Press Release
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The Egyptian Coalition for Human Rights and Development condemned on Sunday an Israeli extremist’s attempt to burn down the Gethsemane Church, a historic church of Franciscan fathers in the Palestinian city of Jerusalem.
The Coalition said in its statement that the Israeli occupation government is responsible for protecting the holy city’s places of worship in accordance with the four Geneva Conventions, which stipulate that the occupying forces are responsible for protecting places of worship and preserving religious buildings, especially in Jerusalem, which has a special religious status among followers of the three religions.
The Coalition, which has 550 Egyptian civil associations, warned of the spread of extremist ideologies among extremists in the State of Israel, which seeks to expel Christians from the Holy Land.
The Coalition’s partner associations called on the international community to participate in the protection of Christian holy sites and the Christian presence in Palestine in addition to asking the Israeli government to play its part in protecting places of worship and freedom of worship in Jerusalem.