Special Envoy to Jerusalem In Gaza there live a thousand Christians who thought that the church of Saint Porphyry, from the 5th century, would be a safe place to take refuge from the Israeli bombardments, which have not stopped for the past 14 days. The Greek Orthodox temple, the oldest in the Strip, located in the neighborhood of Zaytoun, in northern Gaza, had not been damaged in previous wars. But on Thursday night it was hit by an Israeli missile. As sources from the patriarchate have confirmed to ARA, 18 people died there, including nine babies. Most of the victims belong to three families, all of them Christians, although many Muslims had also taken refuge in the temple, according to the patriarchate, which explains that the impact caused the entire roof of the temple to fall. There were 500 people: the survivors have now taken refuge in the church of the Latin Patriarchate. Like mosques, schools and hospitals, the Christian church has not been spared from the bombs either.
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Israel tries to preserve Christian places of worship so as not to damage its image in the West, although not always: in 2002, during the Second Intifada, Israeli troops besieged the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where militiamen had taken refuge , and the temple was damaged. In this case, however, as the Israeli army has admitted, the church was hit by one of its projectiles, which they say was headed for a nearby “command center”.
The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement that “attacking churches and their institutions, and the shelter they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially women and children who have lost their homes in Israeli shelling of residential areas, is a crime of war that cannot be ignored”. It has also assured that it will continue to offer shelters inside Gaza City, despite the evacuation order that the Israeli army has issued to the inhabitants of the Strip to move south. The Palestinian Council of Churches said the attack “shows that the targets of the Israeli occupation are unarmed people, children, women and grandparents”.
A young Palestinian Orthodox Christian from Jerusalem tells ARA that the church was well known “because every time there was a massacre in Gaza, people took refuge there.” He wants to make it clear that Christians are part of the Palestinian people, although the West often leaves them out in its view of the conflict. “They want to pass it off as a war of religions, a war between Jews and Muslims, but it is not like that: there are Palestinian Muslims, Christians, Jews, of other religions and atheists… The conflict is between the occupiers and the occupied.” highlights. He asks that we not publish his name for fear of reprisals from the Israeli authorities. He also regrets that there had to be such a serious event “for the media to talk about the Christians of Gaza”. The young man remembers that among the original population of Palestine, before the creation of the State of Israel, there were almost 40% Christians. And he asks that stereotypical images not be perpetuated: “I am Arab, Palestinian and Christian, and this should not surprise anyone, because I live in the place where Christianity was born – he says -. Christian Palestinians are as Palestinian as Muslims.” , he adds, and remembers: “We also suffer from the Israeli occupation.”
The Churches of Jerusalem condemn the attack on the hospital
The church is located just 300 meters from Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital, which was bombed on Tuesday. The heads of all the Christian Churches in Jerusalem denounced in a joint press conference the attack, which Israel attributed to a stray missile by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which in turn denied any responsibility. The archbishop of Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, did not directly accuse Israel, but recalled that the army had ordered to evacuate the building and that they had already received a warning attack on Saturday that caused damage. On the total death toll, he referred to figures from Gaza’s health ministry, which spoke of almost 500 fatalities, and said more than 5,000 people had sought refuge in hospital facilities. Built in 1882, the center is managed by the Anglican Episcopal Church of Jerusalem.
2023-10-20 21:43:44
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