Deir al-Sultan.. An Egyptian-Ethiopian struggle over the thresholds of "Resurrection"

Cairo-

From time to time, a ecclesiastical conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia over Deir al-Sultan, located within the walls of the old city of occupied Jerusalem, is renewed, the last of which was a few days ago when Ethiopian monks raised a huge Ethiopian flag inside the monastery and attacked their Egyptian counterparts, who responded by coloring its main gate with the Egyptian flag. What is the story of the monastery?

What is its relationship to the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and Israel?

First of all, Deir al-Sultan, which covers an area of ​​about 1,800 meters, is adjacent to many important historical church buildings in Jerusalem, as it is the only entrance for Coptic pilgrims (Egyptian Christians) to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Historically, the crisis of Deir al-Sultan dates back to the 17th century, when Abyssinian monks were temporary guests of the Copts after they lost their monasteries due to their inability to pay taxes. Since then, the monastery has gone through several religious and political turns.

The crisis culminated in Israel enabling the Abyssinian monks from the monastery, despite the decision of its Supreme Court decades ago in favor of the Egyptian Copts, a decision that has not been implemented so far, contrary to accusations of complicity in changing its features and legal status within the policy of Judaizing Jerusalem.

The dispute over the monastery has also escalated in recent years, coinciding with another water dispute between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the Renaissance Dam, which the latter is building on the Nile River, and the former fears its repercussions on its water share.

On this subject, Al Jazeera Net seeks to monitor the Egyptian-Ethiopian ecclesiastical conflict over Deir al-Sultan, and answer questions that tell its story, and to whom does it belong?

With the presentation of the reasons for each party, and what is the nature of the Israeli role that may come in the context of a role in another conflict over the waters of the Nile?

Repeated attack like last year.. Ethiopian monks attack Deir al-Sultan in #Jerusalem because of the Egyptian flag hanging on the gate pic.twitter.com/uBkyeGIhxF

— Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) April 19, 2022

What is the story of the monastery?

And where did he reach his crisis?

According to historical references and official and press statements and reports, Deir al-Sultan passed through the following stages:

It dates back to the era of the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (684-705 AD), and therefore it was called Deir al-Sultan.

After Saladin’s success in stopping the Crusades against the Arab East, the ownership of the monastery by the Copts was confirmed in the 12th century AD.

In the 17th century, the Coptic Church hosted the Abyssinian monks in the monastery for more than 3 centuries, after they lost their monasteries in Jerusalem;

Because of their small number and their failure to pay taxes.

- Throughout that period, the Ethiopians sought to control the monastery, but the courts of the Ottoman Empire (the sovereign at the time) approved the ownership of the monastery by the Copts.

With the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the early twentieth century, things turned in favor of the Ethiopians, and this was reinforced by the fall of Palestine under the British Mandate and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, then the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967 in the midst of the Arab-Israeli wars.

After the setback of June 1967, the Israeli occupation authorities expelled the Coptic monks from the monastery, and handed them over to their Ethiopian counterparts.

What is the nature of the Israeli role in the monastery file?

After the Copts were expelled from the monastery, the Coptic Church filed a lawsuit before the Israeli courts, and obtained a court ruling confirming its entitlement to the monastery.

The Israeli government refuses to implement the ruling on the grounds of inappropriate security conditions, and says that the issue has political dimensions.

The Israeli position came in the wake of an agreement with Ethiopia to transfer the Falasha Jews to Israel, after a promise to guarantee the ownership of the monastery to the Abyssinian monks.

In 1980, the Egyptian Church decided, in response to the Israeli intransigence in favor of the Ethiopians, not to permit its congregants to travel to Jerusalem until the monastery was restored.

– In the last five years, clashes erupted between Copts and Ethiopians, and the crisis is still frozen without a solution.

In 2018, the Israeli forces attacked Coptic monks during a protest they organized against the Israeli policies in the monastery file, and arrested a number of them before releasing them amid condemnation from Cairo.

Coptic monks draw the Egyptian flag on the gate of Deir al-Sultan (communication sites)

What is the significance of the monastery?

Why is the conflict renewed?

The importance of the monastery is due to the most important things:

Its geographical location, as it is located on the roof of the Church of St. Helena, the Church of the Angel, and the passage connecting the Church of Helena to the wall of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

It is located within the holy Christian area of ​​Al-Quds Al-Sharif.

It is of special importance to the Copts because it is their direct way to reach the Marantonis Monastery, where the Egyptian Patriarchate is located, to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Losing it for the Copts means that all their property is worth nothing, and pilgrims and visitors are forced to pass long public roads to reach the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

From the geographical reality of the monastery, the great importance of the monastery also becomes clear to the Abyssinian monks, who lost all their possessions in Jerusalem and were left with nothing but adherence to this monastery, which increases its importance by its proximity to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

The crisis has turned into something like a war of flags in the clashes that are renewed annually, especially with the advent of religious occasions. On the one hand, the Ethiopians refuse to remove the Ethiopian flag, and on the other hand, the Copts refuse to erase the Egyptian flag from the gate of the monastery.

To whom does the monastery belong?

What are the merits of each party?

First: The Egyptian narration (according to data from its Orthodox Church) and its most prominent evidence:

The Egyptian Church confirms that all courts have ruled that it is entitled to ownership and possession, and that it has 23 documents of these rulings that are internationally documented.

After they lost their property in Jerusalem, the Ethiopians had no choice but to resort to the Coptic Church as their mother church.

The Coptic monks hosted their Ethiopian counterparts, especially since their number at that time was few, not exceeding eight priests and laymen.

The documents confirm that the right to restore and rebuild the monastery belongs to the Copts, and this proves their ownership of it.

The absence of documents regarding the ownership of the monastery by the Ethiopians, and the failure of the Ethiopian church to prove its ownership of the monastery, which prompted the Israeli courts to rule in favor of the Copts.

Second: the Ethiopian narrative:

The Abyssinian monks depend on 3 documents in the ownership of the monastery, according to church sources:

1- Decree of Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab.

2- Firman of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman.

3- A document in the Sharia Court in Jerusalem.

Press reports also quoted the Ethiopian Church that the monastery had belonged to the Ethiopians since the 17th century, but they lost ownership documents during a fire that broke out in the monastery’s library in 1838 AD after the outbreak of cholera plague.

Al-Ahbash still relies on the Israeli support for their position and the failure to implement the judicial ruling in favor of the Copts.

Is there a relationship between the renewed conflict over the monastery in recent years and the crisis of the Renaissance Dam?

Until the late fifties of the last century, the Ethiopian Church was affiliated with the Egyptian Church, and despite the two sides’ assertion that ecclesiastical relations are greater than politics, it seems that the renewed conflict over Deir al-Sultan has become associated with a worsening of relations that has exceeded expectations in recent years to the point of threatening to use force to solve the Renaissance Dam file.

In Egypt, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II said, before the Security Council session that discussed the dam file last summer, that his country is able to protect its water rights.

He also mentioned in previous press statements that all the efforts of the Egyptian Church with Ethiopia are focused on the file of the Renaissance Dam, considering the Ethiopian Church no longer as influential as the past as a result of the change in political life in Ethiopia.

On the other hand, the Ethiopian Church usually calls on its citizens to continue supporting the dam project as a "step forward in the way of alleviating poverty."

Based on the previous data, it seems that the ownership crisis of Deir al-Sultan will remain suspended, especially since the ruling appears to be between the two parties represented by an Israeli occupation that had no serious precedents in recognizing international charters or resolutions, despite its rapprochement with Egypt and its efforts to normalize relations, especially at the popular level.

In addition, the monastery crisis comes in the context of the crisis of the Renaissance Dam file, which has increased the historical distances between the Egyptian and Ethiopian churches in recent years.