Orthodox Church leaders have condemned a growing series of attacks on Christian communities in Palestine, Jordan and other parts of the Middle East, calling for stronger international action to protect vulnerable religious minorities.
The statement followed a shooting on Friday in Hamoud, a village in Jordan’s southern Karak governorate. Gunmen fired on people attending a burial at St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church.
Nine people died in the attack and roughly 40 were injured. King Abdullah II and Jordanian authorities pledged to identify and arrest those responsible, while security personnel were deployed throughout Karak.
Quick facts
- A church funeral shooting in Hamoud, Karak governorate, left nine dead and about 40 wounded.
- The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee called for accountability over violence in Jordan and Taybeh.
- Masked Israeli settlers were accused of threatening Palestinian civilians, clergy and European diplomats during the olive harvest.
- Russia described the Jordan attack as terrorism intended to damage the country’s interfaith coexistence.
The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee, known as OPAC, said Christian districts were facing increasing violence, threats and brutality. It said such incidents must not be minimized or permitted to go unpunished.
“How many more innocent Christians must be attacked, terrorized, or killed before the international community takes meaningful action?” the committee asked.
The church said Jordanian Christians who had assembled to grieve relatives and friends were themselves caught in lethal violence. It characterized the killing of people attending a funeral as an especially cruel act.
OPAC also pointed to an incident in Taybeh, where masked Israeli settlers allegedly assaulted and intimidated Palestinian residents, Christian religious figures and European diplomats who had gathered peacefully during the annual olive harvest.
The committee called on Israeli authorities to investigate the Taybeh incident, prosecute those involved, halt what it called extremist settler violence and ensure protection for Palestinian Christian communities.
It made similar demands of Jordan’s government, urging it to prosecute the perpetrators of the church-funeral shooting and safeguard Christian worshippers as well as religious sites.
OPAC appealed to the United Nations, the United States, European governments and religious leaders around the world to seek accountability and provide adequate protection for exposed Christian communities.
Russia separately condemned the Jordan shooting as a “cynical act of terrorism,” saying the attack appeared designed to weaken the interfaith peace and social harmony developed in Jordan.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said assaults on places of worship and those visiting them were unacceptable. Moscow reaffirmed its firm support for Jordan in efforts to combat terrorism and extremism.
