Christians believe the birth of Jesus was foretold.
The announcement came after thousands of Arabs marched in the streets of the Biblical town in Israel Saturday, March 4, demanding better protection for "holy sites", because a troubled family set off firecrackers inside the church, which caused light damage to the building.
"Both the Christian establishment and Christians know very well that Israel is committed to maintaining the holy places and freedom of worship," President Moshe Katsav said in a statement sent to BosNewsLife. President Katsav stressed however "it would be necessary to draw the necessary conclusions in order to prevent such exceptional incidents in the future."
The Tiberias Magistrate’s Court reportedly extended the detention of an Israeli couple and their 20-year-old daughter 15 days on suspicion of detonating fireworks late Friday, March 3, inside the Church of the Annunciation during a prayer service. The Church is built above a sunken grotto where, according to Roman Catholic tradition, the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that she was to bear Jesus.
Under Israel’s 1967 Holy Places Law anyone who "desecrates or otherwise violates" a religious shrine could face seven-year imprisonment, but it was unclear whether prosecutors would seek a jail sentence for the disturbed family. One of the suspects, Violet Habibi, collapsed on the way out of the courthouse, Israeli media reported.
POLICE RESCUES FAMILY
Police earlier rescued the Habibi family members from the church after Havivi, a 44-year-old Jewish resident of Jerusalem carried out the attack in the presence of his 40-year-old Christian wife, Violet, and their 20-year-old daughter, Odelia, news reports said.
They were reportedly beaten by worshippers before Israeli police arrived and locked them in a room for protection. Following a three-hour standoff between police and thousands of protesters the family members were led away through a back exit, disguised as police officers, news reports said. Ensuing riots lightly injured 13 police officers and 13 civilians while four cars were set on fire, including two police vehicles, eyewitnesses added.
At a court hearing, the parents said they meant no harm had no hate for Christians or Muslims and merely sought to draw attention to their plight. Authorities had recently placed three of their children into foster care.
"I am deeply sorry. I am not against anyone," a sobbing Violet Habibi added. "We’re not against anyone, we’ve never committed a crime or an injustice. We are in serious distress and I hope we will be forgiven." The family was reportedly known within the church which had offered counseling and shelter.
NO TERRORRIST ATTACK
"This was not a (terrorist) attack and there was no specific intention to harm the Church of the Annunciation. We need to calm the situation as quickly as possible," Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra was quoted as saying on Israel radio from Nazareth.
However participants in Saturday’s rally dismissed suggestions such explanation
s. "The Israeli institution is trying to explain the aggression by saying that anyone who did this is mentally unstable," Ramez Jaraisi, a Christian who is Nazareth’s mayor told reporters.
"We refuse to accept any excuse for this criminal act."
Commentators said the emotional reaction to the attack on the Church of the Annunciation reflected the fragile status of Israel’s Arab minority and Christians in general.
Israeli Arabs, who make up about 20% of Israel’s population have complained of what they see as discrimination in housing, education and jobs, charges denied by government officials.
SMALL CHRISTIAN MINORITY
Of the over 6 million people living in Israel, Christians make up 2.1 percent of the population spread over Chalcedonian-Orthodox, Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox (Monophysite), Roman Catholic (Latin and Uniate) and Protestant churches and groups, according to Foreign Ministry estimates.
Except for national churches, such as the Armenian, the indigenous communities are predominantly Arabic-speaking and most of them are believed to be descendants of the early Christian communities of the Byzantine period. Nazareth, the boyhood town of Jesus, is inhabited by about 74,000 Israeli Arabs, two-thirds of them Muslim and the rest Christian.
Speaking on Sunday, March 5 at a special cabinet meeting, Israeli Acting Prime Ehud Olmert described the fire crackers attack on the church as "a regrettable incident the results of which could have been very severe."
CONTACTING CHURCH LEADERS
He said he had contacted several church leaders including and officials including Nazareth Mayor Ramez Juraisi, Latin Patriarch Michel Cardinal Sabah and other church leaders while Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was in touch with the Vatican. "All of this was an attempt to explain the background to the incident and the personal and private circumstances that have no connection with other issues. This is the effort that we are making to bring matters to a quick and calm conclusion," he said.
Olmert stressed that the "State of Israel, since its founding, has scrupulously upheld freedom of worship and freedom of religion and full toleration towards the institutions of the religions active in the country. This is our faith, this is our way, thus we have acted and thus we will continue to act."
He warned however that Israel and the region is "in a delicate period in which there is always the temptation to exploit events of this sort for purposes that are not relevant. I call on all elements to show restraint and responsibility and not to drag this regrettable incident, which we are pleased has ended calmly, into scenes of religious-based conflicts that have no relation to what happened." (With reports from Israel, BosNewsLife News Center and BosNewsLife Research).
