The Council of Churches and Parish of Beit Sahour in Bethlehem organized on Wednesday night a vigil in protest at arbitrary Israeli tax measures against the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Occupied Jerusalem.
According to a reporter for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) dozens of Christians and activists participated in the protest which was held to confirm the Arab identity of Jerusalem and to reject the US capital recognition and Israel’s recent attempt to levy taxes on Churches and their mortmain properties.
“We have come here to tell the world’s free people that we have rights we inherited from our fathers and grandfathers and will not relinquish them” Father Issa Mosleh a spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem said in a speech during the sit-in.
“We call upon Trump to revoke his recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital because such decision has emboldened the occupation to persist in its arrogance towards the Palestinian people. This decision is completely unacceptable and we will strongly confront it” Father Mosleh added.
Following three days of closure the heads of Churches in Jerusalem decided to reopen the Church of the Holy Sepulcher after the Israeli occupation authority froze its intent to impose taxes on Palestinian Churches and their property in the holy city and other occupied areas.
