His Beatitude, Michel Sabbah, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, met a group
of mature students of the Ecce homo School of Biblical Studies run by the
Sisters of Sion in the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem. Some
sixty students from twenty-two countries, missionaries taking time out
for a sabbatical, have been studying in Jerusalem for the past three months.
Having arrived just after the beginning of the Aksa- intefada in October
2000, they were keen to understand the position of the Churches in the
midst of this recent crisis, one more struggle in a long history of battles
marking different points of progression in the unfolding history of the
52 years of Israeli statehood.
HB gave a brief summary of the position of Palestinians after the war
of 1948 when Israel was declared a state and recognized as such by the
International Community. Since then Palestinians have experienced discrimination
as citizens carrying different identity cards from Jews and having to suffer
the ignominy of frequent checks by young soldiers, male and female.
Many thousands of Palestinians have been driven from their homes and
land into other countries and into refugee camps. ith the return of some
limited Palestinian Authority in Gaza and the West Bank the possibility
of real Palestinian statehood is at an impasse because of the number of
Jewish settlements peppering the land of Gaza and the West Bank and of
necessity having IDF soldiers guarding roads and check points to these
settlements. This of necessity prevents the freedom of movement for the
Palestinians from one zone to another.
His Beatitude wanted to impress upon all that until justice is achieved,
i.e. when the rights of all, Palestinians as well as Israelis, is upheld,
equal rights for voting, equal rights in jobs, education and social amenities,
respect for human dignity and basic human rights where no one is oppressed
and all have the right of freedom of movement, there will be no chance
for true and lasting peace.
HB said that unfortunately more often than not history had demonstrated
that most peace agreements were only obtained after war, violence and much
bloodshed. But he made an interesting remark about Ytzak Rabin. Rabin having
been a hawk as an army commander, had discovered that when it came to the
question of establishing a true and lasting peace the approach could not
be through co-ercion and violence, rather the heart and soul of all the
people involved had to be turned towards reconciliation and a willingness
to forgive and work towards building bridges of a cooperation that would
assuage the fear and hate of the opposing sides. Of course when Rabin became
a dove and courted the Arabs of Israel for their support he was quickly
assassinated by a Jew who could not tolerate his approach.
The church, which has always been small in this land, must witness to
this willingness
To be open to reconciliation and bridge building, to sink its differences
and to work to cooperation at all levels. But at the same time the church
must not be blind to injustice, whether it be against the Palestinian or
the Israeli, it must stand for justice, truth and above all compassion
and mercy. To do this the Middle Eastern churches must stay faithful,
Christians must not run away but must stay and witness to the suffering
Christ in this His Holy Land. It is a witness of martyrdom which
demands great courage and endurance which, if sustained, will bear great
fruit for the generations of the future. The global church needs local
Christians in this Holy Land and must pray to do whatever it can to alleviate
the problems of this present crisis. I does not help to be partisan. We
must pray for all sides to come to their senses and start the process of
reconciliation and forgiveness that will eventually lead to a true and
lasting peace with justice for all irrespective of race creed or color.
Some questions posed by the students.
1) What impact did the visit of the Holy Father have on the people
in the Holy Land?
In brief the Holy Father’s visit was particularly effective in sowing
very valuable seeds, particularly the seed of repentance and asking forgiveness
for what the Church in the past had done and not done to help the Jewish
people in their hour of greatest need.
2) Another question was raise about the plight of the refugees in
the camps. It had been suggested that the refugees had been offered alternatives
by the Israeli Government, which had been refused by the Palestinians because
they wanted to gain international sympathy and to use the camps as a political
lever in all negotiations.
HB respo0nded that it was most important from the point of view of justice
that the Israelis should accept the responsibility of having caused the
refugee problem in the first place, that they also had a responsibility
to compensate the refugees who had lost home, land and living, and finally
they should also, in principle, recognize the refugees right of return.
3) Is it true that visas are being offered to Christians to leave
the holy Land?
HB. Yes, I’m sorry to say this is true. Visas are being offered especially
by the USA government.
In the new Palestinian Constitution is there provision for the protection
of the rights of the minorities, especially for the Christians?
HB. The new Palestinian State will be Muslim, just like Egypt and Jordan
and the like. The constitution is not yet signed. Negotiations have been
entered into to protect the Christians in the Constitution. But rights
have to be stated in legal terms otherwise it will be meaningless. HB stressed
the need to create good relations with the Muslims.
4) Another question was directed toward the question of the status
of Jerusalem.
HB explained that at one time it was thought Jerusalem should be overseen
by and International Body in order to safeguard the Holy places and everyone’s
right to access. But this idea was shelved and it is now thought
it would be best to have a body from within to work together to effect
this end. He mentioned how since the time of the Ottoman Empire the Status
Quo Regulations for all the churches of the Holy Places had been drawn
up legally, and, despite the negative sound of its title, it had been adhered
to and had governed the custodianship of the Holy Places effectively until
today.
It came as a surprise to some that one of the main causes of the Crimean
War had been the question of the custodian ship of the Holy Places, particularly
the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
5) A fifth question was asked about the true meaning of Jihad.
HB gave an enlightening explanation revealing that the original meaning
was that of the interior struggle. He drew a comparison with St.
Paul’s explanation that the true battle was within. It was only in the
later years of Islamic expansion that jihad came to have the idea of the
holy war to be waged against the infidel the non-believer in Islam.
6) Finally a question was posed from someone coming from Northern
Ireland. In the light of the history of the Church, especially in recent
years when the Church had accused of remaining silent where it would have
helped the cause by speaking out, what can we as a group do coming from
some 22 countries?
HB simply made it clear the importance of understanding the situation
by right information, by not being partisan, by praying earnestly and making
sure they support this little Church in anyway possible. Encourage pilgrims
to continue their pilgrimages. This would be a great help and would show
great solidarity with them who live out their witness in such hard circumstances.
The students were most impressed by His Beatitudes approach and went
away with much to assimilate.
HVSexton Jerusalem
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