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:
<; 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