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Christians of Palestine
have exhibitions to religious freedom. They can’t visit holy places
such as: the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre, the Via Dolorosa, Gethsemane, the Garden
Tomb and many other
places.
The right of movement
makes almost impossible for the clergy to perform their pastoral
duties. Most recently,
even the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem was prevented by Israeli
soldiers from attending
a scheduled mass at a West Bank village parish.
In another occasion an
Israeli soldier shot at a clearly identified car carrying the
Catholic
bishop of Nazareth.
Moreover, the Israeli
authorities don’t want to recognize the legitimacy of the New Greek
Orthodox Patriarch
Irineos I on suspicion that he is pro-Palestinian.
The lack of recognition
by Israel means for example that visas are not being approved for
visitors that the Greek
Patriarch would like to invite to the Holy Land.
Israeli officials said
they have intelligence reports that Irineos has business contacts
with
(PLO) the Palestine
Liberation Organization.
The Patriarch said that
he is not pro-Palestinian, nor pro-Israeli, nor pro-anything. He
added, “ I’m only
pro-God.”
The Patriarch expressed
that he is the spiritual leader not only of Arabs, but also
Romanians, Greeks, and
non-Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union.
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