freepalestine
7th March 2011, 11:42
Anglican Bishop takes Israel to court
Published today 12:57
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President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Dawani at government headquarters in
Ramallah December 22, 2007. [MaanImages/Thaer Ganaim, Pool]
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- The Anglican Bishop of the Jerusalem Diocese filed a lawsuit against the State of Israel over the denial of his Jerusalem residency permit, church officials announced this week.
The suit comes as an appeal to an August 2010 decision by the Israeli Ministry of Interior, which told Bishop Suheil Dawani that he and his family should leave Israeli-occupied Jerusalem immediately, as their A5 permit for temporary residency status would not be renewed.
Dawani was born in Nablus, and like other Palestinians with PA-issued identity cards, has been barred from accessing Jerusalem without a permit since Israel's separation wall closed the area off from the rest of the West Bank.
When he sought to renew his residency permit, the Israeli ministry said Dawani had forged documents to attain his previous permit, and was being denied a renewal.
Moreover, church officials said, the letter accused Dawani of acting "with the Palestinian Authority in transferring lands owned by Jewish people to the Palestinians and also helped to register lands of Jewish people in the name of the Church."
In its statement, the Anglican church said Dawani received no response to his requests for further details of the allegations, which he denies.
Further unsuccessful attempts to resolve his status were made by Israels Chief Rabbi, the British Foreign Secretary, the head of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and British and American diplomats in Israel, according to the Bishops office in Jerusalem.
Having kept his residency status -- which effectively leaves him residing illegally in Jerusalem -- private for over 6 months, Dawani sought legal counsel and is now taking his case to court. The hearing date has yet to be assigned.
Dawani was selected in 2007 to lead the 7,000 Anglicans who live in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Jerusalem is the site of the Anglican cathedral, offices and bishops residence, and Dawanis residency permit was renewed in 2008 and 2009.
A senior Anglican source told British daily The Guardian: No one can figure out what the Israelis are playing at. This is not the kind of message they should be sending out.
The relationship between the 13 recognized church branches operating in Jerusalem and the state of Israel is sensitive due to worldwide attention.
The right-wing Jewish-orthodox Shas party-controlled interior ministry in Israel is regarded as having hardened foreign visa and residency policies in recent years. Yet before the religious partys entry into Israels governing coalition in 2009, the current Greek Orthodox patriarch in Israel was denied a visa for more than two years.
Dawani is the first Anglican bishop to have residency denied by Israel.
The previous Anglican Bishop was Palestinian citizen of Israel Riah Abu Al-Assal, who has lost a series of legal battles with the church when he claimed continuing ownership over an Anglican school in his home town of Nazareth after his retirement. Al-Assal publicly backed an alternative candidate to Dawani as his successor.
Dawani was ordained in 1977 and has served in churches in Ramallah, Birzeit and Haifa.
Bishop Dawani has worked so hard for peace and reconciliation, a member of his congregation told Ma'an, so he is disappointed that this is the way he has been treated."
http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=36632
Published today 12:57
http://maannews.net/eng/images/ViewDetails/Eng-1.jpg http://maannews.net/eng/images/ViewDetails/Eng+1.jpg
http://maannews.net/images/PhotoViewer/44263.jpg
President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Dawani at government headquarters in
Ramallah December 22, 2007. [MaanImages/Thaer Ganaim, Pool]
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- The Anglican Bishop of the Jerusalem Diocese filed a lawsuit against the State of Israel over the denial of his Jerusalem residency permit, church officials announced this week.
The suit comes as an appeal to an August 2010 decision by the Israeli Ministry of Interior, which told Bishop Suheil Dawani that he and his family should leave Israeli-occupied Jerusalem immediately, as their A5 permit for temporary residency status would not be renewed.
Dawani was born in Nablus, and like other Palestinians with PA-issued identity cards, has been barred from accessing Jerusalem without a permit since Israel's separation wall closed the area off from the rest of the West Bank.
When he sought to renew his residency permit, the Israeli ministry said Dawani had forged documents to attain his previous permit, and was being denied a renewal.
Moreover, church officials said, the letter accused Dawani of acting "with the Palestinian Authority in transferring lands owned by Jewish people to the Palestinians and also helped to register lands of Jewish people in the name of the Church."
In its statement, the Anglican church said Dawani received no response to his requests for further details of the allegations, which he denies.
Further unsuccessful attempts to resolve his status were made by Israels Chief Rabbi, the British Foreign Secretary, the head of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and British and American diplomats in Israel, according to the Bishops office in Jerusalem.
Having kept his residency status -- which effectively leaves him residing illegally in Jerusalem -- private for over 6 months, Dawani sought legal counsel and is now taking his case to court. The hearing date has yet to be assigned.
Dawani was selected in 2007 to lead the 7,000 Anglicans who live in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Jerusalem is the site of the Anglican cathedral, offices and bishops residence, and Dawanis residency permit was renewed in 2008 and 2009.
A senior Anglican source told British daily The Guardian: No one can figure out what the Israelis are playing at. This is not the kind of message they should be sending out.
The relationship between the 13 recognized church branches operating in Jerusalem and the state of Israel is sensitive due to worldwide attention.
The right-wing Jewish-orthodox Shas party-controlled interior ministry in Israel is regarded as having hardened foreign visa and residency policies in recent years. Yet before the religious partys entry into Israels governing coalition in 2009, the current Greek Orthodox patriarch in Israel was denied a visa for more than two years.
Dawani is the first Anglican bishop to have residency denied by Israel.
The previous Anglican Bishop was Palestinian citizen of Israel Riah Abu Al-Assal, who has lost a series of legal battles with the church when he claimed continuing ownership over an Anglican school in his home town of Nazareth after his retirement. Al-Assal publicly backed an alternative candidate to Dawani as his successor.
Dawani was ordained in 1977 and has served in churches in Ramallah, Birzeit and Haifa.
Bishop Dawani has worked so hard for peace and reconciliation, a member of his congregation told Ma'an, so he is disappointed that this is the way he has been treated."
http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=36632