Jordan Protests Over Excavation At The Church Of Holy Sepulcher

Friday December 04, 2009 06:26 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Jordan filed an official complaint to Israel demanding it to stop the excavations and renovations at the Church of Holy Sepulcher in East Jerusalem.

The letter was handed to the Israeli Ambassador to Jordan on Thursday after he was summoned to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry in Amman.

The Hashemite Kingdom said that the excavations and renovations violate the status quo of Jerusalem, and demanded Israel to stop its unilateral actions at the Church.

The Jordanian government demanded Israel to immediately halt the excavations .

But Israel claims that the work does not harm the integrity of the church of the Old City, and added that the renovations started following coordination with all related parties, including officials of the church.

The AFP reported that sources within the Catholic Church in Jerusalem said that Israel started the excavations on November 23.

The ongoing Israeli excavations under the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the excavations near the Church of Holy Sepulcher and the ongoing policies of demolishing Arab and Palestinians homes, constitute a war crime and a direct attack against the holy sites in the city.

This is being carried out while the Jerusalem Municipality is demolishing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and facilitating settlers’ control of Arab and Palestinian property.

arab world | holy sites | news report saed at imemc dot org