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Church Leaders Seek Patriarch's Resignation

Arab leaders of the Greek Orthodox church in the Holy Land on Saturday called for the resignation of Patriarch Eireneos following a report that he was involved in a land deal transferring sensitive Jerusalem property to Jewish control.
imperial hotel.jpg
JERUSALEM - Arab leaders of the Greek Orthodox church in the Holy Land on Saturday called for the resignation of Patriarch Eireneos following a report that he was involved in a land deal transferring sensitive Jerusalem property to Jewish control.

The Israeli daily Maariv reported Friday that the church sold land in the walled Old City of Jerusalem to Jewish groups working to bolster the Jewish presence in the area. The properties, which include two hotels, are in traditionally Palestinian sections of the Old City.

The Maariv report, which did not cite sources, could not be independently confirmed, and church officials said they had no knowledge of such a transaction.

But the report aggravated long-running tensions between Greek monks and local Palestinian leaders of the Orthodox Community, who have demanded more representation within the church. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate represents about 100,000 faithful in the Holy Land.

The church is one of the biggest property owners in Jerusalem, including large tracts of real estate inside the Old City, which is home to sensitive Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites. It also shares control of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher - the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection - with other Christian denominations.

A land sale to Jews in east Jerusalem, while legal, would be seen as a betrayal to Palestinians. The Palestinians claim the eastern part of the city, which includes the Old City, as the site of a future capital. Israel, which captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast War, claims the entire city.

In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Arab church representatives demanded the patriarch's resignation, saying they had lost confidence in him because of the reported land deal.

They also called on others involved to resign if the report is confirmed.

"We condemn this behavior and we demand the resignation of those behind this deal, if it proves to be true," Atallah Hanna, a Greek Orthodox church official, said Saturday.

The allegations prompted Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to form a committee to investigate the land sale. "It is dangerous and a clear indication of the Israeli plan that targets the holy city," Qureia said. He said the plan includes buying up land "through secrecy, through fraud ... all with the goal of making Jerusalem Jewish."

A number of Jewish groups have quietly purchased dozens of properties in east Jerusalem in recent years in efforts to bolster the Jewish claim to the area and prevent the city from being divided. Officials with Ateret Cohanim, one of the groups active in such efforts, said they knew nothing of the reported deal.

Residents and business owners in the Old City said they were shocked by the alleged land sale, although they did not know whether the report was true.

"This city is not for the Greeks or the Jews or the Arabs," said Abul Walid Dajani, manager of Jerusalem's Imperial hotel, one of the properties reportedly sold in the deal. "This city is a house of religion for the whole world."

The crisis is the latest sign of internal divisions within the church. In 2003, Eireneos accused a senior priest and formal rival for his job of hiring a Palestinian hit squad to assassinate him. The cleric, Metropolitan Timothy of Vostron, denied the accusations.

Eireneos' appointment to the post of Patriarch also was controversial. Israel approved Eireneos' appointment in 2004 after a more than two year delay, accusing him of being too sympathetic to the Palestinian Authority.
 
 

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