The City of Nazareth, sacred to the Christian world for two thousands years, is facing developments that threaten the peaceful co-existence of Christians and Muslims that has endured over the last 500 years.

A statement signed "with a heavy heart" by the leaders of the Christian Communities in the Holy Lands was issued earlier this month to draw attention to recent actions of the Israeli Government which have increased tension and intolerance in the city where the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary so long ago.

The traditional mutual respect between Muslims and Christians has been threatened by violence last Easter where the Israeli police did not initially intervene, and an increase in insults and injuries against many Christians.

In a move which is seen by many as promoting electoral interests over the rule of law, the Government gave permission to a small group of fundamentalists for the construction of a mosque on land only a few metres away from the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. The land, adjacent to this historical church, was recently declared by the Israeli courts to be state property.

Expressing in their statement "the disapprobation of all the Churches at the way that their rights have been summarily violated," the Christian leaders announced that all the Sanctuaries of the Holy Land will be closed on 22nd and 23rd November 1999. They added, "We trust that we do not need to take any further steps in the near future, and that the Government will rise to the challenge by applying law and order."

Muslims are invited to support the Christian protest "so that what befalls us today will not befall them tomorrow." The Christian leaders expressed their hope that Nazareth would once more return to being a special symbol of the centuries long co-existence between Christianity and Islam, and would be a stimulus for the much needed peace in the Holy Land.