Beyond Muslim-Jewish Fighting in Israel-Palestine
“A holy fist fight.”
Just to show you that a) Christian monks can still throw down and b) Jews and Muslims have no monopoly on whupping on each other, two mobs of Christian sects thrashed each other this morning near Jesus’ tomb.
Armenian and Greek Orthodox monks began fighting in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, “revered as the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection,” as the Armenian monks commemorated the discovery 1600 years ago of the cross used to crucify Jesus.
The Greek Orthodox monks wanted in on it. The Armenian monks weren’t having it, and told them to shove off. As with everything else in Jerusalem, spiritual symbolism and the politics of control intertwined to produce violence:
The Greeks objected to the march without one of their monks present, fearing that otherwise, the procession would subvert their own claim to the Edicule — the ancient structure built on what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus — and give the Armenians a claim to the site.
As the Armenian monks proceeded, the other group tried to block the way. The end result was fisticuffs.
The Israeli Police showed up and knocked some Monks heads of their own, just because no sectarian violence can happen their without Jews getting a few licks in. They arrested two monks, one from each sect.
I know it is not necessary for me to take sides, but what the hell: As a Palestinian, I tend to want to back the Greek Orthodox monks because many more of my people are of that persuasion. However, that is too tribal of a mentality. Plus, Armenian food is so much better! And ultimately, the Armenian experience of the past century is easier to relate to, as victims of nationalistic-chauvinism in Turkey: an ideological cousin in some ways of Zionism. So, I will side with the Armenians on this one, but just barely — not that anyone cares.
