HOLY LAND FRANCISCANS PROTEST NAZARETH MOSQUE

JERUSALEM, Jan 7, 02 (CWNews.com) - On Sunday, January 6, nine Franciscan friars led a group of Christian protestors in a demonstration outside the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, calling upon him to stop the construction of a mosque in Nazareth.

The Christian protestors included representatives of both the Franciscan Custody for the Holy Land and the International Coalition for Nazareth. (The latter is a group dominated by American religious and political leaders.)

In a letter presented to Prime Minister Sharon, the group noted that today in Nazareth, a Christian pilgrim approaching the Basilica of the Annunciation "is now faced with banners at the site of a proposed mosque which proclaim, 'God has no Son,' and 'God neither begets nor is begotten.'" The letter stressed that such Islamic propaganda is an affront to the local Christian community as well as to pilgrims.

The mosque construction, the group continued, "will create a tremendous strain on Christian-Muslim relations, on Jewish-Christian relations, and, in the end, Muslim-Israeli relations." The letter urged Sharon "to undo the mistake of the previous government."

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