By Stuart Littlewood – London

We are not here as politicians, they said. We come as representatives of the various churches in Jerusalem.

But the trio from the Holy Land showed they were more than a match for western politicians who fancy they know all about the Middle East.

Archbishop Theodosius Hanna (Greek Orthodox Church), Monsignor Manuel Musallam (Latin Catholic) and Mr Constantine Dabbagh (Executive Director of the Middle East Council of Churches) are courageous human rights defenders and spiritual leaders from Palestine. They have just completed a tour of Ireland to raise awareness of the situation in their homeland under Israeli military occupation and the plight of the dwindling Christian community there.

"We need only one thing, to be protected by the world against the crimes of Israel," was their central message.

The week-long visit was arranged by SADAKA, the Ireland Palestine Alliance (www.sadaka.ie) and part funded by Tr