The High Price for Speaking Out
A champion of the Palestinian struggle for peace with justice and a devote Orthodox Christian supporting an end to the occupation is being stifled by the Israeli government and with the blessing of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He is beloved by the people, despised by the Israelis and feared as a threat by the Greek clergy due to his charismatic personality, deep wisdom and charm. At the moment, Archimandrite Dr. Theodosios Attalla Hanna is one of the only few highly educated clergy within the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem whom is of Palestinian origin; The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre consists of 200 Greek Orthodox monks, all of which are of Greek descent. Very few Orthodox Christians whom are of Palestinian descent are part of the mainstream patriarchate administration.
For his devotion and dedication to the Holy Land ministry, Abouna (Father) Attalla has received an honorary doctor of theology degree from the Sophia Theological Institute of Bulgaria. He also studied theology for seven years in Greece to serve the Church in Jerusalem but is currently confined to his room not able to contribute his gifts and talents from God to the community. The Israelis have technically put him under "house arrest" and have confiscated his Israeli passport and his Vatican passport obtained by the late Patriarch Diodoros I while Abouna Attalla was officially assigned as the spokesperson for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
All of Archimandrite Attalla's duties have been ceased and taken away from him for the last few years while the Israeli government was reviewing the decision to recognize the new Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. Sadly to say, the official recognition of the new patriarch came at a high price for the local community to lose a defender of the faith and human rights activist. Born (l965) in Al-Rameh (near Haifa) to Arab Israeli Orthodox Christian parents, Iacoub and Alice, Abouna Attalla has only one brother and one sister. He was ordained a priest (l991) at the Holy Sepulchre. He has represented the World Council of Churches at meetings on human rights during which the suffering of Palestinian people was discussed.
During the 39 days siege of the Holy Nativity Church under the Israeli guns,
Archimandrite Attalla organized a peaceful demonstration on Palm Sunday at the
entrance of Bethlehem controlled by the Israeli military checkpoint while the army
had Bethlehem under curfew. Faithful Christians come on busloads from Haifa,
Nazareth and all surrounding villages to express their outrage at the most precious
holy site of Christendom to be saved from the military might of the Israelis
wanting Palestinian fighters who had taken refuge inside the church. Abouna Attalla
was one of the very few local Orthodox Christians to speak out during this critical
time in history where the most holy shrine of the birth of Christ was at stake while
others waited in silence letting the Israelis get away with disobeying international
laws and United Nations resolutions as is normal practice for the powerful Israelis.
Everywhere that Abouna Attalla talks whether it is with Jews, Muslims, and
Christians, he promotes a just solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict and
supports an end to the Israeli occupation. He has been misunderstood in newspapers
across the world and quoted out of context in order to be marginalized and punished
by the patriarchate. One such incident involved the picture that was taken of him
with the leader of Hezbollah at a scholarly religious dialogue conference of Jews,
Muslims and Christians in Lebanon in the summer of 2002. Abouna Attalla was
officially representing the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
with the dialogue and Sheikh Nasralla was present as a local respected religious
leader of Islam, of course the United States government has defined him as a
terrorist since he is also the leader of the Hezbollah movement.
This specific picture was later used to destroy and ruin Abouna Attalla's career as
a servant of God and used as a lousy excuse to take away his title as the official
spokesperson for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. The picture was used over and
over again to wrongly suggest that Abouna Attalla supports suicide bombers.
Abouna Attalla has specifically said it is impossible to be Christian while serving
Christ, and, at the same time support suicide bombers. He supports the struggle for
Palestinian freedom in non-violent ways and with peaceful resolutions. He is
absolutely against the idea of using violence to gain freedom. But as all of us
living in the Holy Land and specifically in the occupied Palestinian territories, we
are surrounded by Palestinians who have the need to support an armed struggle to
gain freedom and liberty which for fifty eight years now Palestine has not achieved.
Children across the world have their basic rights but Palestinian children are left
homeless when the Israelis come and demolish their homes for security reasons.
One such example of the latest security threat to Israel is the order given to the
Beit Sahour Municipality on Jan 26th, informing that the ninth building of the
Orthodox Christian Housing Project of Beit Sahour will be demolished along with its
children's playground and two private homes in the same area. I am baffled at the
moment at the security threat such Christian children and their parents impose to
the state of Israel.
But it is understood that the illegal Israeli settlements next to this housing
project have first class treatment while Palestinians as the indigenous people of
the land are being swept off the land with all types of security measures.
Abouna Attalla has great hope in the future despite the illegal actions of the
Israeli government. He thinks the future of the Christian community in the Holy
Land depends on the present. If we work as we should to promote freedom and
justice for all, then our future will be better. He is a strong believer that we
should love our Church and accept and maintain our traditions in the Holy Land. He
specifically said to pay attention to the "parathosis" this is the faith and
traditions that have been handed down to us from generation to generation for over
two thousand years.
People around the world can help the Holy Land by making efforts to understand the
difficulties and the problems that exist in general and within our small Christian
community. As far as the Orthodox community is concerned in specific, Abouna
Attalla believes that all Christians should work together to have good relationships
with the thirteen heads of churches that exist in Jerusalem. Every church can stay
faithful to its traditions and values but be open to work with the other churches.
The most important element is to try and live a Christ-centered life where the
gospels are loved and lived on a daily
basis. Working towards greater Christian unity would help us have a stronger voice
from Jerusalem.
One of the main concerns for the church today involves the young people and how to
go about teaching them our faith. We need more educated Orthodox priests of
Palestinian origin and a change of attitude from the Greek Patriarchate. Abouna
Attalla is actually the spiritual father and founder of the Orthodox youth movement
in Palestine. Many Christians are leaving this precious and holy land thus another
one of his concerns is the focus in helping people stay and to help them love the
local church. The Christian institutions and schools are also very important to
maintain.
Abouna Attalla believes that Christians, Muslims and Jews are people of one family,
part of the human family on earth. Bet each religious community has rights to live
according to their religious beliefs. Freedom should be give to all to live freely
and express their beliefs but this is only possible with moderate people. There are
fanatics on all sides but we need to work with moderate people in gaining true
peace. You can only work with people that at least acknowledge your existence. As
Christians, our religion teaches us to love all people and pray for all people.
On August 22, 2002, Abouna Attalla was placed under arrest and interrogated by the
Israelis. He is denied travel and freedom of movement. Abouna Attalla is in deep
need of our prayers so that his mission as spokesperson for the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate of Jerusalem can be rightfully reinstated. He has done nothing wrong.
He has been outspoken against the Israeli military occupation and along with every
other Palestinian seeks peace with justice. The Israeli government should stop
interfering with matters of the Church and allow the Christian community in the Holy
Land to continue over 2000 years witness to Christ in the sacred and holy ground
where our Lord walked, preached, died on the cross and was resurrected so that we
may have eterernal life.
