Albawaba.com – Ramallah
Christian officials in Jerusalem condemned on Sunday the attempt by the mayor of west Jerusalem Ehud Olmert to include churches and holy places in the arnuna, the real estate taxation system.
The Palestinian official news agency, WAFA, quoted Marwan Toubassi, head of the Christian Affairs Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf as saying that “the occupation authorities, including the mayor of Jerusalem have no legitimate or legal power to impose any kind of taxes on the Christian churches or Islamic awqaf in Jerusalem, because the city is under occupation.
Toubassi, who is also the chairman of the executive committee of the Islamic-Orthodox Conference, added that “based on the international conventions and the Jordanian law, churches in Jerusalem enjoy a special status… Occupation authorities have no right to interfere in their affairs,” stressing that the churches are Palestinian institutions.
Meanwhile, Guy Khizmo, an expert on statico (the term referring to the Jerusalem’s status quo) and head of a Christian society named “Mar Murqos,” said the attempt to impose arnuna on the churches is “a dirty idea,” because it changes the “statico” of the holy places in Jerusalem and the Palestinian lands.
Khizmo reiterated the Christian leaders’ rejection of Olmert’s decision. He said that the move is one of Israeli attempts to impose their sovereignty on Jerusalem, adding that “Israeli politicians should stop using the holy sites as a card in their election campaigns.”
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