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Can Christians in the Holy Land Survive the Millennium
01-Jan-00
Delinda C. Hanley
The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1999
Three Christian groups held a congressional luncheon briefing to focus on factors affecting the decline of the Christian population in the Holy Land Oct 4 at the Senate Dirksen Building in Washington, DC. The American Committee on Jerusalem, Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding, and the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation sponsored the Jerusalem briefing, with National Association of Arab Americans President Khalil Jahshan moderating.
"Israel's position that Jerusalem is the united eternal capital of Israel is well known in Congress:" Jahshan said. "What isn't known is the Palestinian position." Jahshan, who is also ACJ vice president, said the speakers hoped to clarify that position.
Bishop Mounib A. Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church based in Jerusalem, and Father Majdi Siryani, Ph.D. who is the legal adviser for the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, presented the Protestant and Catholic positions, respectively, and also discussed conditions causing Christian emigration from Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The Christian population of Jerusalem is approximately 8,000 today, down from 29,000 in 1944 and 27,000 in 1967. See p. 85 for the full text of Bishop Younan's speech.
Father Siryani said all the churches in the Holy Land hold the same views in regard to what he called the "ethnic cleansing" going on in Jerusalem.
He described 2d year old Palestinian Christian "Tanya" who, after living in Jerusalem all her life, in 1995 lost her right to live in the city of her birth. Then Father Siryani described "Vita," who, he said, is "supposed to be Jewish, though she came to our church to validate her marriage." Vita arrived in Jerusalem from Russia last year, speaks no language used in Israel, but was given all rights of Israeli citizenship and residence in Jerusalem "Tanya says, 'I lost my rights in Jerusalem and Vita found them,"' said Father Siryani. "This is ethnic cleansing and it's been going on for three decades."
The final outcome of Israeli expulsions, settlements, closures and bulldozing is "two nations living together in the same city, hating each other and giving bell to each other on a daily basis." Siryani explained. "This has made Jerusalem unlivable for Palestinians and also for Israelis, who have lost security because they hold back rights [for Palestinians]:'The Catholic priest concluded: "Jerusalem is a symbol of national pride for us and the Israelis ...Any attempt to give it exclusively to one state or one group has never worked in the past. The only solution is to share Jerusalem. The alternative is war and the sacrifice of victims for nothing:'
Both Palestinian clerics and moderator Khalil Jahshan urged congressional aides, diplomats, and media representatives in the audience to oppose any attempts to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Jahshan emphasized that the United States, as the facilitator of the peace process, "should avoid any action that would predetermine the outcome of the final status negotiations before those negotiations conclude and agreement is reached between Israel and Palestine."
"There has been no open hearing on the peace process or no serious debate in Congress," Jahshan pointed out. "Congress has prejudged the issue of Jerusalem instead of listening to all sides of the argument.'
Delinda C. Hanley
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