The Alliance
Church rings no bells in the backstreets of the Christian Quarter of
Jerusalem’s Old City.
But the joyful singing of hymns by its
congregation, accompanied by a drum and a guitar, echoes through the
narrow alleys on Sundays and Thursdays.
Inside, Arab Christians, mostly
young families, pray fervently. They have turned from being Catholic,
Greek Orthodox or members of other older Christian denominations.
So
far, this Pentecostal church has around 120 to 150 members, but, as in
Brazil and other countries, converts grow each month. “We are born-again
Christians,” says Pastor Jack Sara.
“We believe in changing the heart
so that people are renewed by God himself.”
As a member of the
Christian Missionary Alliance, the Alliance Church has to keep within
Palestinian political boundaries and Israeli legal boundaries.
As its
members are Palestinian and Arab it does not compare biblical Israel to
modern Israel or support settlements – unlike most Pentecostal
churches.
And although it is a missionary church it cannot seek to
convert. In Israel any inducements to change religion and give material
benefits such as offering a job or an apartment are an offence.
Under
the Enticement to Change Religion law of 1977 – the “anti-missionary”
law – attempts to proselytise are punishable by up to five years in
prison or a fine of up to £50,000.
Paradoxically, although
Evangelicals here must refrain from recruiting new members, Israel
benefits enormously from Evangelical communities around the world.
In
the past 12 months one stream of evangelical Christians in the United
States gave over $100million (£63million) to Israel. Donations stay high
because in spite of the recession there is a worldwide explosion in the
number of converts.
Conversions in Jerusalem are, on the whole,
rare and usually only take place before weddings.
Marriage between men
and women of different faiths and denominations – even between Catholics
and Anglicans – is also against the law.
One famous Catholic who
converted to Islam was Suha Daoud Tawil.
In 1990, when she was 27, Suha,
who had been educated in the best convent here in Jerusalem, married
Yasser Arafat, who was then 61. A few years after his death in 2004 she
moved with their daughter to Tunisia.
In 2007 the president revoked her
Tunisian passport and since then her home has been a lavish villa
purchased for her by Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya near her Orthodox
mother in Malta and frequently goes to Italy.
The Israeli
government has recently been reproached by some Palestinians for cashing
in on Christian pilgrims and tourism.
In November, the Palestinian
Authority announced that it was displeased by the Greek Orthodox
Church’s decision to attend the opening of the road built by Israel to
ease access to fifth-century St George’s Monastery near Jericho in the
West Bank.
Dr Bernard Sabella of Bethlehem University said: “This area
is part of the topography of Palestine. It should have been a
Palestinian project.”
After 42 years as a closed military zone
al-Yahud has been revamped and will soon be permanently open to the
public.
Visitors, though, will have to pass through a fenced-off road
until all the landmines have been cleared.
The Israeli army were
against opening the site as the river is the official border with
Jordan.
Water there is so shallow that anyone can wade across from
Jordan without going through security or passport control.
Controversy
from many angles certainly courts much that happens to Holy Places
here.