NEWS STORY: Israel detains 21 Christians saying they pose threat to public safety

c. 1999 Religion News Service JERUSALEM _ Israeli authorities have detained some 21 people belonging to two millennial Christian sects and issued them deportation orders, saying they pose a danger to public safety. But members of the two predominantly American groups, which have been based for years in the Jerusalem area of the Mount of […]

c. 1999 Religion News Service

JERUSALEM _ Israeli authorities have detained some 21 people belonging to two millennial Christian sects and issued them deportation orders, saying they pose a danger to public safety.

But members of the two predominantly American groups, which have been based for years in the Jerusalem area of the Mount of Olives, deny they are involved in any violent activities and say they are merely here to await what they believe to be the imminent return of Jesus to the Holy Land.”We were looking forward to being in a place where God would work from. But nowhere in the word of God are we sanctioned to be violent,”said Robert Collins, a New York City special education teacher who witnessed Sunday’s arrests of fellow members of his congregation known as the House of David.


The police sweep on the House of David and another evangelical Christian group known as the House of Prayer came at around midnight Sunday in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Bethany.

Dozens of police entered a number of rented apartments in the predominantly Arab neighborhood, where members of the groups had been living, eyewitnesses said, detaining 16 adults and five children whose tourist visas had all expired. “We had just come in from New York. We were sitting down and having conversation with the sisters,”recounted Collins.”And then someone rang the doorbell. About 10 police and soldiers entered, carrying folders with everyone’s names and personal information. They were well aware of who they were looking for.” Collins said those who were detained were given only a few minutes to gather clothes and belongings. The detainees are due to be deported back to their countries of origins within 72 hours of their arrests.

Most of the adults arrested were being held in a prison in the Israeli coastal city of Ramle, pending their deportation. But five women who were arrested with their children, including a toddler and a 6-month-old infant, were taken to the apartments of a police training academy, a police spokeswoman said.

Israel Radio and Israel Television later reported the groups are thought to have been planning a suicide action or an attack on the Muslim-controlled areas of the Temple Mount, in order to hasten the return of Jesus.

But police spokeswoman Linda Menuhin described the weekend’s move largely as a pre-emptive measure.”Police believe their prolonged stay might in certain circumstances affect public safety,”Menuhin said. Menuhin said the group detained included 20 Americans and one Australian.

The weekend sweep marked the third time this year Israel has deported a group of Christian tourists on suspicion that the group might be planning some sort of end-time violent display to coincide with the millennium.

The House of David is an offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventist church, run by a retired New York City schoolteacher known as Brother Solomon who travels back and forth between his congregations in Israel and in Brooklyn. Brother Solomon, whose real name is Winston Rose, was in the United States for a speaking engagement when the police raid occurred, Collins said.


However, police did arrest the 58-year-old leader of the House of Prayer group, who is known here as Brother David, along with his 53-year-old associate Sharon, a mother of seven and formerly of Grass Valley, Calif.

Brother David sold all of his belongings 18 years ago and moved to Israel. He has lived here since without a legal visitor’s visa, renovating rooms and subletting them to tourists.

While both groups openly profess a belief that the second coming of the Messiah is near, both leaders have repeatedly said they are opposed to violence to achieve that goal and their prayer meetings are regularly open to visitors and the press.”In the six or seven years since our group has been here, we haven’t had one incident of violence. Don’t actions speak for themselves?”said Collins.

DEA END FLETCHER

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!