I have been contacted by a constituent who is concerned about the destruction of Christian sites in Palestine.
My constituent tells me that during the construction of a shopping mall in the Al-Daraj district of Gaza City workers uncovered an 1 800-year-old church, removed artefacts and then proceeded to destroy the church with bulldozers.
Can the VP/HR confirm:
- if she is aware of this incident and if she has raised her concerns with the Hamas Government in Gaza?
- if she is in a position to find out what happened to the artefacts?
- what steps she plans to take to protect Christians in the Middle East and their places of worship?
Answer given by Vice-President Mogherini on behalf of the Commission:
It can be confirmed that the EU representation in Jerusalem was not aware of the the construction of the shopping mall in the Al-Daraj district of Gaza City, nor of workers uncovering an old church, removing artefacts and then destroying the church with bulldozers.
It is also relevant in this context to point out the limits to the EU’s contacts with Hamas de facto authorities in Gaza due to the EU non-contact policy with Hamas.
However; the protection of religion or belief, including places of worship, is indeed one of the priorities of the EU’s human rights policy, enclosed in the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2015-2019) and in the EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief of the Council of the European Union (June 2013).
The EU will not hesitate to condemn discrimination of religious minorities, including Christians around the world and follows closely the state of respect for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, mainly through contacts and dialogue with Human Rights NGOs, which operate both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
You must be logged in to post a comment.