Archbishop warns of Israeli brochure hiding Islamic, Christian sites

Archbishop Atallah Hanna slammed Tuesday the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) for publishing a guiding brochure of the occupied al-Quds ('Jerusalem') that hides Islamic and Christian holy sites.

Hanna said in a press statement the brochure includes a fake map that casts a shadow on the city’s Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The archbishop urged national institutions, Christian and Islamic, to both reveal and preserve the city’s original historical identity.

“Since the occupation of Jerusalem, Israel has been falsifying history and facts on the ground, a policy that has seen a striking surge over recent times,” Hanna warned.

He called on the tourists and pilgrims who visit the holy occupied city to brush aside such erroneous brochures.

“Israel has been pursuing a policy that aims to transform the anti-occupation conflict in Occupied Jerusalem into a religious one,” Hanna further noted.

“We shall never ever surrender to such a newly-imposed fait accompli. The Israeli occupation is malevolently taking advantage of Arabs’ preoccupation with regional unrest in favor of its sacrilegious schemes” in the occupied city, the Archbishop concluded.