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Violence Against Christians in Mgbar: Declaration by the Heads of the Churches in the Holy Land

17-Feb-05
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

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The heads of churches in the Holy Land met at the residence of the Greek Melkite Catholic Apostolic Administrator of Haifa on February 14.2005 and issued the following declaration:

1. The grave and disturbing violent events that took place in the village of Mgbar shocked us and the entire Christian Community. Hundreds of Druzes from the village attacked for no apparent reason the Christian quarters, and burnt homes, cars and businesses and frightened women and children who ran away from their homes in the hundreds.
2. We the heads of Churches denounce in the strongest terms these events and express our dismay at the attitude of the police who failed to intervene to stop the violence and ensure the security of the citizens.
3. We demand that those responsible for those crimes be brought to justice immediately.
4. The security forces should establish permanent posts in the village in order to ensure the security of the citizens and prevent the acts of terror from being repeated.
5. We ask that a governmental committee be formed to assess the damages done to homes, cars, businesses and churches so that compensations may be paid as soon as possible.
6. We urgently demand that a governmental committee be established to study the traumatic psychological effects of those events on the people, especially women and children, so that necessary steps may be taken to remedy them.
7. We ask that the families who ran away from the village be returned immediately to their homes.
8. We demand that urgent and effective measures be taken to impose permanent peace so that people may feel secure and renew their confidence in the government of the state.
9. We urgently ask that the government takes the necessary steps to prevent the repeating of the same violent events, as such acts of terror are totally unworthy of a civilized, democratic society that prides itself on the equa1ity among its citizens and the respect of the rights of the various communities that make up the Israeli society.