JERUSALEM'S DAYR AL-SULTAN CASE: TURF BATTLE WITH INTERNATIONAL OVERTONES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T01017R000201650001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 31, 1986
• Content Type: MEMO

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Central Intelligence Agency
DATE
DOC NO~r-_ f1 S~-ao,LSL/
OIR 3
P $ PD I
Chief, Geographic Issues Division
Office of Global Issues
SUBJECT: Jerusalem's Dayr al-Sultan Case: Turf Battle
with International Overtones
1. The attached report describes the history of the
Egyptian Coptic Orthodox/Abyssinian Orthodox dispute over Dayr
al-Sultan in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the
cases's international implications for Israel. The report
includes a chronology of events related to the dispute and an
architectural plot of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
2. The report was prepared byl Ithe Near
East-Africa Branch, Geographic Issues Division, Office of Global
Issues. Questions or comments are welcome and may be referred
directly to the author or his branch chief,
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Attachment:
Jerusalem's Davr al-Sultan Case: Turf Battle with
International Overtones
GI M 86-20254, October 1986,
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SUBJECT: Jerusalem's Dayr al-Sultan Case: Turf Battle with
International Overtones
OGI/GD/NEA/
(31Oct86)
Distribution:
Original - Philip C. Wilcox, State
1 - David J. Dunford, State
1 - David J. Fischer, State
1 - April Glaspie, State
1 - George S. Harris, State
1 - Gary Dietrich, State
1 - George Demko, State
1 - Aaron Miller, State
1 - Alan Kreczko, State
1 - Thomas Wukitsch, US Embassy, Tel Aviv
1 - Mark Kennan, US Consulate Jerusalem
1 - Dennis Ross, NSC
1 - SA/DDCI
1 - Executive Director
1 - DDI
1 - DDI/PES
1 - NIO/NESA
1 - NIO/AF
1 - CPAS/ISS
1 - DD/OGI, D/OGI
1 - OGI/PG/Ch
3 - OGI/EXS/PG
5 - IMC/CB
1 - C/NE/ISR
1 - C/NE EG
1 - C/AF/HB
1 - D/NESA
1 - C/NESA/AI
1 - C/NESA/AI/I
1 - C/NESA/AI/E
1 - C/NESA/IA
1 - D/ALA
1 - C/ALA/AF
1 - C/OGI/GD
3 - C/OGI/GD/NE
A
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Central Intelligence Agency
Jerusalem's Dayr al-Sultan Case: Turf Battle with
International Overtones
Summary
With the signing of the Taba arbitration compromis in September
1986, one of the principal bilateral issues remaining between Egypt
and Israel is the status of Dayr al-Sultan--a monastery and two
chapels in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Formerly
under Egyptian Coptic Orthodox control, Dayr al-Sultan was taken
over by Ethiopian Orthodox monks in 1970. A subsequent Israeli
Supreme Court decision favored return to Coptic control but the
Israeli Government intervened and issued an interim order keeping
the site in Ethiopian hands while the government considered the
substantive issues of the case. Such has been the situation for the
past 16 years. Egyptian Copts blame the takeover and the continuing
Ethiopian occupation on Israel, and the Coptic pope therefore has
refused to allow his spiritual followers to visit the holy sites in
Jerusalem. Israel desires better relations with Egypt, but at the
same time seeks to improve relations with Ethiopia. Moreover,
Israel is wary of antagonizing Addis Ababa in consideration of the
Jewish population remaining there. In our judgment, Israel will try
to put off deciding the case for as long as possible. If pressured,
however, it will attempt to enact a compromise regarding the site--a
particularly difficult course considering the stubborn nature of the
two centuries-old denominations. 25X1
This memorandum was prepared by the Geographic 25X1
Issues Division, Office of Global Issues. The information contained
herein is updated to 3 October 1986. Comments may be directed to
Chief, Geographic Issues Division, Near 25X1
East- rica Branch,
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Jerusalem's Dayr al-Sultan Case: Turf Battle with
International Overtones
Introduction
The dispute over D yr al-Sultan between the Egyptian
Coptic Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church2
is one of the most recent disruptions of the Status Quo--the
complex system initiated in Ottoman times which has governed
and preserved rights of ownership of, worship in, and access
to the holy sites of the Holy Land. In 1970, the Israeli
Government elected to get involved in the Dayr al-Sultan
case, which because of the nature of the players involved
and their home countries, has since taken on international
significance. To understand the issue and the potential
implications of any solution, a review of the case's setting
and history is necessary.
Setting
Dayr al-Sultan consists of a monastery on the roof of,
and two chapels within, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre--a
12th century multidenominational church in Jerusalem's Old
City occupying the site that many Christians believe to be
where Christ was crucified, buried, and resurrected (see
architectural plot). The lowermost chapel, the Chapel of
1 One of the world's oldest Christian communities,
one of the first to develop monasticism, and the descendants
of the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptian government
officially estimates that some three million Copts reside in
Egypt, while the Copts themselves claim eight million
members. The figure is probably closer to five
million--about ten percent of the population. About 1500
Copts reside in Israel and the occupied territories. 0
2 Originally a daughter church of the Egyptian Coptic
Orthodox Church, indeed, overseen by the Coptic Patriarchate
of Alexandria until 1959. Around 1970, the church
officially changed its name from the Abyssinian Coptic
Orthodox Church to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Today,
about 17 million Ethiopian Orthodox reside in Ethiopia,
comprising about 40 percent of the population. About 200
Ethiopian Orthodox reside in Israel and the occupied
territories. There are essentiall doctrinal differences
between the two denominations.
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St. Michael, is one of several chapels on either side of
the church's parvis--a large open plaza fronting the main
entrance to the church. A worn sign painted over the door
to the Chapel of St. Michael reads, "Coptic Orthodox
Patriarchate" in Coptic, Arabic, and English. Along the
northern wall of this chapel, a staircase leads up to the
second chapel--variously known as the Chapel of the Four
Martyrs, the Chapel of the Four Bodiless Spirits, or the
Chapel of the Four Animals. The underlying decor of both
chapels is Coptic; wooden screens with geometric patterns of
inlaid mother-of-pearl are reminiscent of similar
decorations in Coptic shrines throughout Egypt. Today, the
chapels also contain Ethiopian tapestries, icons, and
ancient manuscripts. From the Chapel of the Four Martyrs, a
door leads to the rooftop of the Armenian Orthodox Chapel of
St. Helena --the easternmost chapel in the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre. Here several primitive mud huts located
around a courtyard and the dome of the Chapel of St. Helena
comprise the Monastery of Dayr al-Sultan, where several
Ethiopian monks and one Coptic monk serving as a guardian
reside.
History
Both the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church and the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church have claimed ownership of Dayr
al-Sultan since the early 1800s. Both denominations have a
historic presence in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. In
the 17th century however, the Ethiopians lost their holdings
elsewhere in the church but, they claim, obtained possession
of the rooftop monastery, which they have occupied ever
since. The Copts maintain, however, that Dayr al-Sultan has
always been their property and that they allowed the members
of the daughter church to move into the huts and to
officiate in the Chapel of the Four Martyrs as an act of
Christian charity. F__]
Documentation definitively proving either claim of
ownership is lacking, although the Copts have several
official documents from around 1820 recording Coptic
approval on repairs to the monastery, as well as an even
earlier document referring to Coptic occupation of the
monastery. The Ethiopians, on the other hand, claim that
the Copts burned all copies of Ethiopian documents and
acquired the keys to the monastery and the chapels when a
plague killed off all Ethiopians in Jerusalem in 1838.
However, in 1914, the Ethiopians reportedly discovered in
3 The name used in this paper.
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Constantinople the originals of these destroyed documents,
which, they state, swayed the Jordanian Government'to return
temporarily the site to the Ethiopians in 1961.
When in 1852 the Ottomans codified the principle of the
Status Quo, thereby delimiting in great detail the
territorial, processional, and ceremonial rights enjoyed by
each religious community:
o The Copts held the keys and regulated access to the chapels
and monastery.
o Each Easter, the Copts ceremonially proceeded from their own
nearby monastery through the central square of Dayr
al-Sultan, the Chapel of the Four Martyrs, the
interconnecting stairway, the Chapel of St. Michael, and the
parvis, into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
o The Copts held no services in either of the two chapels,
although one of their members daily lit the oil lamps in
them.
o The Ethiopians held daily services in the Chapel of the Four
Martyrs but not in the Chapel of St. Michael.
o Each Easter, the Ethiopians held services in the square of the
monastery.
o The Ethiopians continued to live in the monastery's huts under
the supervision of a Coptic monk.
In 1889, the Ethiopians violently opposed the Copts' right to repair
a gate near the monastery, and the Copts retaliated by denying the
Ethiopians their ab antiquo right to officiate in the Church of the
Four Martyrs. With the exception of this incident and two short
periods when the keys changed hands, the situation remained the same
until 1970 (see chronology.) F___]
Ethiopian Action and Israeli Response
On 25 April 1970--Orthodox Easter Eve--after the Copts had
processed as usual through Dayr al-Sultan and into the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre to pray, the Ethiopian monks assembled in the Dayr
al-Sultan square and proceeded to change the locks on the outer
doors of the two chapels. Because of violence between the two
groups in the years following Israel's 1967 occupation of the old
City, many Israeli police were present. The Ethiopians, however,
convinced the onlooking police that their job was to lock the doors
after the Coptic patriarch had passed. Their keys, of course, did
not fit, so the monks produced a handy locksmith who changed the
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locks, locked the doors, and gave the new keys to the Ethiopians.
When the Coptic monks came out of the church to retrace their route,
they were stopped by the newly locked door of the Chapel of St.
Michael. The Israeli police had taken no action to stop the
Ethiopian lock switching, nor did they permit the Copts to reenter
the area and replace the new locks with others of their own; the
Copts, therefore, accused the Israeli Government of being in cahoots
with the Ethiopians.
Three days later, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem
brought the case before the Israeli Supreme Court. The Court
decided on 16 March 1971 that the Ethiopians had infringed on the
Copts' de facto possession of the site, and violated the public
order and peace. -However, the court order obligating the police to
restore Coptic possession was postponed for three weeks to enable
the Israeli Government to exercise its powers "and deal with the
substantive dispute in such a manner as it thinks fit."
The Israeli Government' elected to exercise such powers, and, on
28 March 1971, established a ministerial committee to investigate
the substantive issues of the case and submit recommendations to the
Cabinet. At this time, the government issued an interim order
leaving Dayr al-Sultan under Ethiopian control until the issue was
resolved, but providing the Copts with the right of passage. The
ministerial committee met twice in mid-1971, then, after resolving
nothing, set aside the issue. The committee has met only a few
times since; according to the Israeli press, most members on the
committee do not take it seriously and rarely attend its meetings.
The Coptic Archbishop again petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court in
1977, but the court decided that once the Israeli Government had
elected to consider the substantive issues, the Court's original
decision was invalid and the case was entirely in the hands of the
government. F-1
Since 1970, then, Dayr al-Sultan has remained under Ethiopian
control, although the Copts have refused to exercise their rights of
passage as long as the Ethiopians hold the keys. Dr. Anba Basileos,
Coptic Archbishop of Jerusalem, has not set foot in the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre since 1970, stating that his direct path to the
church is barred by the Ethiopians, and the alternative of
procession through the streets would be a violation of the Status
Quo. Each year since 1970, the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate has
cancelled its Easter celebrations and receptions as a protest of
continued Israeli failure to return Dayr al-Sultan. Finally, Coptic
Pope Shanudah in Alexandria, blaming Israel directly for the initial
change of locks and for continuing stagnation on the issue, has
banned travel by Copts from Egypt to Israel until the case is
resolved in the Copts' favor. F___]
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International Implications
According to the Israeli press, Israeli authorities knew about
the Ethiopian plan to change the locks, but did nothing about it.
Israel Lippel, a former Director General of Israel's Ministry of
Religious Affairs, claims that the government was ill-advised on the
issue. Some senior officials believed that granting ownership
rights to the Ethiopian Orthodox would lead to the establishment of
an embassy in Jerusalem by the Ethiopian Government--then headed by
devout Ethiopian Orthodox members. In addition, these officials
reportedly implied that, at the very least, passive cooperation in
altering the status quo in favor of the Ethiopians would improve the
status and chances for emigration of Jews from Ethiopia. 7 25X1
On the other hand, with the War of Attrition between Egypt and
Israel just ending and no sign of serious peace overtures in sight,
Israel probably had no real concern in 1970-71 for any possible
irritation such action on Dayr al-Sultan (or later, lack of action)
might have on Egypt. 25X1
Today, however, the situation has changed; Israel established
relations with Egypt in 1979, but Ethiopia broke relations with
Israel in 1973. As part of the Taba negotiations package deal,
Egypt and Israel have discussed Dayr al-Sultan and other bilateral
points of dispute (Canada Camp, the Daqar submarine, war memorials
in the Sinai, etc.) Although the two countries recently signed an
arbitration compromis for the Taba dispute, and have decided some
other issues of the package, the Dayr al-Sultan case remains
unresolved. A few weeks after the September 11 Taba compromis
signing, Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdel Meguid told the US
Ambassador in Cairo that resolution of the Dayr al-Sultan issue was
becoming a key objective in Egyptian policy concerning Israel.
Egypt also sees successful resolution of the issue as one additional
way of keeping its own Coptic population content. F-1 25X1
If the Israeli Government returned possession of Dayr al-Sultan
to the Copts, one probable benefit to Israel and to Israeli-Egyptian
relations would be an increase in pilgrimages by Egyptian Copts to
Israel. At present,
the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior is
enforcing Pope Shanudah's travel ban by refusing to grant Copts the
necessary permits to travel to Israel. Archbishop Basileos, 25X1
however, has promised that thousands of Copts would visit Jerusalem
each year once Israel hands back Dayr al-Sultan. Although many
Egyptian Copts are relatively poor, the holy sites of Christendom in
Israel and the occupied territories would probably attract as many
pilgrims as Basileos predicts, just as the shrines of Mecca and
Medina annually entice Muslims in similar financial straits to make
the Haj. Round trip bus fare from Cairo to Tel Aviv is only about
$40.00, according to a recent travel guide, and fair accomodations
are available in East Jerusalem for under $20.00 a night; a
three-day pilgrim's holiday is therefore possible for around
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$100.00. Coptic tourists probably would not spend much money in
Israel, but their visits could increase goodwill and understanding
between the two countries.
Any ultimate decision Israel may make on the Dayr al-Sultan
case, however, must consider Ethiopia. Although the present
Ethiopian Government is Marxist and officially atheist, Jerusalem
continues to hold an important place in the hearts of Ethiopia's
Christians; moreover, most Ethiopian Government officials retain
some ties to the church. The Israeli press reports that the
Ethiopian Government has sent diplomatic messages to Tel Aviv
demanding that Israel, when considering Dayr al-Sultan, not attempt
to improve relations with Egypt at the expense of Ethiopian
interests. Ethiopia's leverage consists of Israel's desire to
reestablish relations with Addis Ababa, the Israeli airline El Al's
use of Ethiopian airspace on the Tel Aviv-Johannesburg run, and,
more importantly, the Israeli Government's. concern for the
relatively large unofficial Israeli community and the about 10,000
Ethiopian Jews remaining in Ethiopia.
Concerns of Other Religious Denominations
In addition to
the
Governments of Ethiopia and Egypt, Israel
must also consider
the
other religious denominations of Jerusalem
when deciding what
to
do in the Dayr al-Sultan case. Many
denominations are
wary
that an Israeli Government decision in the
case would establish precedents of interference with the Status Quo
and rights of sovereignty over the holy places by an occupying
power. In the past, circumstances forced other occupying
governments to address specific issues concerning the Status
Quo--the British and the Western Wall issue, for example. However,
no nation besides Israel recognizes Israeli sovereignty over East
Jerusalem, and representatives of both the Roman Catholic and
(White) Russian Orthodox Churches in Jerusalem have told US
officials that they would raise the question of sovereignty if
Israel intervened on either side of the Dayr al-Sultan case. With
such backing, it is conceivable that the issue would reach the floor
of the United Nations Security Council, which has on several
occasions adopted resolutions addressing Israeli actions affecting
the status of Jerusalem. F__~
Israeli Options
In resolving the Dayr al-Sultan case, Israel has few options.
If the Israeli Government elects to go along with the Supreme
Court's decision and return control of the monastery and the chapels
to the Copts, it would risk antagonizing Ethiopia and possible
recriminations against Ethiopian Jews. If the government elected to
legitimize Ethiopian Orthodox control over the site, relations with
Egypt would deteriorate, though probably not as much as they did
during the "cold peace" brought on by the Taba dispute and Israel's
invasion of Lebanon. If Tel Aviv did anything that appeared to
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change the 1852 Status Quo, it would incur the anger of other
religious denominations in Jerusalem. Based on these no-win
situations Israel will, in our judgment, keep the issue pigeonholed
as it has for the_past 16 years, until enough serious pressure
(probably from Egypt) is brought upon it to act. If forced to
decide between one party's claim or the other's, Israel probably
will support the Copts because of the 1971 Supreme Court decision,
because such a decision is in line with the Status Quo, and because
Israel considers its relations with Egypt to be more important than
relations with Ethiopia. However, before it makes such an either/or
decision, Israel most likely will seek to establish some sort of a
compromise in which the two denominations share control of Dayr
A noted British legal expert who has studied the case suggests
that Israel should consider several obvious pieces of a compromise
pie:
o Replace the illegal Ethiopian locks with ones provided by the
Israeli Government, then provide each denomination with a set
of keys for its own independent use.
o Officialy restore the Ethiopian's pre-1889 right to officiate
in the Chapel of the Four Martyrs, since the Copts never use
this chapel and since the Ethiopians have no other place to
worship in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
o Eliminate the Coptic guardian and Coptic lamp lighting
privileges--historical remnants of Coptic dominance over the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church that effectively ended in 1959.
Other possible solutions that have been suggested include rotation
of control; return to Coptic possession but with equal access by
Ethiopians; and control of the site by a third party such as the
Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, or the Israeli
Government. However, such points of compromise are based on an
outsider's rational logic--something not necessarily present when
two religious denominations are engaged in a dispute. Egypt and
Ethiopia might be content with a compromise but the Egyptian Coptic
Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (as well as the
other Christian denominations in Jerusalem) probably would regard
such a solution as an Israeli affront to the Status Quo. In short,
the Israeli Government has stepped into a religious territorial
quagmire from which there is no easy way out.
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Chronology
1149 Crusaders complete present Church of the Holy
Sepulchre.
1300s-1400s Medieval writers refer to both Coptic and Ethiopian
presence in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
1668 Ethiopian Orthodox Church, along with other smaller
denominations, loses its holdings in the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre because of inability to pay
exactions to the Ottomans. Ethiopians move into the
rooftop Dayr al-Sultan Monastery, probably owned by
the Coptic Orthodox Church at that time.
1820s
1838
1852
Dispute over Dayr al-Sultan first surfaces.
Plague in Jerusalem devastates Ethiopian community.
Ottoman Sultan Abdul Mejid formalizes the Status Quo
in the holy places. Copts hold the keys to Dayr
al-Sultan at this time.
Ethiopians temporarily acquire the keys. Ottoman
officials order Ethiopians to. return keys to
Copts--when they refuse, officials provide new locks
and entrust keys to Copts.
1868, 1869 Sultan reaffirms Status Quo.
Treaty of Vienna terminating Russo-Turkish war again
reaffirms Status Quo.
Jerusalem Municipality gives Copts permission to
enlarge northern gate of Dayr al-Sultan. Ethiopians
violently oppose Coptic rights to alterations.
Copts reciprocate and deny Ethiopians their ab
antiquo rights to officiate in the Chapel of Four
Martyrs.
At request of the Russian ambassador (assuming the
role of protector of Ethiopian Orthodox interests),
Constantinople orders new inquiry into Dayr
al-Sultan case. Local Jerusalem authorities reply
that matter is already settled.
1919, 1923, British order local municipal authorities to
1927 undertake necessary repairs and tree pruning at Dayr
al-Sultan when the two denominations are unable to
decide rights of repair on their own.
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Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church grants Ethiopian
Orthodox Church full independence, except on issues
of doctrine.
22 Feb 1961 Jordanian commission
of inv
estigation finds
Ethiopian claims to
be just
ified. On the
basis of-
1 April 1961
this decision, Ethio
al-Sultan and conduc
Jordanian Governor (
pians t
t relig
possibl
ake possession
ious services.
y because of im
of Dayr
proved
7 July 1962
Jordanian-Egyptian r
Jordanian order. Et
al-Sultan to Copts.
New Jordanian commit
elation
hiopian
tee of
s) freezes prev
s return contro
investigation d
ious
l of Dayr
ecides
that only legal cour
maintain Status Quo
se on D
as it h
ayr al-Sultan i
ad been under O
s to
ttomans.
25 April 1970
16 March 1971
28 March 1971
13 April 1975
April 1977
9 January 1979
Israel occupies the Old City. Coptic pilgrimage to
Dayr al-Sultan effectively ceases.
Ethiopians change the locks while Copts are in
Church of the Holy Sepulchre celebrating Orthodox
Easter; take possession of Dayr al-Sultan.
Israeli Supreme Court decides in favor of Copts, but
allows the Israeli Government three weeks to address
the substantive issues of the case.
Israeli Government, accepting Supreme Court's offer,
appoints a ministerial committee to study the
dispute. Government issues an interim order
maintaining Ethiopian possession but preserving
Coptic rights of passage during Easter celebrations.
First ministerial committee meeting.
Second committee meeting.
Third committee meeting. Other meetings took place
every other year or so.
Coptic Archbishop presents new petition to Israeli
Supreme Court.
Israeli Supreme Court rules that because the Israeli
Government decided to deal with the substantive
issues of the case, the original 16 March court
order was invalid.
Coptic Archbishop again files new petition.
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30 July 1981
Israeli
nothing
hearing
Supreme Court dismisses petition, deciding
new had happened to warrant the Court's
the case again.
15 May 1985
Dayr al-Sultan included as part of package of issues
to be discussed by Egyptian and Israeli officials-
during Taba negotiations.
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The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
EEgE
Armenian Custody
0 a
CHAPEL OF
ST HELENA
A - Chapel of St. Michael.
B - Interconnecting Stairway.
C - Chapel of the Four Martyrs.
D - Dayr al-Sultan Monastery, located on the
roof of the Armenian Chapel of St. Iielena.
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