Members of the Central Orthodox Council in Jordan and Palestine revealed that a land belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Occupied Jerusalem was recently sold to a foreign company having links with Israeli settlement companies.
Udi Bajali a member of the Central Orthodox Council in the Holy Land said in an interview with the PIC that the Patriarchate sold a 685-square-meter-land owned by the Patriarchate in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood carrying No. 30509/4 to Kronti Investments Limited based in the British Virgin Islands.
Sales in stages
Bajali added that the sale came in stages as the documents obtained showed; it began by renting it out on 6 September 2009 in return for annual rent and months later on 22 October 2010 an agreement was signed to rent the land for 99 years in return for $200000. Under Article B Clause 1 of the Agreement Kronti has the right to extend the Agreement for an additional period of 99 years. On 3 December 2013 the Land Registry was informed of the transfer of the land through an agreement to Kronti for $200000 which is only one third of its real value.
Speaking of the continuation of selling property of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Bajali told the PIC “There is no financial legal or moral justification for these sales. These sales aim at stealing Orthodox properties and religious endowments. A land in Sheikh Jarrah overlooking the Old City located in a strategic position why does it get sold for a small amount of money? This is illogical. It should not have been sold in the first place.
He added “It is surprising that sale process is done in different stages moving from shot-term rent to long-term rent to finally selling the property with the Patriarchate taking care of the costs of building and land licensing taxes to build a three-story building there. Why? The whole thing is documented and stamped by the Patriarchate.”
Bajali explained that the foreign company which the Patriarchate deals with according to the official documents obtained signed 12 agreements to buy real estate and land with the Patriarchate including a land in the King David area purchased by Kronti for nine million shekels which was resold for 42 million shekels to Israeli-settlements linked company after less than two years.
Theft in broad daylight
Bajali stressed that these deals are theft in broad daylight pointing out that the property of the Orthodox Patriarchate is being liquidated and sold to the settlers in a systematic manner and at a cheap price in Jerusalem Nazareth Talbieh and Silwan and throughout historical Palestine in broad daylight and without any action being taken by the official bodies.
He said that “these deals are not located in the 1948 Occupied Territories as some claimed but in the 1967 Occupied Territories although we do not distinguish between our lands in 1967 and 1948. All the territories are Palestinian.” He pointed out that unfortunately the sale deals are in areas of Talbieh Silwan and the Old City of Jerusalem and Sheikh Jarrah.
Bajali added that in the deal to sell the lands of the Monastery of Mar Elias which amounted to 71 dunums of the Patriarchate lands in 2009 the Patriarchy argued that it gave the land to an Israeli leftist company to change the classification of the land from a green area where construction is forbidden into a construction area to build housing for Orthodox young couples. Yet documents obtained show that before the agreement the Patriarchate received a loan of 3 million dollars from an Israeli official known to be a leader in the Israeli Shas movement who is also an official at the municipality of Jerusalem with interests from the black market.
The issue of a homeland
Bajali called on leaders officials and specialists in the Palestinian Authority and Jordan to intervene to stop these suspicious transactions and practices. “This issue is not only about the Greek Orthodox property but it is the issue of a homeland and a cause that concerns all our people” he said.
Bajali added that the sale of land in Sheikh Jarrah took place in 2013 which happened after Patriarch Theophilos III signed an official pledge to the Palestinian leadership and the Jordanian government to cancel and stop selling lands and to work on recovering property sold in Bab Al-Khalil and elsewhere which showed that he did not abide by his pledge to Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
Bajali explained that those who talk about correcting the situation in the Patriarchate and restoring Orthodox properties and endowments have ignored the reality and the land that has been sold systematically.
He noted “For example the land in Mara Elias will have three huge hotels and gardens built on it including a park and more than 1500 settlement units. This project will separate Bethlehem Jerusalem and Beit Safafa from their surroundings” adding that “it is a huge settlement that hits the region politically and economically. This settlement will negatively affect the economy of Bethlehem and Beit Jala and Beit Sahour and it is in the interest of the municipality of Jerusalem and the government of Israel.”
He said that the recent statement by the Patriarchate was meant to deceive people; some of them unfortunately believe the claims of the Patriarchate. The Bab Al-Khalil and Omar Square deals will not result in building two hotels and a house only but rather they will result in building a chain of strategic buildings that reflect the magnitude of the calamity and the plot on religious property and real estate throughout Jerusalem and Palestine carried out by the Patriarchate represented by Patriarch Theophilos III. These deals allowed for the instigation of sedition and injustice which is rejected by religions and laws he concluded.
