Former Christian clerics denounce annexation plans
“The Holy Land is on fire, in a situation of war, and needs to be restored to its holiness,” the clerics wrote.
By JEREMY SHARONPalestinian police officers stand guard outside the Church of the Nativity that was closed as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, in Bethlehem in the West Bank March 6, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/MUSSA QAWASMA)
Three former senior Christian clerics in Israel have condemned Israel’s possible upcoming annexation of settlements and West Bank territory, saying that the “Holy Land is on fire” and called for the “implementation of international law and “a just peace” for Israelis and Palestinians.The signatories to the letter are former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michael Sabbah, former head of the Anglican Church in Jerusalem Bishop Riah Abu El Assal, and former head of the Lutheran Church in Jerusalem Bishop Munib A Younan.Their letter follows a similar missive from the current leaders of the major Christian denominations in Israel and the region last month against annexation, as well as appeals by almost all the major Christian denominations in the US against such plans.“The Holy Land is on fire, in a situation of war, and needs to be restored to its holiness,” the clerics wrote, saying they were writing their appeal “as Arab Palestinian Christians who have lived here since Pentecost.”The clerics called for “peace making and reconciliation based on equal dignity and rights of all people,” and for the implementation of past agreements to create an independent State of Palestine.“The Israeli military occupation and colonization of Palestine is the root cause of the on-going conflict,” noting that the serving Christian leaders have appealed “to reject Israel’s destructive annexation plans.”They added that they were “especially fearful for the future of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land,” saying that “only a just peace will put an end to hatred, oppression and the suffering of so many in the land made holy by God.”
