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| Middle East |
| Palestinian Christian Leader Detained |
| 2002-08-24 |
| Israeli occupation authorities detained a senior Palestinian Christian Orthodox leader today and took him for questioning to a police center in Occupied East Jerusalem, Palestinian sources revealed. Archimandrite Atallah Hanna was taken from his home in the Old City following an order by Israel's Attorney General Elyakim Rubenstein. Israeli security sources alleged that the Archimandrite is suspected of attempting to meet with heads of "terrorist" organizations and praising Palestinian struggle in comments published previously by the media. Guess he's still a senior church official, but the Patriarch of Jerusalem fired him a month and a half ago for his extreme statements against Israel, Zionists, and Christians who support Israel. The Patriarch accused him of "supporting the Palestinian terrorism." Maybe that had something to do with why they wanted to talk to him... Palestinian Muslim and Christian figures called for the immediate release of Archimandrite Hanna, describing his detention as a violation of the right to religious freedom and free speech. Besides, he has the key to the explosives locker... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |