As far back as 1920 Zionists had declared their objective regarding Christian holy places in Palestine. In 1920 the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem denounced Zionist objectives in an address later published in the Church Times, London, in which he stated:

The Zionist Commission had been a very strong body; but it was not strong enough to control all its members, many of whom were extremists…They had behaved and spoken as if the country had already been given to them and was theirs to dispose of as they would. In ordinary conversation among Zionists at Jerusalem it had been asked “What shall be done with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre? Shall it be burned or razed to the ground?”

During the 1948 war, Zionists destroyed, desecrated and profaned Christian churches, convents and institutions throughout the occupied area of Palestine. These acts, together with the campaign against Christian missionaries, continue until today. Now that the Zionists occupied Jerusalem in the 1967 war, the last stage of their plan will be carried out when they are assured of their complete domination of the Holy City. Hundreds of Christian families were expelled from Jerusalem. In spite of the fact that the Zionist propagandists constantly proclaim their good intention towards Christian and Muslim holy places in Jerusalem, nothing will deter the Zionists from carrying out their fanatical program of ultimately eradicating Christianity from the Holy Land.

In July 1968, His Beatitude Maximos V Hakim, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, made a declaration in New York in which he expressed apprehension that Christianity could not survive in the Holy Land under existing conditions. He recalled certain events which he had witnessed since the creation of Israel in 1948. The Patriarch stated:

The Melchite church has suffered many losses at the hands of the Israelis. We lost churches in Damound, Somatat, Kafr Bur’om and Ikret, a village which the Israeli army destroyed on Christmas Day 1952…Many churches were damaged in the 1967 war, and many churches were desecrated by soldiers and men and women entering these Holy Places indecently dressed and with their dogs. My encounters with the Israeli government officials, particularly since the last war, have been completely disheartening…On June 21, 1967, I met with Pope Paul at the Vatican to discuss the Vatican stand on the situation and the problems facing the Christian community within Israel and the occupied territories. From the discussion I learned the Vatican offers 100% support for the U.N. resolutions on Jerusalem, particularly that the city’s status should be international rather than the object of any further discussions. Upon my return to Israel, I presented this stand to the government, and a high Israeli spokesman whom I prefer not to name for my own sake, made this remark: “Your Pope is a foolish man. He is the only one who believes in the United Nations. If the Pope has an army, let him send it. We will give up Jerusalem only in defeat.” Such an Israeli attitude combined with their restrictions upon the indigenous Arab Christian population cannot help but doom Christianity in the Holy Land.

The remarks made to His Beatitude Maximos V Hakim by the Israeli spokesman are almost a carbon copy of Stalin’s notorious question, “How many divisions has the Pope?”

The Christian population of Palestine, the descendents of the earliest followers of Christ, were the first Christians to recognize the anti-Christian bigotry built into the Zionist ideology. Having long dwelt in peace with Muslim and Jewish fellow citizens in Palestine, Palestinian Christians recognized that the Zionist colonists were a different breed, lacking the piety of Palestinian Jews. The peaceful cohabitation of Christians, Muslims and Jews in Palestine was disrupted by the militant ideologues propagating Zionism, and Palestinian Christians feared the growth of the Zionists presence in their native land and united with Muslims in opposing Zionism and the Zionist invasion of Palestine.

*Desecration of Christian Holy Places in 1948  

During the Palestine war of 1948-49, Zionist forces desecrated, profaned, destroyed and looted Christian Holy Places. The following is a list of churches, convents and institutions damaged by Zionists:

• The Hospice “Notre Dame de France,” a large part of which was destroyed as a result of the Jewish occupation

• The Convent of Reparatrice Sisters was set on fire and almost completely destroyed. It was occupied on May 15. Israelis fortified and used it as a main base to attack the Holy City

• The tower and church of the Monastery of the Benedictine Fathers were damaged as a result of having been occupied

• The Seminary of Ste. Anne was hit by two mortar bombs: the first on May 17, 1948, the second on May 19, 1948, destroying walls and wounding the refugees sheltered therein

• The church of St. Constantine and Helena which is contiguous to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was damaged on May 17, 1948, by a bomb, the fragments of which damaged also the dome of the Holy Sepulchre

• The American Orthodox Patriarchate was hit by about one hundred mortar bombs thrown by Zionists from the Monastery of the Benedictine Fathers on Mount Sion, and the bombs damaged St. Jacob’s Convent, the Archangels Convent and their two churches, their two Elementary and Seminary schools and their library. Eight persons among the refugees were killed and 120 wounded

• The entrance of the church of St. Mark belonging to the Syrian Orthodox, received on May 17, 1948 a mortar shell killing the monk Peter Saymy, secretary to the Bishop and wounding two other persons

• The Convent of St. George of the Greek Orthodox which is contiguous to the Greek Catholic Cathedral received on May 18, 1948 a mortar shell breaking the tiles and damaging the windows of the cathedral. It was occupied by the Zionists four days earlier

• The Convent of St. John of the Greek Orthodox, contiguous to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, received on its roof a mortar shell on May 23, 1948, and St. Abraham convent nearby was hit as well as St. Spiridon Convent. The Convent of St. John was occupied on May 18, 1948

• The Convent of the Archangel belonging to the Coptic Patriarchate, situated over the grotto of the Holy Cross, forming part of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, received on May 23, 1948 a mortar shell damaging its roof

• The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate was hit by mortar shells on May 23 and 24, 1948, wounding many refugees sheltered therein

• The big Franciscan convent (St. Saviour) situated near the Holy Sepulchre received mortar shells on May 19, 23, 24, and 28, 1948, causing damage to the orphanage, general secretariat, and hitting nearby houses, killing and wounding children sheltered therein

• The Latin Patriarchate received on May 23, 26, 27 and 28, 1948, mortar shells causing damage to the Patriarchal Palace, especially to the Cathedral

• The Greek Catholic Patriarchate was hit by mortar bombs on May 16 and 29, 1948, damaging the building and wounding some persons.

Source: Encyclopedia of the Palestine problema by Issa Nakhleh