NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

    VATICAN CITY, OCT 15 (ZENIT).- The Israeli government will do "anything necessary to guarantee the liberty" and total security of the Christian faithful in Nazareth, Shlom Ben-Ami, Israel's Minister of Interior Security, said in a press statement, in response to a note of concern published yesterday by Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

    According to Minister Ben-Ami, the proposal for a compromise solution regarding the construction of a mosque of limited size "in no way will damage the vital natural space of the Basilica of the Annunciation." Ben-Ami stated that the large tent the Muslims have erected near the Basilica of the Annunciation, where they intend to build the mosque, "is illegal and must be dismantled"

    The Minister's statement continues: "The obviously illegal situation created in 1997 will come to an end. We can no longer tolerate it." According to the Israeli proposal, the Muslims must remove the tent before November 8, when the first stone of the mosque will be laid. "We are determined to maintain law and order, without making concessions to anyone, without making distinctions among the city's communities," the Minister insisted. Today the Minister requested the help of leaders of Israel's Arab municipal councils.

    According to Ben-Ami, "an agreement that is oriented toward inter-religious reconciliation in a mixed city like Nazareth is a proper message for all confessions." The Minister ended his statement by saying that he "hoped that every religious leader in Israel and the world will see in this decision a message in accord with the meaning of the Millennium."

    However, the government's decision was taken without considering the previous municipal administration's exclusive allocation of the municipal plot of land for a Square, to facilitate the reception of Jubilee pilgrims. Neither does it take Christians' opinion into consideration, which is shared by many local Muslims who are not fundamentalists, on the inopportune construction of a mosque next door to the famous Nazareth shrine, the objective of millions of Christian pilgrims. In addition, the Israeli government has ignored the Nazareth district court, which classified the fundamentalists' designs on the plot of land owned by the municipality as unfounded.

    Christians in Nazareth do not feel protected, nor do they feel like fully qualified citizens of the state of Israel. Embittered, they say they have lost their dignity -- sacrificed to political opportunism. For the last three years they have been targets of violence by a group if Islamic fundamentalists, who now regard themselves as rewarded, in their recourse to forceful and anti-democratic methods to achieve their objectives. ZE99101505

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