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Patriarch Michael Sabbah, during a news conference after reading his annual Christmas message in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners December 21, 2005 |
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The top Roman Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land said Wednesday that the Islamic terrorist group Hamas will only be strengthened by U.S. opposition to its participation in Palestinian elections.
Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, a Palestinian, delivered the warning in his annual pre-Christmas news conference. Sabbah, 72, was accompanied by his Vatican-appointed eventual successor, Jordanian-born Fouad Twal, 64, but would not say when he would step down as Jerusalem patriarch. He has held the post since 1988.
Sabbah also expressed concern about the continued exodus of Palestinian Christians from the Holy Land, particularly during five years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. Bethlehem's mayor said last week that 42 percent of Bethlehem's Christian residents emigrated during the past decade.
Hamas, listed by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, is competing in the Jan. 25 vote for parliament, the first time the Islamic terrorist group takes part in a general election. In the past year, Hamas has done well in four rounds of municipal voting, posing a strong challenge to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' corruption-tained Fatah Party.
In recent days, the U.S. House of Representatives and EU officials have warned that the Palestinian Authority could risk losing U.S. aid if the terrorist group is allowed to participate in the election.
Sabbah said U.S. criticism is only helping Hamas. "Hamas is getting more and more power thanks to (the) Bush administration's interventions," Sabbah told reporters.
The patriarch also said that Israel's policies toward the Palestinians, including arrest sweeps and targeted killings of suspected terrorists, undermine Abbas, a moderate.
Sabbah, wearing a black robe and magenta skullcap, also said Israel's security barrier in Judea and Samaria has turned Bethlehem into a "big prison." The barrier rings much of Bethlehem and restricts access to Jesus' traditional birthplace. Israel says it plans to ease travel restrictions during Christmas celebrations.
Israel says it built the security barrier to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers. The Palestinians condemn the barrier as a land grab; it carves off about 8 percent of Judea and Samaria.
Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh said last week only 35 percent of Bethlehem's 30,000 residents are Christians, following a steady exodus in the past decade. Christians are a small minority among Palestinians.
Continued emigration of Christians is something to worry about, Sabbah said Wednesday, but denied Christians left because they were being driven out by the Muslim majority.
"As we are so small, of course we are worried about any emigration, about a single person's emigration," Sabbah said. "As long as Bethlehem will remain a prison, of course, many will have the desire, the wish, to get out of prison."
"If truly people are worried about our future as Christians, the first thing they have to do is to help reconciliation, stability in this land, because we are the first victims of this long long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, as Christian Palestinians." Sabbah said.
He said he sensed a new good will between the Palestinian and Israeli leaderships, and appealed to them to do everything in their power to make peace.
Sabbah was accompanied at the news conference by Twal, who in September was named by the Vatican as coadjutor of, and the eventual successor of Sabbah.
The AP contributed to this report.
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