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December 3, 1999/24 Kislev 5760, Vol. 52, No.14
Mosque dispute raises tensions
RUTH E. GRUBER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel's attempt to defuse a Christian-Muslim conflict in Nazareth has soured its relations with the Vatican and called into question a visit to the town by the pope during his millennium pilgrimage to the Holy Land next March.
Nazareth is revered by Christians as the boyhood home of Jesus, but today it is Israel's largest Arab town, and some 60 percent of its 65,000 residents are Muslim. The conflict centers on plans to construct a mosque in Nazareth near the Basilica of the Annunciation, believed by Christians to be the spot where the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the son of God.
Israel granted the go-ahead for the mosque after two years of mounting tensions and violent clashes over the issue between local Christians and Muslims. Muslims laid the cornerstone for the mosque on Nov. 23, although Israeli sources said actual construction would not begin until 2001.
Churches throughout the Holy Land shut their doors for two days, Nov. 22 and 23, in protest, and the Vatican lashed out at Israel for allowing construction.
"The decision of the Israeli government seems to lay the groundwork for future contrasts and tensions between the two religious communities, Christian and Islamic," the Vatican's chief spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said in an unusually strongly worded statement that coincided with the laying of the mosque's cornerstone. "I believe that political authorities in this case have a great responsibility, because instead of favoring unity, they create the foundation to foment division."
Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy reacted strongly to the Vatican's criticism. The Vatican statement, he told Israel Radio, is "very grave," adding, "We reject it."
The Anti-Defamation League, too, took the Vatican to task. In a statement, it said it was "shocked and saddened at the Vatican pronouncements laying blame on Israel for tensions between Muslims and Christians in Nazareth." The statement said that while both sides may not be satisfied, "no one should question Israel's good faith efforts in this matter."
The conflict first erupted two years ago, when municipal authorities in Nazareth unveiled plans to build a large plaza near the Basilica of the Annunciation to accommodate the millions of pilgrims expected during the year 2000. Local Muslims protested this plan, saying the planned plaza would damage the tomb of Shehab el-Din, nephew of the 12th-century Muslim hero Saladin. They set up an illegal protest tent and demanded that a mosque be built.
Violent clashes erupted last spring. The Israeli government was forced to step in and take action after local authorities failed to agree on a solution and the conflict spread to involve broader Christian and Muslim interests.
Jerusalem's Higher Islamic Committee and the Palestinian Authority opposed the construction of the mosque, and Yasser Arafat even sent emissaries who tried, unsuccessfully, to mediate. On Nov. 26, Israel's ambassador to the Vatican, Aharon Lopez, told reporters that Israel's decision to allow construction of the mosque was an attempt to reach a compromise and avoid bloodshed.
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