Athens, Greece -- The Greek government said it will defend the historical character of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, following Palestinian calls for its "Arabisation."
In Ramallah, on the West Bank, Palestinian MPs -- furious at the alleged sale of Jerusalem land to Jewish investors by the Greek patriarchy -- voted Tuesday for Arab Orthodox Christians to secede from the Greek patriarchy.
They passed a resolution urging the Palestinian Authority to no longer recognise the authority of the Greek Orthodox patriarchy over the Orthodox Arab community.
Denials of the alleged land sale, issued by Greek Patriarch Irineos I in Jerusalem, fell on deaf ears.
A Greek government spokesman, Evangelos Antonaros, said here that the Greek Orthodox patriarchy in Jerusalem had a history spanning centuries, and he believed most of the flock would not want to abandon it.
An investigation into the matter is under way, assisted by Greek foreign ministry experts who arrived in the Old City on Monday.
"Taking the results of the investigation into consideration, we will decide on steps that will defend the patriarchy's historical characteristics," Antonaros said.
The Greek team includes lawyers, financial experts and the Greek foreign ministry's head of religious affairs, the Greek embassy in Jerusalem said.
"The foreign ministry sent its group of experts to Jerusalem on Monday who are charged with investigating the reported sale of real estate of the Patriarch of Jerusalem," it said in a statement.
Allegations about the land sale were first published in Israel's Maariv daily.
Purchasing property in the Old City -- in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem -- is fraught with political tensions as Jewish groups often try to obtain properties in Palestinian areas in a major settlement drive.