Controversial Greek Orthodox Priest from Nazareth, Father Gabriel Naddaf, addressed the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week arguing that the Jewish state is the only country in the Middle East where Christians aren’t persecuted. He called on the 47 member nations to end the “witch hunt of the only free country in the region.”
In a special debate on racism he testified on the situation of Christian minorities suffering under Muslim extremists in the Arab world where a Christian is killed every five minutes because of their faith.
Father Naddaf heads the Greek Orthodox Church in Yafia near Nazareth and states that “those who want to destroy the Jewish state are signing the death warrant on the last free Christians in the Holy Land.”
“Those who can escape persecution at the hands of Muslim extremists have fled. Those who remain, exist as second-if not third-class citizens to their Muslim rulers,” he said.
His views have caused upset in the Arab community of the Israeli Knesset and he receives regular threats against his life and against the safety of his family. In December, 2013, his son was assaulted and hospitalized because of Father Naddaf’s outspokenness.
The Greek Orthodox patriarchate in Israel banned Father Naddaf from entering Nazareth’s Basilica of the Annunciation, and has repeatedly threatened to dismiss him from his post in Yafia, because of his public statements against the treatment of Christians in the Arab world.
Who is the controversial defender of the Jewish faith?
Fr. Gabriel Nadaf was born in 1973 in Nazareth, a town with a mostly Muslim population and a Christian minority. He served as a priest in the church at Mary’s Well in Nazareth since 1995, and belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, Israel’s second largest Christian community. He served as a speaker and as a judge in the Court of the Church Patriarchate in Jerusalem.He studied Theology and the Psychology, and is married with two children.
He encourages Christian Arab youth to integrate into Israeli society –
Ask me anything
Explore related questions
