to Israeli Jews. Theophilos has so far managed to weather the storm. In the current court case, the Patriarchate claims that although it signed an agreement two years ago for the development of the Ein Yael Museum, it was unaware that the museum was already operating on its property.This is somewhat far-fetched, as the museum officially opened in 1989 and is featured in different languages on many websites and in many newspapers, some of which must surely have come to the attention of the polyglot Patriarch, who is an avid reader of various media.■ SENIOR FIRE-FIGHTING official Boaz Rakia has warned that May has always been a month in which Israeli firefighters have had to cope with wildfires that have destroyed large tracts of vegetation, as well as private and public property, and have caused severe injury and death.In Jerusalem’s haredi (ultra-Orthodox) areas, the Lag Ba’omer bonfires, which were banned this year, are arguably less dangerous than elsewhere, because they are often lit inside oversized metal garbage containers, into which participants throw wood, paper and fuel. This causes the flames to rise ever higher, while ensuring that the fire remains contained.Most fires are accidental, and often the result of carelessness, such as leaving shards of glass from broken bottles on tinder-dry grass in picnic areas, where they can be exposed to the sun. Other fires are the result of electrical faults or Shabbat or holiday candles left unattended. There’s also arson, as occurred last month in Jerusalem’s City Hall resulting in the evacuation of participants in committee meetings as well as Mayor Moshe Lion’s office staff.■ TOO OFTEN, news of yet another coronavirus victim is accompanied by the addendum that the person was of an advanced age and suffered from other maladies as well. Thus, it is truly welcome news to learn of someone aged 99 who has recovered. Yediot Aharonot this week ran an article about Holocaust survivor Sarah Itzinger, who had been hospitalized at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center for a month.In thanking everyone for their care, Itzinger, whose husband, Zvi Herschel, unfortunately died from coronavirus, said all she wanted was to go home. She lived in the US after the war and gave birth to an only daughter who came to Israel and gave her parents 13 grandchildren. Itzinger and her husband made aliyah only a year ago so they could be together with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.They took up residence in a sheltered living facility in Jerusalem, where they were among those who were infected with the coronavirus. From the moment his grandfather described his symptoms, said Nitzan Peretz, who is in charge of coronavirus testing at Magen David Adom in Jerusalem, he realized that his grandfather had to be hospitalized.Peretz also arranged for his grandmother to be admitted as a patient. His grandfather died shortly afterward, but his grandmother somehow battled the disease and triumphed. Peretz came to the hospital on Sunday to take his grandmother to his mother’s home, where all the family was waiting to celebrate her 99th birthday.■ CRITICS OF David Halbfinger, the Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times, have berated him for what they consider anti-Israel bias in an article he wrote about the efforts of IDF scientists to find a cure or a vaccine against the coronavirus.Whether Halbfinger wrote it himself or a copy editor inserted the offending paragraph – “The Israeli Defense Ministry’s research-and-development arm is best known for pioneering cutting-edge ways to kill people and blow things up, with stealth tanks and sniper drones among its more lethal recent projects” – it sparked the wrath of many Jews around the world, including in Israel, who wrote angry op-eds and letters to the editor about what they perceived as the Times’ and Halbfinger’s anti-Israel bias.Some even called him a self-hating Jew.That’s a little hard to believe, considering that his family are members of New Jersey’s Conservative Shomrei Emunah Congregation and that when he was appointed, Halbfinger tweeted that it was “a dream fulfilled,” after which he came here ahead of his wife and three children to take up his post. In announcing his appointment, The New York Times referred to the Jerusalem assignment as one of the most prestigious jobs in journalism.We are often too hasty in interpreting criticism of Israel or of Jews as anti-Zionist or antisemitic bias, when in fact it relates to an incident or a policy, and not necessarily to Israel per se or to Jews as a total entity.
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