La cacciata dei Cristiani da Gerusalemme prosegue lenta ma inesorabile..
Pretestuose azioni di intimidazione, attuate con imposte e tasse inique, con richieste di "pizzo" e corruzione...
E poi vandalismi ed intimidazioni..
Non solo..
Improvvise richieste di nuove imposte, impossibili da pagare ma anticamera di un esproprio, sono una delle subdole tecniche utilizzate
dall'amministrazione ebraica per "favorire" l'abbandono di terreni, proprietà, attività dei non-ebrei, a favore degli stessi ebrei..
Ovviamente..
Nel mirino: la chiesa ortodossa..
Per il semplice fatto che possiede circa il 30% di tutti i terreni della città..
Anche Papa Francesco si è attivato per il rispetto dello "status quo" della Città Santa..
Ma, per ora, non cambia nulla..
Anche perchè Bergoglio pare sempre occupato altrove..
Christians in Jerusalem's Old City say their presence at the geographical heart of their faith is under threat from intimidation
and aggressive property acquisition by hardline Jewish settlers.
According to church leaders, priests are being verbally abused and spat at, and property vandalised.
Tensions have risen this year in the Christian and Armenian quarters of the 1 sq km ancient walled city, which includes
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest place in Christianity where Jesus was believed to be crucified and resurrected.
The Old City is also home to places of critical religious importance to Jews and Muslims, reports the Guardian.
The churches say they are facing onslaught on three fronts:
Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem and the most senior Christian leader in the Holy Land,
told the Guardian:
"These radical settler groups are highly organised.
"Where the authorities are concerned, this behaviour goes largely unchecked and unpunished.
"At Mount Zion, just outside the Old City walls, undeveloped land owned by the church and often
referred to as the "Greek garden" is regularly vandalised, according to Moni Shama, a church caretaker.
Trees have been uprooted, garbage left, graffiti scrawled on stones and paint thrown inside the ancient
Chapel of Pentecost, he said.
Three years ago, a Greek Orthodox seminary at the site was set alight.
The Greek Orthodox church, the oldest Christian presence in the Old City, is also deeply concerned about attempts to gain
control of properties it owns close to Jaffa Gate, the main entrance to the Christian and Armenian quarters.
A court ruling is expected later this year on a disputed sale of the historic Imperial and Petra hotels.
The church has challenged a deal made by an official under the previous patriarch, which it claims involved bribery and
conspiracy and was therefore invalid. The church has already lost one case on the sale, but it is appealing.
It says the settler organisation Ateret Cohanim is behind the purchase of the strategically significant properties as part of its
drive to increase the Jewish presence in the Old City.
The organisation, dedicated to the "physical and spiritual redemption" of the Old City,
has been frequently accused of using third parties to buy properties.
Abu Walid Dajani, whose family has managed the 45-room Imperial Hotel for almost 70 years, said the prospect
of ownership changing hands from the Greek Orthodox church to Ateret Cohanim was a "nightmare".
"If I used to wake up twice a night, now I wake up four times, thinking what if the decision goes
in favour of Ateret Cohanim," said Dajani, 74.
"I will try my best to keep this hotel, but I know they want us out."
Gabi Hani, whose restaurant Versavee is next to the hotel, said:
Daniel Luria of Ateret Cohanim said: "Claims or accusations by the Greek Patriarchate
regarding 'radical settlers' targeting their priests with verbal abuse etc are absurd, unacceptable and disgraceful."
He denied that the organisation wanted Christians to leave the Old City, and declined to comment on the issue of the Jaffa Gate sales.
"Ateret Cohanim believes in coexistence with Christians and Muslims alike, living side by side without fences or borders,
living in any neighbourhood of Jerusalem," he said.
"The concept of disallowing Jews to live in certain areas is foreign and unacceptable.
In a separate development - but one that church leaders say is part of a pattern of
targeting Christians - Jerusalem city council issued churches with a demand in February for nearly $200m (£143m) in back taxes.
In protest, the church denominations closed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for an unprecedented three days,
during which thousands of pilgrims were locked out.
The tax bill followed a decision that a tax exemption for places of worship had been wrongly applied
to church-owned commercial properties.
The churches say they pay taxes on purely commercial properties, such as restaurants and hotels,
but many of those that the council says are liable provide educational, medical and welfare facilities for Christians
and others.
The closure was lifted only after the intervention of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who set up
a committee to look at the issue of church taxes.
He also temporarily halted the progress of a proposed law to expropriate church lands that could be sold to private developers.
The bill has the support of 40 members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, who say the Greek Orthodox church is
selling off land at discount prices to private developers, which puts leaseholders at risk.
The Greek Orthodox church owns about a third of land in the Old City and key sites around Jerusalem,
including the land on which the Knesset, government offices and the Israel Museum are built.
Theophilos has in the past few months travelled to the UK, the Vatican, the US and elsewhere to seek
support for Christian institutions in the heart of the Holy Land.
In the UK, he met Prince Charles, government ministers and Christian leaders, including the archbishops of
Canterbury and Westminster and the Coptic archbishop of London.
The patriarch wants a commitment to the continuation of the status quo, an agreement which provides protection of,
and access to, holy sites in Jerusalem and elsewhere, allowing Christians to live and worship in peace despite
the conflicts and divisions in the area.
Pope Francis and other Christian leaders have called for the status quo to be respected.
( Gagrule )
a war of attrition waged by hardline settlers;
unprecedented tax demands by Jerusalem city council;
and a proposal to allow the expropriation of church land put up for sale.
"Today the church faces a most severe threat at the hands of certain settler groups.
The settlers are persistent in their attempts to erode the presence of the Christian community in Jerusalem.
Over the last years we have witnessed the desecration and vandalism of an unprecedented number of
churches and holy sites and receive growing numbers of reports from priests and local worshippers who have been assaulted and attacked.
"They [Ateret Cohanim] want to drive Christians out, for sure.
"If you have a hostile organisation sitting in your home, it is no longer your home."
Christian and Muslim Arabs buy and live quietly side by side with Jews in predominantly Jewish neighbourhoods,
so why couldn't or shouldn't Jews purchase and live in predominantly Arab neighbourhoods?"
