CHRISTIAN DECLARATION BACKGROUND STATEMENT.

TO CHRISTIANS CONCERNED ABOUT THE HOLY SITES IN ISRAEL:

In late 2000, a series of events began to take place in Israel, in particular the so-called "El-Aksa Intifada," which increasingly focused on conflict over the sovereignty of Jerusalem and it's holy places, in particular the Temple Mount. While the media tend to portray this conflict as solely between Israel and the Palestinians, or between Islam and Judaism, Christians also have a great stake in the status of these sites.

As a result of these recent events, and many others previously, it is clear to many that, if Israel continues to exercise sovereignty over Jerusalem and its Holy sites, including the Temple Mount, there will be freedom of access, prayer and worship for people of all faiths and nationalities. Conversely, it is believed that if the Palestinian Authority, or any other Moslem authority, exercises control here, there will not exist such freedom of access and worship.

In light of these views, several Christian and Messianic ministries operating in Israel have joined forces in a cooperative effort to rally support from Christians around the world, from many denominations, to express their concern and convictions regarding these places, and control over them. These organizations include The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, Bridges for Peace, Christian Friends of Israel, The Galilee Experience and others. It is expected that additional ministries and groups will join this effort in the near future.

The goal of this effort is to enlist ten million Christians to sign the CHRISTIAN DECLARATION REGARDING THE HOLY SITES IN ISRAEL, and to send the signed forms to one of the participating organizations. We believe that publication of this effort will declare emphatically to the parties in the conflict--and to the international community which takes such an intense interest in it--that Christians have an important stake in the outcome, and that their views should be respected and taken into account. We believe that the Declaration will add a significant moral weight as events unfold. In addtion, we believe it will be a comfort to Israel and the Jewish people, showing them that they are not waging this war alone.

As the declarations accumulate, they will be presented to the press, to the government and people of Israel, and to international bodies such as the United States government, the European Union, the United Nations, etc.

The concern of the participating organizations is based on many factors, including the following:

MOSLEM RECORD ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION

The Moslem religion was built on military conquest, and execution was the fate for all who refused to convert to Islam. While Christians and Jews were to some degree an exception to this rule, in that they were often allowed to live in Moslem societies as second-class citizens, there are many, many instances where they too have been persecuted and martyred in the name of Islam. This trend has actually greatly increased in the last 50 years.

In most Moslem countries today, neither Judaism nor Christianity can be freely practiced. There are a number of Moslem countries, most recently Afghanistan, where conversion to Christianity is a crime punishable by death. In one Moslem country alone—Sudan—upwards of TWO MILLION African Christians have been slaughtered for their faith in recent years.

MOSLEM RECORD IN THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE LAST 50 YEARS.

In 1948, when the "moderate" Moslem nation of Jordan took control of Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank," as opposed to Jordan proper on the East bank of the Jordan river), including East Jerusalem, the Old City and the Temple Mount, they immediately destroyed 58 synagogues in Jerusalem, desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, and prevented Jews from even entering the Old City, including Judaism's holiest site the Wailing Wall, for 19 years. The local Arab Christian population was persecuted and harassed. Arabs living in Israel--both Christian and Moslem--were not give access to the Old City and their Holy sites there.

PALESTINIAN RECORD

At the end of 2000, as the Palestinian Authority began to violently force its will in Judea and Samaria, several telling incidents took place, most of them well documented in the news media. In Nablus (Biblical Shechem), they took over the Tomb of the Patriarch Joseph, and destroyed the Jewish Synagogue and Yeshiva there, and then immediately turned the remains into a mosque. In Jericho they burned an ancient synagogue and prevented Israeli fire-fighting forces from coming in to stop the blaze.

Nuns and priests have been expelled from convents and monasteries in the Jericho and Hebron areas. In the areas now under the control of the Palestinian Authority, Christian Arabs are persecuted and many are fleeing to other countries.

Recently the Temple Mount Wakf (Moslem religious authority), under Palestinian control, has been undertaking illegal construction on the Temple Mount, excavating huge areas with BULLDOZERS AND DUMP TRUCKS (as opposed to the toothbrushes and buckets used by Israeli archeologists in their excavations), desecrating and destroying whole areas of this most sacred of all Biblical sites. Their stated goal is to ERADICATE ALL EVIDENCE OF JEWISH PRESENCE AND HISTORY THERE.

TODAY CHRISTIANS (AND OF COURSE JEWS) AND NOT ALLOWED TO PRAY ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT. IF A TOUR GROUP EVEN STOPS FOR A FEW MOMENTS, THE "PRAYER POLICE" WILL MOVE IN AND STOP WHAT THEY PERCEIVE TO BE PRAYER. BAGS ARE SEARCHED UPON ENTERING THE AREA, AND ANYONE CARRYING A BIBLE IS NOT ALLOWED TO BRING IT ONTO THE TEMPLE MOUNT.

Even though Jerusalem is mentioned over 500 times in the Bible, and NOT ONCE in the Koran, Arafat and other Palestinian and Moslem leaders continue to declare that Jerusalem and the Temple Mount are holy only for Moslems and that the Jewish connection to these places is a fabrication!

ISRAELI RECORD

In all areas under the sovereignty of the State of Israel since 1948, and including the Old City of Jerusalem since 1967, there has been total access and freedom of prayer and peaceful worship for people of all faiths, including Christians, Jews and Moslems. Protection of all Holy sites for all religions is protected by Isreli law, and is scrupulously observed. This is very well documented and can be attested to by anyone who has visited these places in Israel. Even on the Temple Mount--control of which Israel voluntarily (and in the opinion of many, mistakenly) gave to the Moslem Wakf in 1967--Moslems are free to worship and pray. This freedom has been maintained even when anti-Israel prayers and violent demonstrations were taking place there on a regular basis. In Octoher 2000, during the "El-Aksa Intifida," police in Tiberias provided a 24-hour a day guard to protect an unused mosque from angry Jewish crowds, even while Moslems were destroying Jewish synagogues in Nablus and Jericho.

Freedom of religion is also guaranteed by Israeli law. One very personal example of this is when the Jewish ultra-orthodox tried to close down the Galilee Experience in 1991. The Supreme Count of Israel unanimously ordered the City of Tiberias to give the project a permanent business license, even though it was very clear that we were Christians and Messianc Jews, and that our show was evangelical in nature.

YOUR PART AS A CHRISTIAN

There is no question whatsoever that under Israeli sovereignty, freedom of access, prayer and peaceful worship for people of all faiths and nationalities will be totally guaranteed and protected in the Holy sites in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel so precious to Christians. It is just as certain that, under any form of Moslem control, these sites and these freedoms will not be protected.

Please express your concern and convictions in this matter, and make your voice as a Christian heard, by signing the Declaration and sending it in as explained. Please pass copies of it along to other Christians and Christian organizations with the encouragement to do likewise.

May the Lord bless you from Zion,

Eric Morey,
General Manager,
The Galilee Experience,
Tiberias,
Israel