Land conflict mars Good Friday in Jerusalem

March 26, 2005 A conflict erupted between Greek Orthodox monks and Arab Christians in Jerusalem on Good Friday, as the Arab Christians protested the monks' sale of church land to Jewish residents.

Israeli police broke up the protest near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Omar Harani, a 25-year-old leading the protesters, told the Telegraph, "We gave the land 2,000 years ago to the Church to look after," and continued, "So it is not their land to sell. For hundreds of years we Christians, who used to be 15 per cent of the population, have been persecuted and driven out of the Holy Land and now we are a tiny minority. But we will make our voice heard to stop this sale."