Why does St. Anne’s Cathedral in Jerusalem belong to France?

Everyone knows that French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting Israel and Jerusalem is an Israeli-occupied area. How could a French church pop up?

Originally, there was a church of St. Anna in Jerusalem, the holy place of three religions. It was a Christian church built by the "Crusade" in 1138 during the Crusades, and it is currently assigned to the White-clothed priests. It is now located in the Muslim Quarter, one of the four French territories in Jerusalem.

After the "Crusades" retreated, the church was successively owned by the Ayub Dynasty, the Mamluk Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire, which believed in Islam.

"St. Anna" is traditionally recognized as the name of the mother of the Virgin Mary and the grandmother of Jesus. It means grace and grace in Hebrew. Therefore, the church has important religious significance in both Christianity and Judaism.

In 1865, the declining Ottoman Empire, in order to thank France for supporting the Russians in the Crimean War, the Ottoman monarch Sultan Abdul-Mejid I gifted St. Annas Church to the French Emperor Napoleon III. Later, France declared the church to be French territory.

In 1948, Israel was founded in 1948 with the support of the Western powers. France and the new Israeli government signed the "Fisher-Chavier Agreement", reaffirming that the Church of St. Anna is the territory of the French Republic. Although this agreement was not approved by the Israeli government, it was not explicitly denied. However, the French flag has been flying over the Saint-Anne church.

Therefore, when the Israeli police tried to accompany Macron into the Church of St. Anna, Macron accused the Israeli police of violating the agreement reached between the two countries by law and infringing on French territory. Macron even warned the Israeli police in English at the entrance of St. Anna's Church: "I don't like what you did in front of me, please go out." Macron then emphasized that although he was sorry, everyone "knows the rules." Macron also said: "Please respect the rules that have existed for centuries. It will not change because of me. Let's keep calm together. Okay?" According to the media, in 1996, the then French President Chirac During his visit to Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers refused to accompany him into St. Anna's Church.

Although both parties later said that there was a misunderstanding in communication, in fact they still had different perceptions of the ownership of St. Anne’s Church. In addition, it also meant to achieve a diplomatic balance between Palestine and Israel.