The Islamic extremist movement Hamas called today for an escalation of the intifada, a rebellion against the Israeli occupation, as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem was closed for the second day in a row due to a dispute with the Jerusalem municipality over taxes.
Hamas alleged that Israel had waged a "religious war against the Palestinians and Islamic and Christian holy sites."
On Sunday, church dignitaries announced they were closing the church until further notice to protest the Jerusalem municipality's efforts to tax church property that is not used for prayer, as well as a draft law being considered in parliament to confiscate church land sold to private individuals, Israeli media reported.
Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the dispute between the church and Israeli authorities illustrates the "dangerous consequences of US President Donald Trump's decisions and his administration's policies," adding that they are "targeted at Palestinian existence and Palestinian rights and reinforce racist and extremist Jewish state".
On December 6, Trump announced that he recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and last Sunday, Washington announced that it would move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May.
"We hope that President Trump and his administration realize the consequences of their encouragement of Israel's policy of occupation and exclusivity in Jerusalem," said Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat.
Jordanian government spokesman Muhammad Momani said that the kingdom rejects the "systematic" measures of the Israeli authorities to change the status quo in Jerusalem and appeals to Israel to "immediately withdraw the decisions made against the church and respect its obligations as an occupying power in East Jerusalem in accordance with international law." .
Responding to Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilus III's assessment that the city's announcements are scandalous, as well as orders to seize church property, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said that only property used for business will be taxed.
"The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, like other places of religious history, which belongs to all churches, is exempt from taxes, that is not changing and will continue like that," said Barkat.
Based on the agreement between the churches - Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic - and the state, which was valid for decades, the Jerusalem municipality could not collect taxes from Christian institutions. However, the city recently ruled, citing an international law expert, that only property used for "prayer, religious instruction and related needs" can be exempted.
Barkat said the churches owe more than $186 million in commercial operations taxes. Due to the closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Israeli MPs postponed until Sunday the debate on the bill that will enable the confiscation of church land sold to private individuals in the event that houses have been built on that land.
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