"We do not want Theophilos"

"Today we stand here to prevent the entry of the traitor Theophilos", Salama Shaheen, an activist of the Arab Orthodox Youth movement, told AFP in Arabic.

"We do not want this man. This man must be brought to trial because he betrayed the homeland, betrayed the church and betrayed every human principle", he added.

[ . . . ] The Betlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala municipalities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank had called for the boycott over the Greek Orthodox church allegedly allowing controversial sales of its property in mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem to groups aiding Jewish settlement there.

[ . . . ] "Our move today is a protest against the patriarch over the sale of land of the Orthodox", mayor Nicola Khamis told AFP [...] "Theophilos ignored all the demands and continued selling this land even if the (christian) majority is against it", he said. "Today we are taking a stand to say the patriarch must stop the selling of the land".

Property transactions with Jewish buyers anger Palestinians,  who see Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.

[ . . . ] Tel Aviv daily Haaretz reported in October that the church was also selling off vast swathes of real estate in west Jerusalem and across Israel. "In recent years the Patriarchate has been quietly selling off its properties in various parts of the country to companies hidden in tax shelters, for sums so low one wonders whether the church is trying to get rid of its assets at any cost", it wrote. "All the purchasers are foreign companies registered in tax shelters, so it is impossible to obtain information about their owners", it added.

Πηγη: The Daily Star Lebanon 

Τιτλος: Palestinians clash over land sale on Orthodox Christmas