His Eminence Archbishop Atallah Hanna will arrive in Edinburgh tonight to begin a week-long Scottish tour.
The Archbishop of Sebastia from the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem visit is hosted by Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Church of Scotland, Iona Community, Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre and Christian Aid Scotland. Supporters are expected to turn out at Edinburgh Airport to welcome the Archbishop.
In 2009 Archbishop Atallah Hanna co-authored Kairos Palestine: A Moment of Truth.
The document, signed by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, “is the Christian Palestinians’ word to the world about what is happening in Palestine” and addressed “first of all to ourselves and then to all the churches and Christians in the world, asking them to stand against injustice and apartheid, urging them to work for a just peace in our region, calling on them to revisit theologies that justify crimes perpetrated against our people and the dispossession of the land”.
The Iona Community in Scotland endorsed Kairos Palestine in their Iona Call 2012.
The Archbishop is an outspoken critic of Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territory; in 2002 Israeli police confiscated his Israeli and Vatican passports.
The Archbishop will speak at public meetings in Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh. On Tuesday, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland will hold a dinner for Atallah Hanna in Edinburgh.