William Shomali auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem: “Our
dream is for all Arab Christians and Muslims to come and pray in the
holy city,” he said, acknowledging the current situation has been
“difficult” for Arab Christians across the region.
“They should
come regardless of the political situation,” he said. “We should
separate politics from religion, even if certain parties want to join
them together; all have the right to pray in the holy sites.”
Worshippers
in the Christian town of Fuheis in Jordan on Saturday. Many Christian
Arabs from Jordan make the Easter Sunday pilgrimage to Israel and risk
their reputation by committing such 'treason' to the Arab cause. Mohammad Abu Ghosh/AP
Hundreds of Arab Christians from Jordan are risking their careers and
reputation to complete an Easter Sunday pilgrimage to holy sites in
Israel.
[AS
ALWAYS
PLEASE GO TO THE LINK
TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN
FULL: HELP SHAPE
ALGORITHMS (and
conversations) THAT EMPOWER
DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
By
Taylor Luck, Contributor /
April 4, 2010
Jerusalem; and Amman, Jordan
But they do so at a price.
Those who make the trek – and, as part of a broader rise in religious tourism, more are making it every year – risk their professional reputation and their family’s disapproval.
For a country whose 1994 peace treaty with Israel was never accepted at the popular level, receiving an entry stamp, let alone a visa from Israel, is considered “treason” to the Arab cause.
But despite a growing movement to discredit those involved with the “Zionist enemy,” hundreds of Jordanians risk their careers and reputation to complete a pilgrimage to holy sites in Israel’s occupied territories.
“I cannot help it,” says Daoud Yazeed, a Jordanian Christian who disguises his pilgrimages as business trips. “Jerusalem is calling.”....READ MORE
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