Jerusalem – Ma’an – The Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine, represented by its Chairman and member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Dr. Ramzi Khoury, addressed the heads of the Patriarchs and Metropolitans of the world’s churches and their institutions, regarding the danger of completing the implementation of the settlement project in the Palestinian territories, and the crimes of the occupation and the terrorism of the settlers, especially in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, since last October until mid-August.
The committee explained in its identical letters that all Israeli governments have implemented settlement projects in our occupied land, the latest of which is the current extremist government, which has set a strategic goal that is being completed and approved by the Knesset twice this year, which is to prevent the establishment of the State of Palestine, in clear violation of the relevant international legitimacy resolutions.
In its letters, t
he Committee warned of the dire consequences and catastrophic repercussions on the overall situation in the Holy Land, and the opportunities for achieving peace and security in the region, as a result of the acceleration of the implementation of the settlement project, in flagrant violation of international law, the Geneva Conventions, and relevant United Nations resolutions that considered all settlement activities illegal, and must be in accordance with them.
The committee informed the world’s churches of the escalating crimes committed by the occupation army and settlers, which have reached about 8,000 attacks since the beginning of this year, targeting the lives and property of citizens, in addition to the repeated violations of Islamic and Christian sanctities, the daily bloody raids on cities, villages and camps, and the abuse of citizens inside isolated enclaves surrounded by about 870 checkpoints and military gates.
The committee pointed out the spread of settlements with the presence of 191 settlem
ents, inhabited by 842 thousand settlers, and 284 settlement outposts, in addition to dozens of plans to expand settlements or establish others, to build 8511 units, including 6723 in occupied Jerusalem.
The committee added that the occupation has usurped more than 26,000 dunams of Palestinian land since October 7th for the benefit of settlements, and has forcibly displaced and displaced about 1,700 Palestinians from 40 Bedouin communities, 27 of which were completely deported, the last of which was the “Umm al-Jimal” community in the northern Jordan Valley, in addition to the crimes of demolishing hundreds of homes and industrial, commercial and agricultural facilities.
The committee noted the dangers threatening the Palestinian historical heritage, especially with the occupation classifying 2,652 archaeological sites in the West Bank as biblical areas, and began confiscating and Judaizing them, as is happening in Sebastia in Nablus and Jabal al-Furaidis in Bethlehem.
The messages also focused on the forc
ed displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Area C by the occupation and settlers, in order to tighten control over them and keep them as a strategic reserve for future settlement expansion.
The letters included details of the violations and crimes that the Jerusalem and Bethlehem governorates have been subjected to during the past ten months, and the policy of isolating the two governorates through settlements, house demolitions, land confiscation, and building the wall, the latest of which was the establishment of a new settlement in the archaeological area of ??Al-Makhrour in Bethlehem, to connect the Gush Etzion bloc with the Efrat settlement, to complete the colonial Greater Jerusalem plan.
The committee warned of the continuation of the barbaric aggression and war of extermination in the Gaza Strip for more than 10 months, which led to the death of about 41 thousand Palestinians, most of whom are children and women, and the destruction of educational, health and religious institutions, and
shelters affiliated with UNRWA and others, in addition to the sabotage and destruction of infrastructure in cities, villages and camps in the West Bank.
The committee called on the world’s churches to work to establish the foundations of justice and equality that achieve peace and ensure security and stability in the Middle East, and to pressure to stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, stop settlements and annexation of land, and intensify efforts to implement the two-state solution by establishing a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
At the end of its messages, the Committee called on the heads of the churches to raise the voice of truth and justice in the face of the oppressor, to support the oppressed and tortured in the Holy Land, and to carry the banner of defending their legitimate rights and freeing them from the hell of occupation and advocates of genocide and displacement.
Source: Maan News Agency
