Egyptian, Ethiopian monks clash in Jerusalem

The long-standing Egyptian-Ethiopian clash over the monastery Deir Al-Sultan, owned by the Coptic Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, saw a flare-up yesterday after Ethiopian monks raised a large Ethiopian flag on the site and attacked Egyptian monks present within.

According to Egyptian press reports, Metropolitan of the Holy See of Jerusalem Anba Antonios responded by placing the Egyptian flag on the monastery, while the Egyptian monks summoned Israeli police to force the Ethiopians to lower their flag.

The monastery also witnessed verbal altercations between monks from both sides, which likewise prompted intervention from Israeli police.

Deir Al-Sultan, named after Sultan Salah Al-Din Al-Ayyubi, is located within the walls of the old city of Jerusalem, in the Christian Quarter.

The sultan gave it to the Copts in appreciation of the national role they played in the battles against the Crusader armies that occupied Jerusalem.

According to Anba Antonios, “the problem of the assault on Deir Al-Sultan recurs every year,” beginning two or three years ago with the Ethiopians raising their flag “in an attempt to prove that the monastery is Ethiopian.”

“There is a court decision regarding our ownership of the monastery, and we are waiting for it to be implemented. It does not belong to them, and the government is supposed to form a committee between us and the Ethiopians to discuss the mechanism for implementing the ruling,” he added.

“We…received many promises that the flag would be removed. This year, before the celebrations and Holy Week, we met with the director-general of the Jerusalem Police and a number of police officers, and we said we want to pray quietly, and they promised us to solve all matters,” he continued in a statement.

“Yesterday, we were surprised by the placement of the great Ethiopian flag, and we contacted the police and…they said they would contact the interior and foreign affairs ministries and hold a joint meeting,” he added.

The archbishop revealed that the only monk residing in the monastery on a continuous basis was subjected to harassment by the Ethiopians, and they prevented him from entering the monastery.

The monastery has long witnessed a dispute over its ownership between the Egyptian church and its Abyssinian counterpart after Egyptian monks hosted the Abyssinians for three centuries, due to their inability to pay taxes.

The dispute was renewed in 2019 over a tent on which the Ethiopian flag was raised.

Egyptian monks gathered in the monastery two days ago to remove the tent and the Ethiopian flag amid the intervention of Israeli police.