The Anglican Church’s top official in the Holy Land is living illegally in Jerusalem because Israel has refused to extend his residency visa, allegedly for political reasons.
The Right Rev Suheil Dawani, the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem and Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, is staying on church grounds in the city without legal status after the Israeli Interior Ministry ruled that his involvement in a land sale dispute prohibited its extension. In a letter written in Hebrew, it was alleged that Bishop Dawani “acted with the Palestinian Authority in transferring lands owned by the Jewish people to the Palestinians and also [helping] to register lands of the Jewish people in the name of the Church”.
He denies the charges.
“The accusation is absurd. We have never heard of such a thing and the Bishop certainly never did anything illegal,” said Father Hussam Naoum, a spokesman for the Church in Jerusalem, and an aide to Bishop Dawani.
The Bishop, was born in the West Bank city of Nablus in 1951, holds Palestinian citizenship. Like many Palestinians he is restricted to the West Bank and cannot travel to land controlled by the Israelis without permission.
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When he became Bishop in 2007 Israel granted him temporary residency in Jerusalem, and an identity card that gave him permission to travel across the country and to churches in Palestinian and Israeli-controlled areas.
An assistant to Bishop Dawani said that he was responsible for more than 7,000 Anglicans who live in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The Church runs schools and hospitals in those areas, as well as a number of community projects.
Although he can travel internationally on the Palestinian or Jordanian passports that he holds, his return to Israel could be restricted at any time by immigration authorities.
Father Naoum said that he was living in the Anglican residency near the city’s Victorian St George’s Cathedral, with his wife and young children, who have also been denied residency.
Bishop Dawani has launched an appeal to the Israeli High Court in Jerusalem, challenging the allegations made against him and demanding to know details of the land that he allegedly sold.
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The Israeli Interior Ministry said that it was awaiting a ruling from the courts. “It is a very sensitive issue, and we can’t say anything further until the court reviews the case,” said a spokesman.
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, is one of a number of prominent figures who have appealed on behalf of Bishop. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has written to Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, but has apparently yet to receive a reply.
Father Naoum said: “We cannot understand why the two issues of the land and his residency are connected. We have asked for a chance to defend ourselves and understand why Israel is behaving in this way.”
He said that officials in the Interior Ministry offered to allow Bishop Dawani to remain in Jerusalem on a temporary tourist visa.
“We regarded this as another humiliation. The Bishop is a native of this land but he is being treated as a criminal.”