Palestinian Christians on Saturday pummelled the car of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem during a visit to the West Bank in protest against the church's decision to sell land to Jewish groups.
The Greek Orthodox church is one of the biggest private landowners in the Holy Land and in recent years it has stirred controversy both among Israelis and Palestinians by trying to sell prime assets to private investors.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III has condemned a contentious 2004 deal, brokered by his predecessor, Patriarch Irenaios, as "illegal."
Irenaios sold 124 acres of land in west Jerusalem to undisclosed Israeli developers for a reported $32 million, a move that cost him his office.
Church officials have said they need to sell land in order repay debts that have accumulated over the years. Until now the church has been leasing out the land to residents on long-term contracts.
Hundreds of Palestinians blocked Theophilos' convoy as he drove to a church in Bethlehem to attend an Orthodox Christmas mass.
Protestors threw stones and water bottles and pounded his car with their fists, chanting "traitor, traitor," before Palestinian security forces pushed them away. Three cars in the convoy, but not the patriarch's vehicle, had their windows smashed.
Demonstrator Elyeef Sayegh said: "What happened today is a message to the Palestinian Authority and to Jordan that we will not allow this traitor to stay in the Church."
Some Israeli lawmakers are trying to block the deals that they fear could lead to large increases in real estate prices. Palestinians oppose the sale of land to Jewish and Israeli groups and consider it an act of treason.
The demonstrators were Christians from Bethlehem, Nazareth and other cities inside Israel.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas joined the patriarch in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity as Orthodox Christians celebrated midnight mass on Sunday.
Abbas, however, did not participate in the traditional dinner with the patriarch, as per the demands of many among the Christian community to boycott the patriarch's activities over the land controversy.
