December 26, 2009



The so-called "Israel Antiquities Authority" (IAA) stole one of the Christian holy gates (Mary�s Gate) from the Church of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which is the most sacred Christian place in the world. The Holy Church of the Sepulchre which was looted by the "IAA" is administrated by all Christian communities in Palestine together: the Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian Orthodox, and Ethiopian churches. (Click on pictures to see them bigger).

The church is registered under the Ministry of Awqaf, of Islamic and Christians Affairs in Jordan, which officially is the only authority responsible for taking care for all Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem since 1952 and until now.

he Israeli robbery and desecration of the Sepulchre Church was carried out on December 4 2009, before the preparations for the Christmas festivities of this year. The IAA opened the Gate of Mary and removed archaeological holy stones and iron bars around the gate in the walls, which had been sealed since the time of the British mandate of Palestine, before 1948. The IAA claimed that they were cleaning the place and doing renovations.



Neither the Christian communities or the Jordanian Ministry of Holy sites in Jerusalem asked the "IAA" to do anything in the Holy Sepulchre Church, and what the Israel Antiquities Authority did in the place was a deliberate attack and the desecration of the sanctity of the holy place. The "IAA" was not cleaning or renewing the Christian holy place, as it is not their responsibility to do that. The IAA stole the holy gate and removed holy stones, and then sealed the place after the theft, in order to hide the crime.

"Israel�s measures are illegal and violate international laws, because Israel is the occupying force in the West Bank and East Jerusalem", the official said.

Mr. Craig Dunning, a foreign researcher interested archaeology, photographed the IAA theft while they were transferring the big stones into a car. The IAA claimed that they were "cleaning Mary�s Gate" and "strengthening the ground" which was supposedly "doomed to fall". They made some changes to a gate and removed the antique stones, transferring them together with other objects to an unknown location.

According to Osama Al-Ayasa, a Palestinian journalist who reported in Arabic about the IAA robbery, the reactions to what happened in this holy place came very late, most notable being the position of the Jordanian government, which called the Israeli ambassador in Amman, Yaakov Rosen, and handed him a formal protest note on what they described the robbery as "unilateral actions" in the Church of the Holy Resurrection (Sepulchre). The Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh presented the Israeli ambassador to Amman Yaakov Rosen with a protest letter against the construction work being done on one wall of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem�s Old City.

"Israel�s measures are illegal and violate international laws, because Israel is the occupying force in the West Bank and East Jerusalem", the official said.

According to AFP, the Jordanian government demanded that Israel halt immediately their "unilateral work", carried out by the IAA on the outer walls of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and that they restore the situation as it was in that holy place.

Another Jordanian official said that the Israeli authorities "have removed iron bars around a gate in the walls which had been sealed since the time of the British mandate of Palestine, which ended in 1948, and opened the gate. The official, who declined to be named, said that the Israelis "claimed that they were doing renovations but nobody asked them to do anything". "This is unprecedented and dangerous", the official said, noting that anything to do with the Holy Sepulchre is "very sensitive."

Osama Al-Ayasa wrote that, The Christian communities, which are supposedly involved in the management of the church, did not declare a clear position towards the crime of the IAA in the holy place. These groups always fight among each others, although normally any problem, including even formalities, give rise to disputes which usually ended in clashes with fists and sticks, and where people are wounded, like what happened on Nov. 10 2008, during a procession. (See Video)



The Catholic delegation guarding the Holy Land, under whose power the Gate of Mary is located, sent a protest to the Israeli Antiquities Authority. But the protest was shy, weak and was not announced in the media. The Roman Orthodox Patriarchate also protested because what happened was carried out without consulting them, and because of the sensitivity of the location and the seriousness of changing the status quo. The protest of the Roman Orthodox was also shy and away from the media.

No word in condemnation of the desecration of this most holy place by Israel was found anywhere in the international media, neither from the Catholic churches in Europe and everywhere else, or any other Christian congregation. One must wonder about the continuing accusations of discrimination of Christians in Muslim lands, while these people would probably not dare to say a word even if the Israel Antiquities Authority destroyed the Church itself. We must suppose that the Pope would in such a case try to appease the Jews, probably even grovelling and kissing their hands in public. In any case it is clear that no politician will say one word against the criminality of Israel, even if it is against their own supposed interests.

The most painful spectacle was what Pope Benedict XVI spoke last Monday, Dec. 21 2009, after the theft of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and three days before the celebration of Christmas, in which the Pope declare his blessing for Israel, rather than to declare allegiance to God and to condemn of the desecration of this Christian Church. Just as if the hypocrisy of Israel and his loyalty to these criminals was more important than loyalty to God, or as if the hypocrisy of Israel was part of the Christian religion, which had already gone beyond this obscurantism long time ago.

The biggest crime in this episode was the shameful position of the Palestinian National Authority, which did not show any reaction to the theft and desecration of the Church of the Resurrection, this "government", which has failed its people with its insistence in staying in illusory power and government, all the while licking the crumbs from under the table of the jews, the financial aid from the US and the European Union. With their acceptance of this aid, we, all the Palestinians, have lost our dignity and national rights.

In the same way, the Patriarch Mar Ignatius Joseph III, the Greek Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrian Catholic community, who is visiting Palestine, tried to reduce the issue of the robbery by the Israel Antiquities Authority in his answer to a question posed by Osama Al-Ayasa about the position of the Vatican on this issue. The Patriarch essentially said that the issue is "a minor one" and that the Israel Antiquities Authority was given permission to make the repairs by a Catholic official. This official believed that since the iron gate was under the authority of the British Mandate before, it now falls under the authority of the current government, Israel.