OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, January 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A host of
leading Christian clergymen and leading figures attended a mass in the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Friday, January 31, to show solidarity
with the Iraqi people in the face of rising U.S. "immoral and
inhumane" war threats.
The
attendants converged on the church, revered by Christians as the site
of Christ's burial and resurrection, and extended an urgent message to
Pope John Paul II of the Vatican, Canterbury Archbishop Rowan Williams
and prominent religious figures across the globe to help put an end to
the U.S. threats to wage war on Baghdad.
They
also exhorted Washington to relinquish its provocative and aggressive
position towards the Arab country.
"The
present target is Iraq, and the next would be other Arab
countries," warned Archimandrite Atallah Hanna, the Spokesman for
the Orthodox Church in occupied Jerusalem and the Holy Lands.
In
a speech following the mass, Hanna ridiculed claims that the U.S.
forces are amassed in the Gulf region to liberate Iraq.
"The
U.S. military build-up is only meant to control Iraqi oil
riches," he charged accusing Washington of seeking to "solve
its economic problems at the cost of Arab countries in general and
Iraq in particular."
Archimandrite
Hanna urged immediate steps to end the American practices which would
only inflict harms on the innocent Iraqi people.
Citing
brazen U.S. bias towards Israel, he accused Washington of keeping mum
vis-à-vis Israel's relentless aggressions in the Palestinian-ruled
areas, assassination of Palestinian activists and demolition of
Palestinians’ homes.
"Why
do not American leaders condemn the Israeli terrorist acts and racial
practices against the Palestinian people?" Hanna asked.
"Instead,
Washington extends political and economic support to the Jewish state,
ignoring its nuclear arsenal and stocks of other unconventional
weapons," he added.
The
revered Christian clergyman branded as shameful the full silence of
Arab leaders towards these clear violations.
"Is
American now controlling world countries installing regimes and
ousting others?" Hanna wondered.
The
American policies and stances are "immoral and inhumane", he
charged.
