Archbishop Hanna admits Muslims persecute Christians but blames the messenger

Archbishop Atallah Hanna, of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, gave a speech to pilgrims about Palestinian Christian issues and concerns.

He said that Palestinian Christians cling stubbornly to every grain of holy Palestinian soil. According to Hanna, they are 100% Christian and 100% Palestinian in their contributions in the Palestinian national struggle. "The cause of the oppressed people is our cause, their suffering is our suffering, their pain is our pain, and their ambition for freedom is our ambition, too."

"We as a group reject extremism and hatred, violence and believe the Gospel, which calls for brotherhood, love and peace values. The Muslims are our brothers in every sense of the word, they are our brothers in humanitarianism and in belonging to a Palestinian Arab identity, and we are partners in the struggle for liberation and in the quest for our usurped rights and to liberate the land from occupation, racism and injustice."

However, Hanna then admitted that Muslims are persecuting Christians, saying that "there is a systematic liquidation of the Christian presence in the Arab region." But immediately afterwards he said that the people talking about it are "those who want to liquidate the Palestinian cause" who "want to destroy our homelands and our communities and tarnish the image of the Levant." Therefore, he says, "we must gather all clerics and thinkers, intellectuals and officials to work together to thwart this scheme, which aims to destroy our nation and our homelands and our communities."

Yes, Archbishop Hanna spent more time talking about how bad it is for people to publicize Muslim persecution of Christians than about the persecution itself.

Additionally, even though he mentioned that Jerusalem is holy to three religions, he only cares about the rights of one of them - and it isn't Christianity. He said, "The issue of Al-Aqsa is our cause, for all Christians and Muslims." But Muslims don't want Christians to visit the Temple Mount either!