QUIET RETURNS TO ST JOHN'S.

Harati, Eli · 1990

Following the scenes of the past few weeks when Jewish settlers took over the St John's Hospice in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem, the area around the hospice has been quiet. This followed the evacuation of most of the Jews who were told to leave the building following a court order. Only a few people from the Panamanian company that bought the lease remain in the build¬ing. Efforts are being made, through the courts, also to remove these people from the building. The controversy over the settlers has been exploited to the full for anti-Israel propaganda. There has never been a threat, actual or implied, against Christian religious worship. Although the action of the sett¬lers has been criticized by many prominent Jews, including the Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, it did not constitute in his view a violation of religious worship. Many Christian groups in Israel and abroad have taken advertisements in local papers to express their dismay at the anti-Semitic comments that have been published in the world's press. Although many Israelis cannot even under- stand why any Jewish group would like to have foothold in the Christian quarter, the fact remains that the Old City of Jerusalem is an integral part of Israel, just as the Bronx is part of New York and Stepney is part of London. The predominate ethnic character of the Christian quarter did not elicit one protest when property was purchased on the open market by an Arab. It is a free market and provided there is a seller and a buyer and the whole transact¬ion is legal, there is no justification for anti-Semitic outbursts. The Israeli courts have on many occasions shown themselves to be impartial and above political coercion. If there is a legal justification for the sale of the lease to be annulled, the court will say so after examining every point of view and every document. The St. John's Hospice is not a holy place and is not a subtle Israeli plan to push out any religious group from. Photo shows: The pict