Joining
his voice to those of the churches in Palestine and Israel, the World Council of Churches
general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has expressed “grave concern”
about a law recently passed by the Israeli Knesset or parliament.
The law passed by the Knesset on 24 February would define the status of Palestinian Arab Christians in the state of Israel.
Top officials of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land have said that this new law “introduces a distinction between Christian and Muslim Palestinians and states that Christian Palestinians are Christians and not Palestinians”.
In a statement issued on 18 March, Tveit called on “Israeli authorities to reverse this law to stop an injustice against the Christian citizens of Israel”.
He encouraged the WCC member churches to “raise this issue with representatives of Israel and with their own governments”, urging reversal of this law.
Tveit said that this law establishes a “legislative distinction between the indigenous Palestinian Arab Christians and Palestinian Arab Muslims, both of whom are citizens of the State of Israel”. This distinction, he stressed, is an “unacceptable severing of entire communities from their cultural identity”.
Tveit added that the “Knesset has transgressed all proper distinctions between state and religious authority by attempting to define the nature and character of Christian communities within Israel against their own will and self-understanding”.
The law passed by the Knesset on 24 February would define the status of Palestinian Arab Christians in the state of Israel.
Top officials of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land have said that this new law “introduces a distinction between Christian and Muslim Palestinians and states that Christian Palestinians are Christians and not Palestinians”.
In a statement issued on 18 March, Tveit called on “Israeli authorities to reverse this law to stop an injustice against the Christian citizens of Israel”.
He encouraged the WCC member churches to “raise this issue with representatives of Israel and with their own governments”, urging reversal of this law.
Tveit said that this law establishes a “legislative distinction between the indigenous Palestinian Arab Christians and Palestinian Arab Muslims, both of whom are citizens of the State of Israel”. This distinction, he stressed, is an “unacceptable severing of entire communities from their cultural identity”.
Tveit added that the “Knesset has transgressed all proper distinctions between state and religious authority by attempting to define the nature and character of Christian communities within Israel against their own will and self-understanding”.
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