If this is what is happening while East Jerusalem is still largely under Israeli rule, imagine what would happen if the peace gang got its way and the Palestinian Authority/Hamas took complete control of it?
The head of a monastery in East Jerusalem on Monday accused residents of al-Eizariyya of building illegally on church land.Al-Eizariyya residents are constructing buildings on the private lands of the Holy Monastery of Martha and Maria, “brushing aside all religious, social and national values,” said Sister Efpraxia.“This is a dangerous violation in broad daylight, and construction is ongoing despite our frequent appeals and calls. Such provocative acts are not acceptable by any rational human,” the abbess added.The nun appealed to President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah, custodian of holy sites in East Jerusalem, “to relieve the feeble people as soon as possible bringing these overt violations against the monastery’s property.”She added: “Our properties and lands are not deserted properties, but rather Orthodox endowments and always will be. Next Saturday we will celebrate Lazarus Saturday. Dozens of pilgrims will visit the monastery from all over the world, and we wonder what we will tell them when they see these violations against the monastery’s property.”
When Israel builds apartment buildings in Jerusalem, Hillary Clinton denounces them as settlements. But when Muslims seize Christian land, then John Kerry is silent. Muslim Settlements are one of those things that we just don’t talk about, whether they are in Jerusalem or Paris.
The story is a familiar one. A Muslim clan claims ownership of the land and unilaterally seizes it defying the authorities to do anything about it. Due to the monastery being in a part of the city that the Palestinian Authority claims as its own, Israel has little ability to enforce the law there without running international protests.
To see what would happen to the Christians in Jerusalem if it falls into Muslim hands, we need look no further than what did happen to Christians in Bethlehem.
Christians used to make three-quarters of Bethlehem’s population. Now they make up a third.George Rabie, a 22-year-old taxi driver from the Bethlehem suburb of Beit Jala, is proud of his Christianity, even though it puts him in daily danger.Two months ago, he was beaten up by a gang of Muslims who were visiting Bethlehem from nearby Hebron and who had spotted the crucifix hanging on his windscreen.A telling sign of how bad things have gotten is that the last time municipal elections were held in Bethlehem, Hamas won almost half the seats on the municipal council.
And under Hamas rule, as under the rule of their Muslim Brotherhood allies in Egypt, bad things tend to happen to Christians.
