Palestinian Greek Orthodox Archbishop Attends Event Honoring Murderer of Fellow Greek Monk

The Bethlehem municipality, in the presence of the Palestinian Greek Orthodox Archbishop, honored 52 terrorist prisoners from Bethlehem last month with the unveiling of an exhibit as “a salute of loyalty and commitment” to the terrorists, all of whom are serving life sentences, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported.

Palestinian Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia Atallah Hanna’s participation in the event meant that he inadvertently honored the terrorist who murdered one of his fellow clergy, Greek Orthodox monk Gur Pzipokatsatakis.

Pzipokatsatakis was murdered in a drive-by shooting near Maale Adumim on June 12, 2002. Yasser Rabai’ah, a Palestinian terrorist and member of Tanzim, the Fatah movement’s terror faction, was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the attack.

Many of the honored terrorists were involved in the planning and execution of suicide attacks during the second Intifada in 2002, including Ahmed Adel Sa’adeh, whose bus bombing killed 12 Israelis and injured dozens of others; Ashraf Hajajreh, who helped 19-year-old Muhammad Al-Shouani carry out a suicide attack that killed 11 people; and Amjad Takatka, who was involved in an attack that killed six and wounded more than 80 in Jerusalem’s main market, Mahane Yehuda.

Bethlehem has a history of glorifying terror, the most recent example being a parade held in the city in which children carried mock RPGs and wore suicide belts.