³Palestinians Together Against Church Attacks² Writes Dr. Bernard Sabella from Jerusalem. (Excerpts from Dr. Sabella¹s article-September 25)
³As a result of the quotation on Islam used by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in his lecture at Regensburg University on Tuesday September 12th 2006, a variety of responses, exchanges and positions came to the front in the Palestinian Territories in relation to the quote itself and in reaction to the unwarranted attacks on churches in various localities. Palestinian Christians were especially worried that the quotation on Islam by His Holiness, while in a context of an academic discourse, could be misunderstood and attributed to the Pope himself. This is indeed what happened especially when the media did not differentiate, as His Holiness did, between the quotation and his own position².
³In a statement issued by the reputable Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza² says Dr. Sabella,, ³a strong condemnation was made of the attacks on (7) Palestinian Churches?..The massive condemnation of the attacks that poured forth from the top of the body politic to Moslem religious institutions and personalities, starting with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories who unequivocally stressed that these attacks go counter to the spirit and teachings of Islam and are contrary to the traditions of openness and oneness that characterize our Palestinian people, Moslems and Christians alike².
In Nablus, members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and hundreds of Moslems from the city and surrounding areas, including political and municipal figures and civil society leaders, congregated in the Churches till the late evening hours on Sunday September 17th to express their solidarity with the Christian community of Nablus and to send a clear message to the perpetrators of the attacks that they are there to protect the churches and to fend for their Christian brothers and sisters.²
Palestinian Church leaders present at the scene, H.B. Roman Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah and their Graces Anglican Bishop Riah Abu Al Asal and Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan, highly appreciated this gesture.
³The reactions across the religious, political, civil society and among average Palestinians to the attacks on the churches merit positive examination since they reaffirm that Palestinian Christians and Moslems are together. We need to reemphasize that the struggle ahead is one of ensuring that an end to Israeli occupation will take place, that a viable and physically contiguous Palestinian state will come into being and that the issues of poverty, inequality, unemployment and security chaos are the real issues that need to be addressed. The road ahead calls for our stand together in order to achieve our goals of peace, justice and stability to our people and to our future generations.² For more information, kindly contact Dr. Bernard Sabella at: dspr@netvision.net.il
Middle East Council of Churches Office of International Ecumenical Relations P.O. Box 5376, Beirut, Lebanon
Guirgis Ibrahim Saleh, General Secretary
mecc@cyberia.net.lb or guirgissaleh@cyberia.net.lb
+961-1-353-938 http://www.mec-churches.org/