Jews Have No Rights in Al-Quds: Egyptian Christian Copts
6 April 2005

By Hamdy Al-Husseini
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=4&id=1776 [Official PA website]

CAIRO, April 5, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) - Egyptian Copts refused on Tuesday,
April 5, to take part in any conference on proclaimed Jewish rights in the
holy city of Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem).

"Jews can't turn black into white and claim sacred rights in Al-Quds,"
Bishop Salib Matta, member of the Orthodox Copts Council, told
IslamOnline.net.

"True that Jews used to live in Al-Quds for a while, but they lived like any
minority before the birth of Jesus Christ and then they were scattered
across the globe and returned as occupiers to establish their state on the
rubble of Palestine."

Media reports said last month preparations were underway to organize a
conference in a European capital grouping Muslim, Christian and Jewish
leaders on the religious rights of each faith in Al-Quds.

Matta said the Israeli claims of having rights in Al-Quds are part of
stereotypes circulated by Jews.

"They, to mention but a few examples, claim that they are the 'chosen people
of God,' forgetting the fact that they were regarded as such only before the
advent of Christianity and Islam."

No Evidence

Bishop Rafiq Girgis, director of the Catholic Church press office in Cairo,
said there is no evidence that Jews had sacred rights in Al-Quds.

"But we can't deny them the right to enter the holy city to enjoy its
spiritual aura," he said.

Al-Azhar said on March 27, that Jews have no religious rights whatsoever in
the holy city.

"Al-Quds is a Palestinian right that should be given back to the
Palestinians," said Fawzi El-Zefzaf, chairman of Al-Azhar's Interfaith
Dialogue Committee.

Raouf Abbas, professor of history in Ein Shams University, said since the
establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, Israeli archeologists and
historians tried in vain to find any Jewish monument to get a foothold in
the city.

"They might now resort to such talked-about conferences to get what they
failed to have through excavations," he said.

Mohammad Abu Ghadir, professor of Hebrew in Al-Azhar University, added that
Israeli archeologists had failed to prove that the so called "wailing wall"
was part of alleged "temple of Solomon."

Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Al-Aqsa Mosque, represents the heart of
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict because of its religious significance for
Muslims.

Jews claim that their alleged Haykal (Temple of Solomon) exists underneath
Al Haram Al Sharif.
Al-Haram Al-Sharif was the first Qibla (direction Muslims take during
prayers) and is the third holiest shrine after Al Ka'ba in Makkah and
Prophet Mhuhammad's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Its significance has been reinforced by the incident of Al Isra'a and Al
Mi'raj (the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and the ascent to the
Heavens by Prophet Muhammad).

Palestinian archeologists have warned that ongoing Israeli excavations
weakened the foundations of Al-Aqsa mosque, cautioning it would not stand a
powerful earthquake.

Political Agenda

Matta said Egyptian Copts are only for conferences on interfaith dialogue,
which call for tolerance and peace.

"But we reject any religious conferences with political and hidden agendas,"
he told IOL.

Girgis saw eye to eye with Matta on the conference's purpose.

"We reject to participate in conferences that take religion as a facade to
pass their political agenda," he told IOL.

Matta added that Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria has set a good example by
calling for Arabizing Al-Quds and banning any Copt to visit the holy lands
as long as they are still occupied by Israel.

Up to 400 Palestinian Christians demonstrated in Al-Quds last month to
protest reported land sale by the Greek Orthodox Church to Jewish investors.

The protestors marched from the Holy Sepulchre Church to the Greek Orthodox
patriarchy holding aloft Arabic and Greek placards reading: "Keep the Church
for the Orthodox Arabs," and "Yes to the Arabization of the Church."