Palestinian archbishop condemns Israeli incitement against Sheikh Sabri

The Christian cleric expressed his solidarity with Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, head of the Higher Islamic Council in Occupied Jerusalem, and all the Jerusalemite religious and national figures who are exposed to Israeli incitement and persecution.

Father Hanna denounced provocations against Jerusalemite national and religious figures, calling it a “reflection of the size of hatred and grudge against every Muslim and Christian Palestinian defending Jerusalem and its holy sites.”

In press remarks to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) on Saturday, Father Hanna said that the Israeli occupation regime is mistaken if it thinks that the Jerusalemite figures can be intimidated by its incitement and persecution campaigns.

“This campaign is not the first one and will not be the last. It will only increase our steadfastness, fortitude and our adherence to the Palestinian constants,” Father Hanna stressed.

“There is no force on this earth that can neutralize the national Jerusalemite personages and prevent them from exercising their right to defend Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites,” the Archbishop said.

“It is our right and duty to defend Jerusalem, its holy sites, its identity, its history, its heritage, its uniqueness and the Islamic and Christian Palestinian presence in the city.”

The Israeli newspaper Maariv recently published a report inciting against Sheikh Sabri. The report included a picture of the Sheikh along with Father Hanna and Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in 1948 occupied Palestine (Israel).