Jerusalem tax spat pits heaven against earth

Source: Religion News Service

Demonstrators protest outside the closed doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many Christians to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem, on Feb. 27, 2018. Jerusalem’s mayor suspended a plan to impose taxes on properties owned by Christian churches, backing away from a move that had enraged religious leaders and led to the closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

JERUSALEM (RNS) – An ethereal city graced with sunlight so bright it turns the white stone skyline gold at sunset, Jerusalem is also an earthbound city whose teachers must be paid and whose garbage must be collected.

Finding a balance between the Holy City’s earthly needs, amid ongoing financial woes, and the needs of the numerous institutions that form its rich religious heritage is no easy task.

That balance was upset last month, leaders of the Holy Land’s Christian churches say, when they received property tax bills totaling millions of dollars, applicable to all church properties that are not actual houses of worship.

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    • Arab / Palestinian Christians are not foreigners. They were there before the influx of Jews from Germany, Poland, Khazan Empire, USA, Russia, Ethiopia and god knows where else …

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