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Officials of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem were shocked yesterday by Tuesday night's murder of Father Georgios Tsibouktzaltis in a drive-by shooting on the Ma'aleh Adumim highway.
The attack also put the spotlight on the Greek Orthodox community, caught in the middle of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
"The members of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, shocked by the incident, are determined to continue their spiritual mission in the Holy Land guarding the Holy Places in spite of sacrifices and difficulties," the Synod said in an announcement following an urgent session in which it condemned this and similar attacks.
However, members of the Synod were not willing to comment on speculation that a bearded Orthodox priest in a car at night might easily be mistaken for an Orthodox Jew.
Like many of the Greek Orthodox monks in this country, Georgios, 34, had been born near Salonika, in Greece. He came to Jerusalem...