Two West Bank churches firebombed Protesters angry over Pope's remarks
Ali Daraghmeh Canadian Press Saturday, September 16, 2006 CREDIT: AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed A Palestinian worker fixes the damage to the wall of a Greek Orthodox church hit by a firebomb in the West Bank city of Nablus, Saturday Sept. 16, 2006. Two West Bank churches were hit by firebombs early Saturday, and a group claiming responsibility said it was protesting what many Muslims view as disparaging remarks about Islam by Pope Benedict XVI. NABLUS, West Bank - - Two West Bank churches were hit by firebombs early Saturday, and a group claiming responsibility said it was protesting what many Muslims view as disparaging remarks about Islam by Pope Benedict XVI. Relations between Palestinian Muslims and Christians are generally peaceful, and the attacks on an Anglican and a Greek Orthodox church in the West Bank city of Nablus sparked concern about sudden tensions. Clergy played down the attacks as isolated incidents, but said they'd worry if more Christian sites are targeted. On Friday, two small explosions went off near a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza, causing minor damage. "It is easy to worry," Father Yousef Saada, a Roman Catholic priest in Nablus, said Saturday. "The atmosphere is charged already, and the wise should not accept such acts." Ayman Daraghmeh, a legislator from the ruling Islamic militant Hamas group, denounced the attacks, and urged Palestinian police to do more to protect Christian sites. The firebombs left black scorch marks on the walls and windows of the two Nablus churches. At least five firebombs hit the Anglican church. In a phone call to The Associated Press, a group calling itself the "Lions of Monotheism" claimed responsibility. The caller said the attacks were carried out to protest the pope's remarks about Islam. During a speech earlier this week, Benedict had cited an obscure Medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman." The pope, spiritual leader of more than one billion Roman Catholics, did not explicitly agree with or repudiate the text. The Vatican later said the pope did not mean the comments to be offensive. However, they have sparked worldwide protests by Muslims, and Muslim leaders have demanded an apology. On Friday, about 2,000 Palestinians protested against the pope, accusing him of leading a new Crusade against the Muslim world. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the pope offended Muslims everywhere. Christians make up a small - and dwindling - minority of several tens of thousands among the more than 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. Muslim-Christian relations are generally without tensions, and the Palestinian Authority has made considerable efforts to ensure the political representation of Christians. Bishop Riah Abo El-Assal, the top Anglican clergyman in the Holy Land, said Saturday he expected his Muslim colleagues would swiftly denounce the attacks on the churches. Abo El-Assal brushed aside the attacks as "childish acts" and said he was not increasing security at the Anglican churches in the area. In Nablus, merchant Khaled Ramadan, 31, wearing traditional Islamic garb, said the pope's comments were unforgivable, but that Palestinians must not fight among themselves. "We are one people and violent reactions like these should not happen here," he said. - AP reporter Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report from the West Bank town of Ramallah. C The Canadian Press 2006 Accessed 17 Sept 2006, http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=1f85942c-cc27-4eb2-a4a 3-53c70abdde26&k=38297 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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