As
early as December 1955, not long after the institution of the Jewish
state of Israel, Father Leonard Feeney, a Boston-based Roman Catholic
clergyman, compiled the following list of Christian churches and
other institutions that had been attacked or otherwise destroyed
by the newly-ensconced Jewish occupation regime in the Holy Land.
In
assembling this shocking list -- which would come as a complete
surprise to modern-day Christians who believe that Israel has been
a good friend to Christians in the Holy Land -- Father Feeney noted
that his list did not include the loss in lives and property suffered
by the nearly one million Arabs (Christian and Muslim alike) who
had been evicted from their ancient homes during the then-seven
years since Jews had seized power over Palestine. And, needless
to say, since Feeney first compiled the list, there have been many
more examples of such Jewish attacks. The clergyman's summary of
Jewish destruction of Christian sites follows....
The
Jews have defiled and destroyed the following Church buildings:
the Church of Saint John the Baptist at Am Karim; the Church of
the Beatitudes at Capharnaum; the Church of Mensa Christi on the
shores of the Sea of Galilee; the Church of Saint Peter at Tiberias;
the Cenacle (the place ofthe Last Supper) at Jerusalem; the Convent
of Mary Reparatrix at Jerusalem; the Convent and Hospice of Notre
Dame at Jerusalem; the Convent of the Sisters of Saint Ann at Haifa;
the Franciscan Convent at Tiberias; the Patriarchal Seminary at
Beit-Jala, the Salesian houses at Cremisan; the Sisters' Convent
at Am Karim; the School of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion at
Katamon; the Sisters' residence at Capharnaum; and the church and
rectory at Ikret. Catholic authorities have estimated that the Jews
have destroyed Church property in the Holy Land at the rate of more
than two million dollars' worth a year. To enumerate only French
Catholic institutions, they have demolished four hospitals, 16 dispensaries,
two hospices, four seminaries, 32 schools and orphanages, and seven
retreat houses.
Among
the countless other desecrations we might mention, none is more
heart-rending than that of Jerusalem's Church of the Dormition --
the magnificent Romanesque shrine to the Mother of God which was
pillaged by Israeli soldiers and then turned into a Jewish dance
hall for the young men and women of Haganah. It was only after a
hundred such incidents that the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Hughes,
unequivocally charged that there is now in operation a "deliberate
Jewish effort to decimate the Arabs and to destroy Christianity
in Palestine."
at
the Battle of Cowpens, S. Carolina, 1781