Beit Sahour is a Palestinian city located 6 km to the south of Bethlehem City with a total population of 11,000 people. The population consists of Christians and Moslems, living side by side, resisting together the Israeli occupation. See map below
The Israeli Military Force reached a new low recently through a series of shelling Palestinian holy sites. On August 4th at 9:30 p.m. the Bishop Aghapios Monastery which is located in the north vicinity of Beit Sahour City was shelled by Israeli tanks under the pretext of responding to Palestinian fire from the area; see photo 1 and photo 2..
Bishop Aghapios Monastery was built in 1848 to house the monks of Mar Saba Monastery in Al Ubeidiyah. At that time, many monks used to come to Mar Saba and the space was limited. So, Bishop Aghapios built the monastery (which later bore his name) to house the incoming monks. However, people still call this monastery the ''Mar Saba Monastery of Beit Sahour'' so as to differentiate it from the one in Al Ubeidiyah. It consists of two buildings: the first is a 150 square meter and two-story dwelling (see photo ), while the second consists of a tower. With time, the monks settled mainly in the big building and the tower was left vacant. A decade ago, a Greek woman named Ms. Margarita, famous for drawing religious icons, restored the tower and used it as a home. She refurbished it, cultivated the land and built a stone wall around it. ), while the second consists of a tower. With time, the monks settled mainly in the big building and the tower was left vacant. A decade ago, a Greek woman named Ms. Margarita, famous for drawing religious icons, restored the tower and used it as a home. She refurbished it, cultivated the land and built a stone wall around it.
However, all of Margarita's hard work did not stop the Israeli tanks from shelling the tower. Despite the fact that the Greek flag was raised on top, the tower received three shells from the Israeli position on Abu Ghneim Mountain; see photo. The damage caused was great but she is currently getting some help from the Beit Sahour municipality to rebuild the tower.. The damage caused was great but she is currently getting some help from the Beit Sahour municipality to rebuild the tower.
The church land upon which the monastery was built was once threatened with expropriation. In the early 1990s, the Israeli authorities had wanted to expropriate part of the church land there for the settlement of Abu Ghneim (Har Homa) that was still in the planning stages. In order to preempt the Israeli move, the directors of the Greek Orthodox Housing Project requested the church to give them a plot of land adjacent to where the settlement of Har Homa was planned. The late Patriarch Theodorus accepted to lease that plot to the housing project for 99 years. Today, 8 buildings are established and they stand in the face of Har Homa's expansion. The project plans to build 15 buildings containing 120 housing units and the total area is 20 Dunums; see photo..
The shelling of Bishop Aghapios Monastery and threatening the life of Ms. Margarita shows the extent to which the Israeli authorities are willing to go in order to forward their policies. Their apathy towards the places that the Palestinians revere is an indication of what they might do to other holy places in Palestine.
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
