A RACE, NOT A RELIGION:

Churches in Jerusalem are up in arms against Jewish "radicals" who are settling in the Christian Quarter and threatening a fragile religious balance in the ancient Holy City.

"We have a major problem here," said Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III in Jerusalem's Old City, which is split into historic Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters.

"Jerusalem also has her Christian character, and that is what is threatened," he told AFP, as Christian worshippers readied for Easter celebrations.

The patriarch charged that hardline Jewish settlers, known for a push to take over properties of Palestinian families, are also waging a campaign for control of Christian-owned lands.

"Those radicals are driven by their ideology," Theophilus III said. "Their ideology is the syndrome of messianism, when they claim 'we want to redeem the Holy Land from the profanes'."

The nationalist settler group Ateret Cohanim has worked to "Judaise" east Jerusalem -- a Palestinian sector illegally annexed by Israel according to the UN -- by purchasing real estate through front companies and then moving Jewish settlers in.

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