05161
March 23, 2005

Palestinians want Greek patriarch expelled

Orthodox leader accused of selling Jerusalem land to Jews

by Michele Green
Ecumenical News International

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian Authority has decided to send a delegation to Greece to seek the dismissal of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in the Holy Land in the wake of a scandal over the reported sale of land in Jerusalem to Jewish buyers. 

     Palestinian lawmakers voted during a meeting on March 22 to seek the “expulsion” of Patriarch Irineos and to claim all the property owned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in the Holy Land as belonging to its mainly Arab parishioners. 

     “All church properties belong to the Greek Orthodox Arab community. The Patriarch has no right, no jurisdiction and no legal mandate to sell them,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council's fact‑finding committee into the alleged land sales. 

     The allegations were first raised in an article last week by Israel’s Maariv newspaper, which published unconfirmed reports that an Irineos aide sold property near the Jaffa Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City to Jewish investors from abroad.

     The Patriarch denied “any connection with this fictitious transaction, about which we so far have no knowledge,” in a statement issued on March 18.  

     The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate owns extensive property in the Holy Land and Jerusalem, including the land on which the Knesset, Israel’s parliament building, stands. 

     The Patriarchate and the Greek Foreign Ministry have opened an investigation into whether there was indeed such a sale without the permission of the patriarch or the church synod in Greece. The Patriarch’s office said a warrant has been issued for the arrest of an aide who may have sold land without permission. 

     The incident has fueled resentment among the church’s mostly Arab parishioners that the leaders of the church in the Holy Land are Greek clerics rather than Palestinians. Most other denominations, such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches, have appointed Palestinian leaders. 

     The Palestinian legislators reportedly also voted in favor of “Arabicizing the Greek Orthodox Church, expelling the Greek Patriarch and appointing an Arab Patriarch.”

     Palestinian parishioners have long complained about church land sales to Jewish buyers.