Christians urge Palestinian Authority not to make Islam official religion (News Brief, Episcopal News Service, 5/28/03).
(ENI) Christian leaders in the Holy Land have called on the Palestinian Authority not to make Islam the official religion of a future independent Palestinian state. The leaders oppose Article Six of a draft constitution prepared by the Constitution Committee of the Palestinian Authority which states: "Islam shall be the official religion of the state. The monotheistic religions shall be respected."
The Anglican bishop in Jerusalem, Riah Abu Al-Assal, said he has already taken the matter up with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. "I want to assure you that we have written already to the Palestinian Authority. I have already met with President Arafat," he said.
The bishop said he would also be discussing the issue with Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, who headed the committee that produced the draft constitution. "There is a way out of this. I know that the majority are Muslims in Palestine but it did not mean that Islam [should] be the religion of Palestine. Palestine needs to be the most democratic state in the Middle East, I hope and pray."
Al-Assal said he also wanted the Palestinian Authority to adopt a model that would allow political representation for Christians as well as Muslims at the highest levels of office, citing Lebanon as an example. "You can copy the example. In Lebanon, the president is Maronite [Christian] and the prime minister is Sunni [Muslim], if we need to address the issue from a religious point of view," he said.
I'm all for a Palestinian State, and I'm willing to believe that, having watched Israel so closely, the Palestinian people will want a modern, liberalish democracy. But, come on, the state's going to be run by Yasir Arafat and a bunch of terrorists. Is there any chance it's not going to be a brutal, thuggish kleptocracy? And, by the way, Lebanon?
Posted by David Cohen at June 6, 2003 10:00 PM
