‘Church property an issue of existence,’ explain Jaffa’s Orthodox Christians

The Orthodox Christian Charitable Society in Jaffa held evening a meeting on Tuesday to explain that church property is an issue of existence, Arab48.com has reported. Discussions were held about how to stand against sales of church property to the Israeli occupation authorities and organisations.

Judaisation of Jerusalem – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

The speakers explained the threats to the Christian Arab endowment properties, which Israel has been trying to occupy since the start of the occupation of Palestine in 1948. They also stressed the importance of the popular movement against the conspiracy which is targeting the “Palestinian-Arab” existence in Israel.

Niven Abu Rahmoun, a senior member of the Christian community in Jaffa, spoke about the importance of dealing with the issue of the endowments as part of the Palestinian national issues.

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“We cannot speak about the issue of the endowments without the historical and political context,” insisted Abu Rahmoun. He rejected the sales by the Orthodox Church of endowment properties to the Israeli occupation.

A member of the Central Orthodox Council, Odai Bajali, spoke about the property sales in Jaffa and the dangers of the Orthodox Patriarchate policy and its drip, drip effect by losing endowment land and buildings.

He stressed that the Orthodox Patriarchate must protect the endowments of its followers instead of stripping them of their properties and wasting the future of the upcoming generations. “It should find a solution for the housing crisis facing our youth,” he added.

Bajali also spoke about the importance of legal action to stop properties being passed to the Israeli occupation and explained several concepts about the relationship of Arab Orthodox Christians with the history of Palestine.