Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Nazareth wrongs go on

Sunday, Dec. 19, 1999 | 10:30 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

WHEN LEAVING NAZARETH, the boyhood home of Jesus, last May I had hopes that the new incoming government of Israel would act more fairly than the outgoing Netanyahu administration. Mayor Ramez Jeraisi also had hopes that his plans for a plaza in front of the Church of the Annunciation would be completed for a papal visit during 2000. A week after our meeting a shot fired at him hit his driver. A few months later the new Barak government disappointed him by siding with the Muslim majority led by activists who want to build a mosque on the land. Since then they have laid the building's cornerstone.

As I wrote in May, it doesn't take long for an experienced eye to see the Muslim claim that the entire plaza area belongs to the Wakf is bogus. Records and maps make clear that only one small parcel, the grave site of Shehad a-Din, a nephew of Islamic hero Saladin, belongs to Wakf. The Christians are willing to protect and allow the Muslims to do what they desire with that segment of land. They want to continue the preparation of the remaining land for an open public plaza in this city of stone which has so few open or even level spaces. Much of the area was covered by a school, since torn down, and owned by the government.

The Christian dream for a plaza to accommodate pilgrims was shattered last Easter when the Islamic Movement activists attacked Christians leaving church and set up a tent in front of the church. This is the site where last month they laid the mosque cornerstone despite requests of moderate Muslim leaders and even Yasser Arafat that they find another place to build.

The votes of Nazareth, a city of 50,000 Muslims and 22,000 Christians, attracted both Barak and Netanyahu supporters during the campaign. There was hope that the winner would return to doing what decent people are expected to do. An Israeli court ruled that the Islamic Movement had no legal claim to the land the city council had designated for a plaza in 1998.

Yossi Klein Halevi, writing in the Jerusalem Report, told readers, "The campaign by Muslim fundamentalists to build a mosque near the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth is not about religious freedom and certainly not about God and prayer. It is about political power and violent intimidation.

"The force behind the campaign is the Islamic Movement, a fundamentalist Muslim organization, which sees the mosque as a symbol of its goal of ruling Nazareth, Israel's largest Arab city. The organization currently controls the Nazareth City Council but not yet city hall (Ramez Jeraisi, the mayor, is Christian)."

Some of my Jewish Israeli friends are embarrassed by the actions of their government. If any government should be sensitive to the cries of the minority it should be that of Israel. This country is a nation built by the blood, sweat and tears of persecuted minorities from around the world. As a Christian I have always felt accepted and safe in this little nation despite knowing that Muslim extremists have slowly but surely pushed Christian landowners from Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ.

Some Israelis will note that they live in a Muslim world. Yes, and votes are important during an election year in the only democracy of the Middle East. Halevi writes, "That dilemma is real. But as custodian of the Holy Land, Israel is obligated to place fairness above politics. In fact, a compelling precedent exists for insisting on Muslim respect for Christian sensitivities. Though the Temple Mount is Judaism's holiest site, successive Israeli governments have resisted demands by religious Jews to pray there precisely because that would offend Muslims and threaten Jerusalem's delicate religious truce.

"Israel has the right to demand similar restraint from its Muslim citizens for the sake of peace in Nazareth."

Allow me to add that people of all faiths have former Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek to thank for setting the tone of cooperation that reigns in that ancient city.

The Barak government has quickly moved to achieve peace with surrounding nations and the Palestinians. Now it's time for Israel's government to do what is right rather than what is political when dealing with the Christian minority in Nazareth.

This can be accomplished if a person with the qualities of Kollek steps forward and leads the way. It would show wisdom if government decision makers would at least discuss problems like those in Nazareth with Kollek or bring him out of retirement.