JULY: Archbishop Atallah Hanna of Jerusalem
"Our religions do not divide us; as Palestinians we are proud of Christianity as we are proud of Islam. We are proud of the Palestinian Christian as we are proud of the injured Al Aqsa. We are proud of our land because it is the land of awareness, the land of the holy places, the land of our roots. It is the land we belong to. Our origin and identity. This is Palestine."
Archbishop Atallah Hanna will visit Scotland for a week from July 14-21 to describe the current acceleration of Israeli ethnic cleansing operations and the Israeli Government's latest efforts to divide Christian and Muslim citizens of Israel.
Archbishop Atallah Hanna of Sebastia, from the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is one of the Palestinian authors of the Kairos Declaration, which articulates the consensus views of all Palestinian Christians.
He spoke at the Al Awda conference, “60 Years of forced exile; time for return”, during which he insisted:
“The Palestinian people has not known one day of sectarianism. Before I came here I went on a visit to the village of Al Birweh. And I led prayers over the ruins of its church and mosque, and we raised the Palestinian flag and we announced that the people of Al Birweh and all the villages that were dispossessed of their people in 1948 must return, and we will not accept any peace without the return of all Palestinians to their homeland and homes.”
.....ooooo00000 AIRPORT SOLIDARITY WELCOME TO SCOTLAND 00000ooooo.....
Monday 14th July Welcome Atallah Hanna from Palestine to Scotland - Edinburgh Airport 9.00pm. Bring banners and placards to International Arrivals
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"The Palestinian Right of Return is Non-negotiable"
Archbishop Atallah Hanna
co-author of Kairos Palestine Call
Wednesday 16th July 7.30pm Dundee Marryatt Hall, Caird Hall, City Square, DD1 3BB
Saturday 19th July 5.00pm Glasgow Adelaides, 209 Bath St, G2 4HZ
Sunday 20th July 5.00pm Edinburgh Augustine Church, George IV Bridge EH1 1EL
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Tuesday 15th July Meeting with Scottish Christian leaders hosted by Church of Scotland
Edinburgh
Wednesday 16 July 11.00am Event in Dunblane Cathedral
Thursday 17th July 7.00 for 7.30pm Meeting for Palestinians in Scotland (Arabic) St John's Church Hall, Princes Street/Lothian Rd, Edinburgh Followed by iftar (9.50)
Friday 18th July 7.00pm Meeting with Scottish imams. Ahl Al Bait Society, 25 Woodside Place, Glasgow G3 7QL
Here is the video of the Archbishop’s speech:{videobox}a19CAicIAYQ||width=600,height=450,t_width=215{/videobox}
After his arrest by the Israeli authorities in 2002, Archbishop Hanna denounced the
“Israeli desire to conceal the Christian dimension of the Palestinian issue. Israel attempts to present this conflict as a Jewish-Moslem religious conflict, and it also attempts to neutralize the Christian position, and therefore it is irritated by the growing Christian voices raised on the Palestinian issue. We have always asserted that the Church in Palestine is there to serve all Palestinians for it is a church for the people. It is also a church that is deeply rooted in this land and the Arab Palestinian Christians and Moslems who live in it.”
Easter 2014 in Palestine
‘Every Easter we hope for the resurrection of our people as a free nation’, said a Palestinian official yesterday, but Israel again prevented most Palestinian Christians from attending religious ceremonies in Jerusalem, part of the continuing Israeli effort to diminish the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem.
With transparent dishonesty, Israel claimed the ban on large numbers of Palestinian worshippers, both Christian and Muslim, was for reasons of safety but large numbers of foreign tourists poured into the Old City unimpeded.
Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna condemned the barriers to Palestinian Christians wishing to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem: "It is the right of every Christian to reach the Church of the Holy Sepulchre without facing any obstacles, or impediments. The Israeli security pretexts are unacceptable in every way. We call on our sons, churches and followers to head to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and hold on to this religious and national right and refuse the status quo imposed by the occupation authorities".
A statement yesterday from Palestinian Christian Organizations in Occupied East Jerusalem denounced Israeli restrictions on their right to worship in the city, calling for an end to discrimination against both Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem: "The restrictive measures constitute grave violation on the freedom of worship, and amount to discrimination against Christians because the occupation authorities want to negate Christian presence and create the impression of a Jewish-only city,” adding that both Christians and Muslims are often "unable to worship freely and to be with their families and friends" during religious holidays because of Israel's actions. Israeli police also violently attacked Muslim worshippers today in the Al Aqsa Mosque and took away 25 young Palestinian men.
The UN peace envoy protested Israel’s “unacceptable behaviour”.
Last Easter, Israeli forces erected checkpoints around Jerusalem and assaulted pilgrims as they crowded in the area. A statement signed by the heads of all the churches in Palestine denounced "awful scenes of the brutal treatment to both clergy and lay worshippers in Jerusalem during Holy Saturday," noting that both clergy and lay worshippers "are beaten brutally and indiscriminately and denied access to their churches under the pretext of keeping order."Israel had to apologise to Egypt afterIsraeli police officers attacked Egyptian diplomats and a Coptic clergyman at a church in Jerusalem during Orthodox Easter. Even the US State Department in 2012 noted that"strict closures and curfews imposed by the Israeli government negatively affected residents' ability to practice their religion."