CAIRO, April 5, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) Egyptian
Copts refused on Tuesday, April 5, to take part in any conference on
proclaimed Jewish rights in the holy city of Al-Quds (occupied East
Jerusalem).
Jews cant turn black into white and claim sacred
rights in Al-Quds, Bishop Salib Matta, member of the Orthodox Copts
Council, told IslamOnline.net.
True that Jews used to live in Al-Quds for a while,
but they lived like any minority before the birth of Jesus Christ and then
they were scattered across the globe and returned as occupiers to
establish their state on the rubble of Palestine.
Media reports said last month preparations were
underway to organize a conference in a European capital grouping Muslim,
Christian and Jewish leaders on the religious rights of each faith in
Al-Quds.
Matta said the Israeli claims of having rights in
Al-Quds are part of stereotypes circulated by Jews.
They, to mention but a few examples, claim that they
are the chosen people of God, forgetting the fact that they were
regarded as such only before the advent of Christianity and
Islam.
No Evidence
Bishop Rafiq Girgis, director of the Catholic Church
press office in Cairo, said there is no evidence that Jews had sacred
rights in Al-Quds.
But we cant deny them the right to enter the holy
city to enjoy its spiritual aura, he said.
Al-Azhar said on March 27, that Jews have no religious
rights whatsoever in the holy city.
Al-Quds is a Palestinian right that should be given
back to the Palestinians, said Fawzi El-Zefzaf, chairman of Al-Azhar's
Interfaith Dialogue Committee.
Raouf Abbas, professor of history in Ein Shams
University, said since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948,
Israeli archeologists and historians tried in vain to find any Jewish
monument to get a foothold in the city.
They might now resort to such talked-about
conferences to get what they failed to have through excavations, he
said.
Mohammad Abu Ghadir, professor of Hebrew in Al-Azhar
University, added that Israeli archeologists had failed to prove that the
so called wailing wall was part of alleged temple of
Solomon.
Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Al-Aqsa Mosque,
represents the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict because of its
religious significance for Muslims.
Jews claim that their alleged Haykal (Temple of
Solomon) exists underneath Al Haram Al Sharif.
Al-Haram Al-Sharif was the first Qibla (direction
Muslims take during prayers) and is the third holiest shrine after Al
Ka'ba in Makkah and Prophet Mhuhammad's Mosque in Medina, Saudi
Arabia.
Its significance has been reinforced by the incident
of Al Isra'a and Al Mi'raj (the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and
the ascent to the Heavens by Prophet Muhammad).
Palestinian archeologists have warned that ongoing
Israeli excavations weakened the foundations of Al-Aqsa mosque, cautioning
it would not stand a powerful earthquake.
Political Agenda
Matta said Egyptian Copts are only for conferences on
interfaith dialogue, which call for tolerance and peace.
But we reject any religious conferences with
political and hidden agendas, he told IOL.
Girgis saw eye to eye with Matta on the conferences
purpose.
We reject to participate in conferences that take
religion as a façade to pass their political agenda, he told
IOL.
Matta added that Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria has
set a good example by calling for Arabizing Al-Quds and banning any Copt
to visit the holy lands as long as they are still occupied by
Israel.
Up to 400 Palestinian Christians demonstrated in
Al-Quds last month to protest reported land sale by the Greek Orthodox
Church to Jewish investors.
The protestors marched from the Holy Sepulchre Church
to the Greek Orthodox patriarchy holding aloft Arabic and Greek placards
reading: Keep the Church for the Orthodox Arabs, and Yes to the
Arabization of the Church.
