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ArmPat Jerusalem: Concerns Related to Spitting Incidents

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  • ArmPat Jerusalem: Concerns Related to Spitting Incidents

    CONCERNS RELATED TO SPITTING INCIDENTS

    Armenian Patriarchate of St. James, Jerusalem
    OFFICE OF ECUMENICAL AND FOREIGN RELATIONS
    Contact person: Bishop Aris Shirvanian
    Tel: 972-2-6282331
    Fax: 972-2-6282331
    E-Mail: [email protected]
    Website: www.armenian-patriarchate.org
    <http://www.armenian-patriarchate.org>

    OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUÉ

    Jerusalem, 31 October 2004

    The wide-scale media coverage of spitting by a young Jewish Yeshiva student
    in the Old City of Jerusalem upon Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, the Grand
    Sacristan, and the processional Cross during a solemn procession to the Holy
    Sepulchre Church, generated a positive sequence of events.

    The Patriarchate received numerous calls from Jewish Rabbis and other
    dignitaries expressing abhorrence and regrets over such an offensive
    phenomenon.

    The Patriarch, His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, wrote letters to
    the President of Israel, His Excellency Mr. Moshe Katzav, and the Prime
    Minister, His Excellency Mr. Ariel Sharon concerning this issue and asked
    them to take the necessary measures to bring to a halt similar disrespectful
    anti-Christian acts by some extremist religious Jews. His Beatitude
    appreciated the condemnation of such acts by His Excellency Mr. Abraham
    Poraz, Minister of Interior.

    In a letter to His Beatitude leaders of Simon Wiesenthal Center, Museum of
    Tolerance of Los Angeles, California, expressed their outrage over the
    contemptible spitting attack and pledged to redouble their efforts to
    prevent such incidents.

    Also the Vatican issued a Statement on October 19, 2004, by the Holy See's
    Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the Chief Rabbinate of
    Israel, stating: "Jerusalem has a sacred character for all the children of
    Abraham.. We call on all relevant authorities to respect this character and
    to prevent actions which offend the sensibilities of religious communities
    that reside in Jerusalem and hold her dear."
    "We call on religious authorities to protest publicly when actions of
    disrespect towards religious persons, symbols and Holy Sites are committed,
    such as the desecration of cemeteries and the recent assault on the Armenian
    Patriarch of Jerusalem. We call on them to educate their communities to
    behave with respect and dignity towards people and towards their attachment
    to their faith."

    On October 21, the Mayor of Jerusalem, Mr. Uri Lupolianski, met with His
    Beatitude and Bishop Aris Shirvanian, Director of the ecumenical and Foreign
    Relations of the Patriarchate, and apologized for the spitting assault by
    the yeshiva student. He pledged to talk to Rabbis to combat this type of
    behavior through education. He also stated that he would appoint an advisor
    for Christian Affairs to serve as a contact with Christian Churches. His
    Beatitude appreciated the Mayor's gesture.

    On October 26, representatives of Christian Churches met with the Ashkenazi
    Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger on his invitation at the Chief Rabbinate
    Office. This was a first historic meeting of its kind in Israel for which
    Christian leaders expressed their appreciation. Present were bishops and
    priests of the Greek, Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, Ethiopian and Russian
    Orthodox Churches, Latin, Greek Catholic, Armenian Catholic and Lutheran
    Churches. Bishop Aris Shirvanian represented the Armenian Patriarch. Also
    Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and
    Jews and officials of the Ministry of the Interior and of Religious Affairs
    were in attendance.

    The Chief Rabbi welcomed all. He strongly condemned the disrespect to
    members of other faiths noting that they all were created "in the image of
    God" and therefore they should mutually be respected in spite of different
    religious beliefs and customs. Furthermore he announced that he would
    instruct rabbis to teach their faithful in the synagogues to refrain from
    offensive acts towards Christians and to respect them.

    Bishop Aris emphasized that the spitting incident that was reported two
    weeks earlier was not an isolated one. Since then there had been two other
    instances by extremist religious Jews. He stated that such acts are not
    committed just by Jewish men, but even by women and children who need to be
    educated by their rabbis. However, he noted that most Jews were respectful
    towards Christian clergy.

    The meeting was concluded by all the participants signing a declaration in
    which as leaders of Jewish and Christian religions they called upon their
    followers "to increase their tolerance, respect and understanding for
    members of different faiths."

    DIVAN OF THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE
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