TEHRAN, February 28 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem al-Quds has reopened its doors after Israel backtracked on its controversial tax and land grab plans targeting churches in the city.
TEHRAN,Young Journalists Club(YJC) - The church, seen by many as the holiest site in Christianity, reopened at around 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) on Wednesday after a three-day closure in protest at the Tel Aviv regime’s controversial measures.
The Jerusalem al-Quds municipality had canceled a tax exemption it had granted church-owned commercial properties in the Israeli-occupied city. Israeli cabinet ministers also began studying a bill to expropriate land in Jerusalem al-Quds that churches sold to private real estate firms in recent years.
In response, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Catholic leaders, who jointly manage the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, shuttered its doors on Sunday to protest the “unprecedented attack against Christians,” locking out thousands of pilgrims and tourists.
They described the Israeli tax policy as “an attempt to weaken the Christian presence in Jerusalem [al-Quds].”
The church closure, which seemed to be the longest since at least 1990, also drew criticism from Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan, which is the custodian of holy sites in the Israeli-occupied city.
Source: Press TV
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