ΝΑ ΠΟΙΟΣ ΠΟΥΛΑΕΙ. Εξασφαλίσαμε και το αντίγραφο του συμβολαίου παραχώρησης εκκλησιαστικής γης (Ταλπιότ) σε εβραϊκή εταιρεία για 99 χρόνια από τον Θεόφιλο. Δείτε τις αντιδράσεις του ποιμνίου (Β' μέρος)
The peaceful and joyous atmosphere outside the Bethlehem Nativity Temple on Christmas day was disturbed by the angry voices of Arab believers who were protesting that the Patriarchate “is no longer a religious-spiritual centre but a real estate agency and a banking institution”.
The cause for this protest was an announcement unbecoming the mission and the history of the Jerusalem Patriarchate, admitting to a land development agreement for the real estate it owns in the Talpiot neighbourhood of West Jerusalem with “one of the best companies for land development […] and a history full of achievements in this domain, especially in changing the classification and category of lands”!
This latter reference is of particular importance, since –according to the Patriarchate spokesman, Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantia- the allotted 71 dunams were in danger of being expropriated by the Municipality of Jerusalem. So, rather than risking having them reduced to “green areas”, the current leader of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, Mr Theophilos, turned them over to the Shraga Beran group (of Jewish interest) with the obligation to “get a construction license and building permits for the land”, aiming at “The construction of at least 1000 apartments”, which would mean new ‘legal’ settlements in the West Bank and at the same time a slow, steady and invisible process of fragmenting Palestinian land.
As a matter of fact, in an attempt to present the transaction with the Jewish Shraga Beran group as a ‘one-way street’, the Patriarchate administration claims that it was Patriarch Irineos the first one to give the rights for the Talpiot land development to the –also Jewish- B.A.R.A. company.
And the questions that readily arise are the following:
If Mr Theophilos is so critical of Mr Irineos’ alleged or actual deal with a company, why is he doing exactly the same with another? Why is it that in the announcement they made there is no evidence whatsoever confirming the existence of a contract exclusively between Irineos and the B.A.R.A. company for the development of Talpiot?
The involvement anew of Irineos/Vavylis/Papadimas in order to justify this selling-out causes nothing more than mirth. So does the announcement by the contracting parties (Theophilos-Shraga Beran) concerning the numbers and sizes of the apartments to be built.
Pay attention! At least 1000 (which means that they may be even more) apartments, on an area of 12,000 square metres, i.e. an average of 120m2 per apartment! How unbelievable is that?
Naturally, one should not be surprised by the distortion of reality to the benefit of this deal’s key players.
However, it has been forty years of expropriating lands, diverting water to the pools of Jewish settlers, with Palestinian villagers’ olive trees uprooted by extremist settlers, and endless queues at military checkpoints. So, Theopilos’ aggressive business plan goes hand in hand with the total intransigence of the hardcore nationalist Benjamin Netanyahu aiming at multiplying the already existing West Bank settlements.
Bear in mind that on 17/11/2009, the Israeli Foreign Ministry gave permission to build 900 new housing units in the Gilo neighbourhood in East Jerusalem amidst international outcry against Israeli settlements. The Israeli government, however, discarded the protests by international community leaders by repeating that the Gilo neighbourhood expansion is a “technical issue” for the city’s municipal authorities rather than a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy.
“I think that additional settlement building does not contribute to Israel’s security” Mr Obama stated in a Fox News interview. “I think it embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous”, he added.
On the flipside the US President’s statement, the Patriarchate’s intent to “build at least 1000 apartments” in the Talpiot neighbourhood is preposterous and will have a negative impact on the attempts to revive the peace process, at a moment when all powers (the Quartet on the Middle East) are focusing on restarting the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians.
As Mahmoud Abbas refuses to negotiate unless Israel completely halts all settlement construction and natural growth (which he pointed out again before Christmas in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram), Theophilos indulges in a frivolous and detrimental management of Hellenic interests in the wider area.
Where does the Greek Foreign Ministry stand, as well as the competent parties of all levels (both within and without the Patriarchate), before the culmination of Theophilos’ foolishness to allow the most significant Christian Church in the Holy Land to be turned into part of the Middle Eastern issue and a means to prey on everything that is sacred and holy by turning the “pockets” of Orthodoxy into business connections?
Based on these recent facts and the latest dangerous and unpleasant developments, it is imperative that Prime Minister George Papandreou convinces people as soon as possible that he is truly different than his predecessor and that he is both decided to and capable of avoiding escalation of the tension with the Arabs and safeguarding the Patriarchate’s nature and position –even if such an endeavour requires immediate restructuring.
Besides, nobody forgets that the church dispute that broke out in Athens in 2005, was appeased in Jerusalem with Irineos Skopelitis’ removal, despite the fact that he maintained that the Patriarchate employee had acted without his approval and that no prior Holy Synod decision existed concerning the Omar square agreements
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