Israel Tells Christian Cleric to Shut His Lying Trap

Top church leader in Jerusalem claims Israel tried to poison him. And they wonder why Jews still don’t trust Christians…

By Ryan Jones | | Topics: CHRISTIANS
Archbishop Atallah Hanna has been a leading Christian voice against Israel.
Photo: Amir Cohen / Creative Commons

A Palestinian church leader for the past several weeks has been trying hard, with the help of pro-Palestinian activists, to rile up anti-Israel sentiment among Christians around the world. Israel on Sunday finally had enough of his lies.

“We expect a clergyman to adhere to the truth and that clergymen around the world denounce these outrageous false proclamations and refrain from distributing this libel,” tweeted Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat.

On December 18, the Head of the Sebastia Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, was taken to a hospital in Amman, Jordan. There, he claimed that Israel had poisoned him in an apparent failed assassination attempt.

According to reports in Palestinian media sources, a gas canister was fired or hurled through the window of Hanna’s church, and he inhaled a dangerous amount of poison gas. That’s the end of any verifiable facts.

But, facts be damned, Hanna, who wasn’t too sick to give numerous interviews, started spreading the word that “what happened could be an assassination attempt, or an attempt to keep me sick for the rest of my life… I cannot be certain that Israel is behind this incident, but indications show that it is behind it.”

A number of commentators have noted that if Israel really wanted Hanna dead, he’d be dead. 

Haiat was more diplomatic, but no less incensed, tweeting that “the unfounded remarks made by Archbishop Hanna Atallah regarding attempts to poison him are completely without foundation and are a continuation of a despicable defamation campaign against Israel. The accusations that stem from these remarks are redolent of blood-libel.”

Hanna and others believe that he was targeted due to his outspoken opposition to, nay hatred of the Jewish state.

The archbishop is active with several anti-Israel Christian organizations, and has publicly voiced support for terrorist violence against Israeli Jews. At the same time, he has repeatedly accused Israel of engaging in genocide against the Palestinian Arabs, and urged the UN to forcefully intervene.

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