Islamic-Christian Arab Covenant Signed . [Palestinians had right to
Palestine even during the Jewish Temples (Jesus was an occupier?)]

[IMRA: "the Palestinian's right to Jerusalem was a historical reality dating
back thousands of years" means that even during the time of the Jewish
temples in Jerusalem the Palestinians had the right to Jerusalem. Put
another way, this group, that includes Christians, is asserting that Jesus
was an occupier.]

By Mohammed Nafez The Jerusalem Times [Palestinian publication] 4 January
2002

Sheikh Taysir Tamimi, Chief Justice of the Islamic courts and
archimandrite, Atallah Hannah, spokesman of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem
and the Holy Lands, declared reaching a covenant on Jerusalem as an Arab
city and the strengthening of Muslim-Christian dialogue and unity amongst
Palestinians, during a press conference at the Palestinian Information
Center in Al-Bireh on Sunday, December 30.

This covenant followed five years of dialogue between Muslim and
Christian clergy and Arab intellectuals and is considered a breakthrough and
the first of its kind in the region.

The covenant is also considered historical due to the common
Arab, Islamic and Christian stand towards Arab issues; especially the
Palestinian cause.

During the press conference Hanna said that during the past five
years the Islamic Christian Arab Team for Dialogue met in several Arab
capitals, the last of which was Cairo, where they wrote the final edition of
the covenant.

The covenant, comprising 25 points relating to foreign
interference or attempts to dominate the Arab world, is considered by the
clergy as the only realistic way to prevent a collision between the two
religions.

According to the covenant, the cultural and religious beliefs of
both religions should be respected. It also condemned Israel’s continual
aggression against the Palestinians as an attempt to deny the rights of the
Palestinians.

The principle aim of the dialogue, according to Hanna, was the
defence of Arab Jerusalem and its historical and religious sites. "We are
part of the Palestinian people and will participate in the defense of our
rights which the Israeli occupation tries to crush," he said.

"Muslims and Christians live side by side and will defend our
religious shrines to the end," added Tamimi. He bitterly rejected calls by
extremist rabbis for the Israeli government to impose its sovereignty over
the Al Aqsa Mosque compound and reiterated the Palestinian's right to
Jerusalem was a historical reality dating back thousands of years.