Anger in Nazareth over Church Attack

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"Christians and Muslims stand together" was one of the slogans shouted at a demonstration after an attack on a church in Israel.
The gathering was organised by leaders of the Arab minority in Israel, which numbers more than a million people.

Participants accused the Israeli government of being weak in the face of "anti-Arab aggression."

Speakers included the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Muslim clerics, and several ethnic Arab members of Israel's parliament.

Israel has condemned Friday's incident and has assured the Vatican that it does not tolerate religious intolerance.

On Friday three people set off firecrackers in the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, one of Christianity's most important sites.
They sparked panic and a riot, during which they were saved by police from a probable lynching.

PHOTO CAPTION

Haim Habibi (L), a Jew with a history of threatening to attack churches, is escorted by police at the hospital in Hadera, early March 4, 2006. (REUTERS)

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