Turkey to Return Religious Properties

In a decision announced Saturday the Turkish government has committed to returning the numerous churches, synagogues, cemeteries, and formerly church-run hospital, orphanage, and school buildings confiscated from Turkey's native religious and ethnic minorities since the foundation of the modern Turkish state following World War I. Properties already sold to private owners by the Turkish government are to be substituted for financial compensation from the state. The move comes as part of Turkey's ongoing efforts to qualify for membership in the European Union, which has long been concerned by the country's treatment of its non-Turkish citizens. More here.

Israel Approves Construction of 1,600 Housing Units in East Jerusalem

The Israeli Interior Ministry has authorized the construction of 1,600-unit apartment complex in predominantly Palestinian Arab East Jerusalem. The Interior Ministry simultaneously announced that it would shortly approve the construction of a further 2,700 more housing units in East Jerusalem. The approval comes as the Palestinian National Authority prepares to request admission to the United Nations as an independent state. More here.

Palestinian Orthodox Metropolitan Backs Calls for Preservation of Jerusalem Cemetery

Metropolitan Theodosius (Hanna) of Sebaste of the Jerusalemite Orthodox Church has added his voice to calls from Palestinian and Israeli Arabs that the destruction of the Holy City's historic Mamilla Cemetery be halted. The cemetery, which is the burial place of many Palestinian Arab residents of Jerusalem, is being razed to make way for the 'Museum of Tolerance.' More here.

Israel Approves West Bank Housing Expansion

The Israeli government has approved the construction of 294 homes on Palestinian Arab territory on the West Bank in the wake of an announcement from the US government that it still expects a peace between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority to include Palestinian Arab control of the entirety of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The houses will become residences for Jewish fundamentalists wanting to live in the area. More here.

Moscow Patriarchate Responds to Suggested Change in Russian State Emblem

The Moscow Patriarchate has responded to a proposal to add a crescent to the Russian state emblem (the Romanovs' double-headed eagle) by stating that crescents should be included in the national emblems of the predominantly Muslim member republics of the Russian Federation, but not the Russian state emblem itself, which "has a history of many centuries and...has stood the test of time." More here.

The spokesman of the leader of Russia's Jews, on the other hand, thought that the proposed addition of the crescent was not enough, stating (tongue in cheek) that, "If you remember, the Soviet emblem featured a slogan "Workers of the World, Unite!" in the fifteen languages of [the] Soviet republics. We can put some other inspiring slogan in [the] one or two hundred languages of Russia's smaller nations and add the same number of heads to the eagle...then we are sure to have a strong and multi-headed eagle." More on his comments here.

Orthodox Christians to Remain Unrepresented in Turkish Parliament

Despite discussion by an assortment of political parties in Turkey of presenting Armenian candidates for upcoming parliamentary elections none have been nominated by any of the parties currently represented in the Turkish Parliament. Although a minority in Turkey, Armenians are the largest non-Muslim ethnic minority in the country. More here.

Update (12/4/2011): Four non-Muslim candidates will be field in the upcoming elections, two of whom are ethnic Syrians and two of whom are Jews. Of the four only one, a Syrian from southeastern Turkey, seems to have a strong chance of being elected. More here.

New Synagogue in Baku

A large new synagogue has opened in Baku, Azerbaijan, with state support. More here.

Initiatives of Sofia's Jewish Community Leader

The young leader of Sofia's Jewish community, Alexander Oscar, is seeking to raise awareness of anti-Semitism in Bulgaria and also diversify the religious options available to Bulgaria's Jews. More here.

Armenian Secretly Executed in Iran

Iran secretly executed five Iranians, among them an Armenian Orthodox man and his Jewish wife, this past month in Iran. Although the government later confirmed the news of the executions it has refused to turn the executed over to their families for burial. More here.

Holocaust Memorial in Skopje

This past Thursday a Holocaust memorial was inaugurated in Skopje, the capital of independent Macedonia. More here.

Bulgaria Remembers the Holocaust

Bulgaria is marking its Holocaust Remembrance Day today. Unlike other Axis allies during World War II, Bulgaria alone saved its Jews from being deported to Germany largely due to pressure exerted on the royal government by senior hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. More here.

Beit Jala Parish Protests Visit of Theophilus III to Bethlehem

During the visit of Patriarch Theophilus III (Giannopoulos) of Jerusalem to the Bethlehem area this past Sunday for St. Nicholas' day the parishioners of the Palestinian Orthodox parish in Beit Jala, a suburb of the holy city, refused to meet with the patriarch and instead protested his visit because of revelations that the Patriarchate has continued to sell lands owned by the Palestinian Orthodox Church in the occupied West Bank to Israeli citizens for development as Jewish settlements.

The predecessor of Theophilus III, Patriarch Irenaeus I (Skopelitis), was removed from the Patriarchate for selling land to Israelis, so the failure of the new patriarch to stand up for the interests of his flock and to serve instead the interests of the predominantly Greek Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher (which administers the Patriarchate and the holy sites of Palestine) has come as a great disappointment to the Palestinian Orthodox faithful. In addition to his mishandling of church property in the Holy Lands Patriarch Theophilus also recently abandoned the Jerusalemite Orthodox faithful in North America under pressure from the Phanar, transferring them to the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

More on the Beit Jala protests can be found here.

Upper Nazareth Mayor Bans Christmas Decorations

The mayor of a largely Jewish suburb of Nazareth has refused to allow any decorations to be put up in honor of Christmas or the Nativity despite the fact that roughly 15% of his community is Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christian and the vast majority of nearby Nazareth is Palestinian Arab (and a third of them Christians). More here.