Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem closed out of protest

jerusalem - The Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is closed on Sunday as a protest against new tax legislation and land policy. The Greek Orthodox patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Roman Catholic Church and the Armenian-Apostolic Church have made it known. They are the main administrators of the church.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that the administrators of the church are vehemently opposed to a new plan by the Jerusalem administration for taxation on ecclesiastical property. Furthermore, they are angry about a proposal from a ministerial commission on ecclesiastical land ownership. If this proposal is adopted, the government would be empowered to expropriate land sold by the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church.

This concerns land that is now in the hands of private entrepreneurs in real estate. People who have bought land from these companies are afraid that once the new legislation has been introduced, they have to leave at the end of their lease agreement.