Islamic Christian Organization decries Israel’s imposition of taxes on church

Occupied Jerusalem: The Islamic Christian Commission for supporting Jerusalem and Holy Sites Monday condemned Israel's imposition of taxes on churches in occupied Jerusalem and Arab cities in Israel. The occupation authority, reviving a decision frozen for years, ordered levying high taxes on churches in Jerusalem, Nazareth, Ramla, and Jaffa, and threatened legal action for not heeding the order, the commission said in a statement. It warned against the "repercussions of the decision and the unprecedented targeting of the Christian presence in the holy land, which could extend to Islamic holy sites and Waqf (endowment) properties." Such decisions would undermine the existing legal, historical and religious status quo in the city of Jerusalem, calling it an attempt to transform the political conflict over the illegal occupation into a religious conflict, it said. The Commission called on heads of churches to reject the illegal decisions that target Christian and Islamic religious existence, and urged the i nternational community and human rights organizations to condemn and counter them and pressure Israel, as the occupying power, to stop violations of international law and international legitimacy resolutions. Source: Jordan News Agency