Former Palestinian Ambassador calls on Greece and the Greek Orthodox Church to take action to protect the Monastery of Agios Gerasimos and its propertytranslated

Dr. Marwan Emil Toubassi, former Ambassador of Palestine to Greece, member of the Advisory Council of Fatah and former President of the Executive Committee of the Arab Orthodox Congress and the Council of Arab Orthodox Foundations in Palestine, invited the Greek Government, the Greek Orthodox Church, Greek political parties, as well as democratic forces and civil society organizations, to pay immediate attention to the developments concerning the historic Holy Monastery of Saint Gerasimos - Deir Hajla - near Jericho, as well as the extensive lands of the Orthodox Church that surround it. Tubasi stressed that the issue should not be treated simply as an internal administrative matter of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Deir Hajla, founded in the 5th century in the Jordan Valley near the site of the Baptism in the Jordan River, is an important part of the Christian Orthodox heritage in Palestine, but also of the wider cultural heritage of Orthodoxy and humanity. About 6,800 hectares of land belonging to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem are connected to the Monastery.

Tubasi expressed…