My question to them is this: If it is ok to build close to Chritian Landmarks, and destory Israel's, but we cannot do the same, is this fair and open? Isn't what is good for them good for others also. Or do they play by two diffrent rules, one for them and one for everyone else. Just a thought.

Bob M.


From the Baptist News Press
Mosque construction
halted in Nazareth
By Staff


JERUSALEM, Israel (BP)--The cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon has halted the construction of a mosque in Nazareth near the
landmark Basilica of the Annunciation, where tradition holds that the
Angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would bear Jesus.

The decision was prompted by "stiff pressure from the Vatican and a
united front of Christian factions in the Holy Land," The New York
Times reported March 2.

The decision, recommended by a special Israeli commission, reverses
previous approvals of the mosque under Israeli governments led by
Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak.

"This decision shows tremendous wisdom and courage and should be
applauded by Christians everywhere," said David Parsons, a spokesman
for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, in a news release.
"It has reinforced our long-held confidence in Israel as the proper
guardian of holy sites in the land, and gives new impetus for
Christians to stand in support of this embattled nation."

According to a statement by the special Israeli commission, "Protection
of the holy sites connotes not only physical security, but also being
attuned to the sensitivities of all religious people worldwide." The
commission was led by Natan Sharansky, Israel's minister of
construction and housing.

Parsons noted that aggressive efforts by a group known as the Islamic
Movement to build a mosque on the site fits within a disturbing pattern
of Muslim encroachment on authentic Bible sites throughout the Land of
Israel, particularly the destruction of Jewish antiquities on the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The resolution of the Nazareth dispute
presents an opportune time to forge a collective Christian/Jewish stand
against these encroachments, Parsons added.

"Any Christian truly concerned about safeguarding our biblical heritage
in Nazareth should be just as troubled by what has been happening on
the Temple Mount," Parsons said. "Not only were the First and Second
Temples located there, but also more events recorded in the New
Testament occurred on the Temple Mount than any other single place in
the Land of Israel, making it a uniquely significant Bible site that
must be preserved."

Construction of the mosque, according to the International Christian
Embassy Jerusalem, began moving ahead "at break-neck speed by hostile
Muslim elements" late last year -- with the foundation already having
been poured, despite lacking permits and a court injunction -- along
the primary access route to the Basilica of the Annunciation. Nazareth
is a city of about 200,000, 70 percent of whom are Muslim.

Over the previous two months, the Sharansky commission had conducted a
probe of the five-year-old dispute, which included Easter 1999 street
clashes between Muslims and Christians. The commission made on-site
visits and heard testimony from both Muslim and Christian
representatives.

In its decision, the Israeli cabinet expressly withdrew approval for a
modest mosque previously granted by the former governments of Netanyahu
and Barak -- which had been significantly expanded by the Islamic
Movement -- and restored older plans for a tourist plaza on the vacant
parcel.

The government also will begin discussions with local Muslims about
building a "large and dignified mosque" on one of seven alternative
tracts currently available in Nazareth, most on state-owned lands and
some located only 250 meters away.

The Muslim leadership also will be allowed to refurbish a monument on
the square to the 12th-century Muslim cleric Shihab a-Din, a nephew of
Saladin who was killed fighting Crusaders. But they must erect a
barrier separating the monument from the tourist plaza and Basilica
access route and remove their protest tent and anti-Christian banners
that have been in place since they first occupied the spot by force in
1997.

Muslim authorities, meanwhile, reacted with anger to the Israeli
cabinet decision. Local Islamic Movement leader Salman Abu Ahmed, who
has exploited the dispute to become the deputy mayor of Nazareth,
described it as a declaration of war and vowed to resist any attempts
to remove them from the spot.

"We defeated the Crusaders 800 years ago and we will defeat the enemies
of Islam today," Abu Ahmed charged.

Abu Ahmed has largely blamed the decision on outside pressures brought
by Pope John Paul II and U.S. President George W. Bush. "Tell the pope
and Bush that the Muslims in Israel won't forgive them," Abu Ahmed said
after the Israeli cabinet decision March 2.

The Muslim leader also condemned local Christian leaders for their role
in opposing the mosque, singling out Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, a
pro-Palestinian cleric and native of Nazareth, for special criticism.
The Catholic leaders in Israel are part of the congregation of the pope
and inciters against Islam, Abu Ahmed said, calling them a foreign
element among the Arabs.

Papal Nuncio Pietro Sambi responded that the local Christians arrived
in the region at least 640 years before the Muslims. "If they want to
speak of foreign bodies, they are more foreign," Sambi stated.

Sharansky held a press briefing after the cabinet decision and
explained that the commission had taken into account Muslim threats of
violence if the decision went against them, but he said the entire
government and security apparatus was prepared to enforce the ruling.
He also insisted that the committee had not been influenced by any
outside political pressure.

Sharansky, who sat on a prior government committee that had approved
the mosque construction in Nazareth, explained what had swayed him to
change his mind. He said the Muslim activists had never respected the
decisions of the two prior government's permitting a smaller mosque,
but intended all along to erect a grand mosque to detract from the
Basilica.

Sharansky noted that they had occupied the entire area and used
loudspeakers to broadcast threats to their opponents, and had rushed
ahead with construction before obtaining proper permits. Allowing even
a smaller mosque to be constructed at this time, Sharansky said, would
be rewarding violence.

He also noted that the prior government committees had never taken into
account the views of the larger Christian world, but rather treated it
as a local matter and based their decisions largely on electioneering
concerns. He noted this was the first time that the entire Christian
community had been united, with opponents to the mosque ranging from
PLO supporters to those who support Israel.

In addition, the previous committees seemed to have ignored the
applicability of Israeli laws regarding protection of holy sites in
Land, Sharansky said. "We have an obligation to safeguard the holy
places and protect the rights of minorities and their freedom of
religion," he stressed.

At a subsequent conference on anti-Israel media bias, Sharansky noted
that he was proud everyone in Israel was free to express their
opinions, but this dispute marked the first time he had encountered
Israeli citizens who were afraid to speak their mind in public. He
revealed that a number of Christians and Muslims from Nazareth came to
his committee in secret to declare their opposition to the mosque,
which helped convince him to side against those using intimidation to
achieve their ends.
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