By IBRAHIM HAZBOUN, Associated Press Writer
EVEN SAPIR, Israel (AP) - Monks of a tiny Greek Catholic order indicated Wednesday they would resist eviction from a monastery, after an Israeli court ruled that their isolated refuge belongs to another church.
The seven Melkite monks had until Wednesday to vacate St. John in the Desert monastery after the court ruled the property was owned by the Franciscan order, which oversees property for the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land.
Dozens of Israeli Jewish friends of the monks gathered at the mountain sanctuary, 15 miles outside Jerusalem. They threatened violent resistance if police came to remove them.
But police said Wednesday that they had not received a court order to evict the monks. Authorities were concerned that a forced eviction would give Israel bad publicity abroad, Israel radio reported.
Tucked between mountains covered with spring flowers, the stone monastery marks the area where Christians believe John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus, lived in solitude, eating locusts and honey and drinking spring water that still pours from caves at the holy site.
The battle over the sanctuary began in 1994, when the Franciscans petitioned an Israeli court. The Franciscans had built the buildings in 1922, but the Melkites leased the premises in 1978.
The Jerusalem District Court ruled two months ago that the Melkites must leave by Wednesday, since their lease had expired.
But the Melkites said a provision in the agreement allowed them to remain. In addition, the monks said they converted the sanctuary from neglected buildings into a well-tended refuge, planting olive and almond trees among pink cyclamen flowers on the stone terraces. In recent years, the monks opened the monastery to the public.
Israelis frequently visit the monastery, where the black-robed monks give tours of the small church and sell homemade wine, Mediterranean spices and religious objects. About 30,000 people visited the site last year, said Father Elisha, a monk who lives at the site. He said he hoped Israel would stay out of the dispute.
``It's a shame,'' Father Elisha said. ``If they evict us we have to go back to France, because there is no place for us in the Holy Land.'' The Melkites have ten monks and four nuns living in France and Israel, he said.
A spokesman for the Franciscans, Claudio Baratto, said they would not back down on their demand the monks leave the monastery.
The Melkite sect belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church until 1724, when it became Greek Catholic, following the pope in Rome. The Melkites maintain the rituals of the Eastern Orthodox religion.
About 55,000 Greek Catholics live in the Holy Land, Father Elisha said.
Associated Press
1. mars 2001