 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
June
5, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 11Oakland,
CA
Catholic serves in Hamas-led Cabinet
JERUSALEM
(CNS) -- Before accepting the appointment of Palestinian tourism minister
for the Hamas-led government, Judeh Morkus consulted his Bethlehem parish
priest, Franciscan Father Amjad Sabbara.
Morkus, the long-time former city engineer of Bethlehem, said the priest
told him that as a Christian he would be able to contribute to the Cabinet
and that it was irrelevant whether the government was led by Hamas or
by Fatah. Either way, the priest told him, the current government was
the representative of the Palestinian people.
It took him two and a half days to accept the position, a post reserved
for a Christian, and now Morkus, 47, is the only Christian Cabinet member
of the Hamas-led government.
Israel and the United States view Hamas as a militant terrorist organization,
and both countries as well as the European Union are withholding funds
from the Palestinian Authority until it renounces its violent tactics
and recognizes Israel’s right to exist.
