News,
articles and documents from the Holy Land
Issue No. 198 - Monday, 14 April 2003
Dear Friends, Brothers
and Sisters,
A lot of events happened in the last two weeks in
front of which we stay very astonished because we simply cannot understand for
the time being. Let me share with you my personal feeling about it:
Concerning what happened in Iraq, it was expected
even if many people didn’t want it to happen so quickly and where disappointed of
the speed fall down of the regime. I personally thank God that it happened this
way and so quickly because this will save a lot of lives and destruction
because the outcome was very clear from the beginning since the Americans and
the British didn’t come from faraway to lose a war in front a small country
like Iraq which suffered from three consecutive wars including 12 years of embargo.
This doesn’t mean that I am with the foreign occupation of an Arab country at
all, but I hope that something good will come out of this evil: I hope that a
new democratic regime will be born as soon as possible so that the Iraqi people
will enjoy after this long suffering a period of peace and security; I hope
also that when they finish in Iraq they will not open another front with Syria
or Iran, but remember us and do anything which will move the situation here. I
think that it is for the credibility of the Americans and the British to make
their utmost of pressure to resolve the conflict here; otherwise they will be
seen only as invaders and new occupiers. I do really hope that they are
coherent when they say that they would like to publish and implement the “Road
Map”!
Yesterday the Patriarch presided the Palm Sunday
mass at the Basilica of the Holy sepulcher and walked in the procession of the
afternoon from Beitfage to the Church of St. Anne’s in the Old City. He wanted
it to be a March of “Prayer and repentance for Peace”. Some thousand people
walked the three kilometers procession while usually at least 15 to 20 thousand
used to participate. This is due to the closure of Jerusalem, therefore all the
local Palestinian Christians from all our parishes didn’t and couldn’t go to
Jerusalem; the lake and the absence of the pilgrims for the third consecutive
years since the beginning of the Intifada… Even during this Holy week the roads
of Jerusalem are empty, and the Holy Places are almost deserted.
The Patriarch will hold tomorrow his annual press conference,
and I will send you his Easter message in several languages. I will also
provide you with all the other documents which will be delivered by him and by
any other Church leaders in Jerusalem.
Here in Taybeh and in many other surrounding
parishes we will celebrate Easter next week on the 27th of April
with the Orthodox Churches as we do since some years in order to show our unity
because we live together in the same small villages and towns and it is not a
good witness in front of Moslem brothers to celebrate Easter in two different
dates. It is a good experience, even if we hope and wish that such initiative
will be adopted officially be the Church Leaders so that we reach unity at
least on this issue of the “Feast Unification” until we reach unity on other
more complicated issues.
You will find the following documents in today’s
Olive Branch:
1)
EASTER MESSAGE of Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, the Lutheran Bishop in
Jerusalem “WHO WILL ROLL THE STONE AWAY?”
2)
Letter from Bethlehem (52) by Toine van Teeffelen in which he refers to
the weekly vigils which are held every Sunday at 19:00 on Nativity Square in
Bethlehem. They express "support for peace and justice, and to protest
occupation and war." In Bethlehem both organizations and individuals share.
The next vigil is Sunday 20 April, Easter, again at 19:00 on Nativity Square.
For information one can write me [tvant@p-ol.com]
3)
A very important and interesting Interview with Dr Hayder Abdel Shafi By
Katharine Maycock which will deal with RESPECT BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS
GO BACK TO OLD TIMES”.
4)
Finally, Dr Harry Hagopian writes about “Pacem in Terris”.
We do believe that after the darkness of the tomb,
Jesus Christ rose again, and we are sure that after the darkness of this long
tunnel of suffering we will rise again to a new life full of Justice, Peace and
Freedom. Please, with us for this intention, so that it will become true as
soon as possible!
Wishing you a very blessed
Easter full of JOY. Fr.
Raed Abusahlia
EASTER MESSAGE
April 20, 2003
by
Bishop Dr.
Munib A. Younan
The Lutheran Bishop in Jerusalem
WHO WILL ROLL THE STONE AWAY?
Easter
Gospel: Mark 16:1-8
As the Christian Church celebrates Easter this year, I have been asked, “What kind of message will you offer your people? What viable hope can you give?” On this Easter Day I feel as if I am walking with the three women – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. I feel I am walking with them to the tomb of the crucified Jesus, and a big stone has been rolled in front of the cave to protect the body from predators. I feel I am going with the three women to perform the traditional anointing of the dead Jesus. As I approach the burial cave early Sunday morning with Salome and the two Marys, I ask with them: WHO WILL ROLL THE STONE AWAY FROM THE ENTRANCE OF THE TOMB?
The big stone was far too heavy
for the women to move – this stone which represented the finality of death and
the heavy questions which faced Jesus’ followers. What would happen now? Would
the soldiers arrest them also? Would they end up on a cross themselves? Where
should they go? What should they do? Every question was filled with
hopelessness.
We live in hopeless situations.
We have more than one stone to roll away, and so we ask: WHO WILL ROLL AWAY
THESE STONES?
The Iraqi war is one of those
stones and it is huge and heavy. It is creating a big divide between the
cultures. Some say, “This is a religious mission to liberate Iraq.” Others say,
“It is a religious task to fight against the invaders.” It seems that some like
to read the war as a fight among religions. What will happen with
Christian-Muslim relations that we have built for a long time? No wonder we are
filled with hopelessness. Just when we thought we had succeeded in bringing
mutual understanding among cultures and civilizations, we see the huge stone in
front of us. WHO WILL ROLL AWAY THIS STONE?
We as Palestinians have
suffered for a long time under military occupation. Now and then we have had a
glimmer of hope but soon realized we are still living under occupation. We feel
like our Lord, who also suffered injustice at the hands of world powers. We
feel now as if there is more suffering, more death, more destruction than
before. We do not see that our situation will be healed soon. What can I say to
people whose houses have been demolished in the Gaza Strip and in Ramallah and
Tulkarm and Jenin? What can I say
to a mother who has lost one of her children? What can I say to a man who has
lost his job and cannot provide food for his hungry family? What can I say to
parents who are maltreated at checkpoints as they try to go to work? What can I
say to people who have to live with a newly built fence that is eight meters
high and must stay behind that fence? What can I say when I see that hatred is
deepening due to all these circumstances, and the spiral of violence is
increasing? We Palestinians cry
out with the Marys and Salome, WHO WILL ROLL AWAY THIS MASSIVE STONE?
As I watch the Israeli society
and how people live in fear, I see that their fear drives them to impose harder
and harder security measures upon Palestinians. When I see the fear of Israelis
and their reactions to it, I sometimes ask in my naivety, “Why can’t they be
serious in ending the occupation by themselves and thereby live in security
with their Palestinian neighbors?” But sadly, it seems their fear is also
deepening and this causes even more insecurity. This is the reason the Israelis
also wonder and ask, WHO WILL ROLL THIS STONE AWAY?
It is God who rolls every one
of our stones away. It is God who gives us the beautiful truth that new life
and hope await us in Christ our Risen Savior. This is our hope. It is in God
and not in world leaders or power and coercion.
Today, Easter Sunday, from
Jerusalem, the city of the Resurrection of Christ, we declare to the world that
our only hope is in the Resurrection of our Lord. We absolutely refuse to
succumb to hopelessness but will only look to our sure hope in the Living Lord.
Our God is working among us as
certainly as he was working among his disciples in this land of resurrection.
God’s ways are often surprising to us because God works in weakness and
vulnerability. In 2 Corinthians 9 we hear this word from the Lord: “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Just when we
think everything is hopeless, it is exactly there that God is doing God’s work
most powerfully. When the two Marys and Salome came to the tomb they were
shocked and broken because they expected to see a closed tomb. And even if some
people came to help roll the big stone away, they expected to see Jesus’ dead
body. But no! What they saw was the result of God’s power, working in a totally
unexpected way!
God has never abandoned us.
Even with all the stones in place – even when we are feeling hopeless, it is
God’s hand and God’s plan that are working for us. And it is God who empowers
us to be witnesses of that truth to the world. We are commissioned and
empowered to roll away the stones of fear, hopelessness, sadness, depression,
injustice, occupation and violence. God calls us to be channels of hope to
support one another and to challenge the world: Stop the war! Stop the hatred! Stop the bloodshed! God’s
love on the cross and in Christ’s resurrection will continue to be seen and
will never end. We are commissioned to give this love and hope to the world. We
Palestinian Christians are commissioned to be a Church of hope and life, to
give hope in a hopeless situation, to teach love in a world where it is absent,
to teach faith and trust in the Lord even when we sometimes feel abandoned by
God. And so the indigenous Church in Palestine will continue to be a Church of
reconciliation and a Church of resurrection.
Perhaps we have felt ourselves
sinking into hatred, anger and bitterness in the midst of all the harassment,
pain, suffering and loss. We know how easily this can happen. We are human
beings who are experiencing incredible losses and pain. Today our Risen Christ
is able to work in you to change hatred into love, animosity into
neighborliness, bitterness into trust. How can this happen? It happens when we confess our hatred
and bitterness to God, when we confess that we cannot roll the stone away by
ourselves. It is exactly then that
God is working in us, working to roll the heavy stone away and to replace it
with the joy of Easter, with the love of God.
As Palestinian Christians we
need at this time of difficulty and hopelessness to remain as bridge builders
even though the atmosphere and the odds make it seem impossible. We need to
continue our insistence on dialogue among religions and continue to build more
understanding among the cultures and civilizations. We need to teach the world
to respect others and accept the otherness of the other. At the same time we
need to be brokers of building a just peace in the Middle East where
Palestinians and Israelis can live in their viable states, side by side,
peacefully, justly and equitably. This vision for peace must never end, and
Jerusalem, the city of the Resurrection, must be the mother of the two nations
and three religions. This vision also extends to other countries in the Middle
East, that they may also have their sovereignty on their land, to have their
self-determination, and their opportunities to build their own civil societies.
The Palestinian Christian
Church proclaims a message which is very different from the world’s message. We
cling to Christ and to the very real hope of his presence among us and the
future hope of seeing all the stones rolled away. God’s love poured out upon us
is like a flood of grace. Every day we are swimming in that grace, thoroughly
soaked in the love of God in Christ. That is how we are able to continue day by
day in the midst of what the world would call a hopeless situation.
The good news of Jesus’
resurrection is just too good to keep to ourselves. God’s Holy Spirit empowers
us to shout forth the wonderful news – Christ is Risen! We will not permit war
or occupation to divide us. We will not permit human tragedies or spiral
violence that creates hatred to take away our hope and joy in the Resurrection.
As the Lutheran hymn reminds us:
“Our
hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
No merit of my own I claim, but wholly
lean on Jesus’ Name.
His oath, his covenant, his blood,
sustain me in the raging flood.
When
all supports are washed away, He then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand.”
Because
we have a living hope in the Risen Savior, we continue our resurrection work as
witnesses to Christ, as channels of hope and as instruments of peace and
love.
CHRIST IS
RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!
++++++++++++++++++++
The Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCJ)
P.O. Box 14076, Old City Jerusalem 91140, via Israel
The ELCJ serves in Palestine, Jordan and
Israel
Letter from Bethlehem
(52)
Toine van Teeffelen
April 14, 2003
Pain
While walking through the streets of
Bethlehem, you often see posters with large photos of persons on walls and
shopkeeper's doors; some old and torn, others new. They show shuhada
(sing. shaheed), martyrs. To western ears, the term martyr may sound
somewhat outmoded or may evoke the extreme inclination of somebody prepared to
die for the religious or national cause. In Palestine, however, martyrdom has a
broader meaning than that. In fact, everybody who gave his or her life in the
context of the national struggle is considered a martyr. That also applies to
those who by chance were in the vicinity of clashes or an extrajudicial
execution. Last week, seven persons in Gaza were killed by mortars; two of them
a Hamas leader and a helper, while others, among them two children, were
bystanders who ran to the scene and were hit by a second rocket.
Also Christine Sa'adeh, the girl of ten
who died two weeks ago because of such an execution, is a shaheeda. The
poster shows her face with next to it a cross and a Palestinian flag. It now is
on the street walls in Bethlehem and also around the house of the family. At
the beginning of last week we went there with a delegation of the Institute.
George, the father, looked still weak and pale but was improving. His wife's
face expressed the enormous sorrow the family now feels. Wearing black clothes,
the women sat in a circle, their faces exhausted of pain and weariness. George
asked us to search for a good lawyer in Jerusalem. He wanted to act, perhaps
also as to somehow cope with that overwhelming feeling of powerlessness. Coming
back from the visit, I couldn't control myself and cursed the world. Why does
this have to happen to such a young family?
Mary felt physical pain watching the
bombings in Iraq. She thought of all the wounded and killed. She now is barely
able to empathize with the feeling of freedom many Iraqis experience. Her
favorite Egyptian song is dumu'a, tears. Rather melodramatic in my
opinion that is influenced by Dutch nuchterheid [sobriety]. We used to
discuss in the broader Morcos family whether the regular showing of suffering
on local TV may make it in fact more difficult to overcome the suffering and
leave the role of victim. But what can you do about the suffering, people ask.
Often not much. The initiative of an Israeli-Palestinian organization who
brought together "Bereaved Parents" whose children died in political
violence, comes to mind. Through the pain, they try to reach a reconciliation
with themselves and others on the base of a political program against the
occupation.
*
* *
There is also somebody else who had pain
and asked for a lawyer: Imad Oweineh, a member of the youth group of the
Institute. He is a promising student at Birzeit University. To Louis Bohte, the
Dutch Franciscan in Bethlehem, he wrote his story. Birzeit is not far from
Ramallah above Jerusalem and in order to go there from Bethlehem, you have to
improvise. Two weeks ago Imad went through the fields and hills together with
students and older people in order to circumvent the Ramallah-Birzeit
checkpoint that was closed. Especially the elder people walked, stumbled or ran
clearly afraid that they might be caught by soldiers taking cover in the hills.
Over the last year, Imad has been active in marches and demonstrations which
the Institute helps to organize; he is a declared proponent of non-violent
resistence. He expresses this also in his general attitude; he is not
threatening but also not easily intimidated. When he was in the eye range of
soldiers on top of a hill he did not run away but calmly continued walking. A
soldier called him to come over. That too Imad did calmly in the conviction of
the moment that he would be somehow able to speak with the soldiers reasonably
about how especially the elder people could find their way through the rocks
without fear. That attitude was however not appreciated, the soldier spouted a
string of insults, and after that something happened that Imad did not
remember. First his body felt as if it was completely anaesthesized. Afterwards
a flash of pain ran through his face. He had received an enormous blow. His jaw
was broken. Despite his pain, the soldiers ordered him to stay there without
water or first aid. Other soldiers passed and did as if something completely
normal had happened. "You have to consider this as a stone in exchange for
the hundreds which have been thrown to us," the responsible soldier
commented. After three hours Imad could leave. He was operated and is now for
the coming weeks unable to speak or to eat solid food. Yet he was present
during the latest vigils on Sunday night at Nativity Square which are organized
by local Palestinians and internationals demonstrating against war and
occupation and for peace and justice. "I know I am not the first
Palestinian that was beaten or shot by Israelis, and I know I am not the last
one, I know also that this is not the worse injury caused to a Palestinian by
the IDF, and I know it is not much more important than our long suffering, or
than the terrible war in Iraq, or even than thousands of conflicts and diseases
around the world, but may be for this particular reason I think I can do
something about it, I can gain a victory for Palestinians and for
justice." Various Palestinian and Israeli organizations registered his
testimony.
*
* *
Jara says that
you have to go abroad not to see suffering and victims. On Psalm Sunday she did
not want to be on my shoulders but rather stay on foot in the procession going
from the Mount of Olives to St Anne's. She is a big girl now. Among the
procession was a contingent from Bethlehem, elated to get a permission to go
out of Bethlehem (although not all families who applied got a permit). One boy
wrapped himself in the white-yellow flag of the Vatican and was held on
shoulders by a cheering crowd singing Hosannah. 'Shway, Bethlehem,"
[calm down Bethlehem] said a Franciscan in good spirits, "You visit Al
Quds" [Jerusalem, i.e. the holy city]. For many of the young kids the
processions are also an outing to get out of their prisons in the West Bank, to
forget their problems, and to meet the other sex. Throughout the procession we
heard songs for peace, in all languages.
At school Jara
gets instructions about the customs associated with Easter, such as the cookies
baked in the form of a thorn crown or of the great stone that closed Jesus'
tomb. A red liquor represents Jesus' blood. The Easter eggs, the teacher
explains, symbolize the opening of the tomb and the resurrection. In fact, a
lot of Moslem families here, too, colour eggs at Easter, in the same way as
Christmas trees are bought. Although many feasts or parties are now cancelled
or celebrated more soberly because of the general atmosphere and the
impoverishment of the population, Christmas and Easter remain monuments of
family life in Bethlehem. They ease the pain for a moment.
Tamer, who was
born last year on Good Friday, has pain because his teeth come out. It is
barely worth mentioning. He cries but never long. "Why did you bring such
a beautiful baby," Jara sighs towards Mary, expressing her exasperation at
all the attention bestowed upon him.
Interview with Dr Hayder Abdel Shafi
RESPECT
BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS GO BACK TO OLD TIMES
By
Katharine Maycock
Dr
Hayder Abdel Shafi is head of the Red Crescent Society in Gaza, led the
Palestinian political delegation during the peace conference in Madrid in 1991,
and is a well-known Palestinian spokesperson.
What does it mean for you to be a
Palestinian Muslim?
I
had no choice in being born a Palestinian Muslim. My parents were Muslim. But I
have a tolerant attitude towards the question of religious identity in general.
It never worried me to be a Muslim. I look at religious affiliation in a
positive manner. Being a Muslim or Christian or whatever will not be a problem
for anybody if one adheres to the moral principles embodied in the religions.
Has your religious identity been challenged or has it been an issue for you in Palestine?
Not
at all. I am the son of a Sheikh who was a graduate of Al Azhar University [in
Cairo]. He held religious posts all through his career. He was custodian of
religious property in Gaza. And he ended with being a member of the Supreme
Muslim Council in Palestine. As a child of a Muslim family I was never exposed
to any discriminatory attitude at home or even at school in Gaza. So this
matter of being a Muslim didn’t create any problem for me, and I had many
Christian friends and even some Jewish friends.
How do you see the situation of Muslims
and Christians living together here?
Gaza
is predominantly Muslim, the Christians are a tiny minority. As a child growing
up I never felt that there was any real problem between a Christian and Muslim.
On the contrary, people went about in a very normal way. I remember that when I
was a child the Christian community here always came to our house on the
occasion of feasts or in order to visit my father. I could feel that there was
a cordial relationship between my father who was a dedicated Muslim and the
Christian community.
Is that cordial relationship the same
now?
Yes, I think so. By and large it is true. There could be very individual problems here or there, but in general a tolerant attitude is there all the time. I have never heard a single negative word from Muslims against Christians. I think the relationships that have been formed between Christians and Muslims are far stronger than any circumstantial differences.
So there is appreciation of a plural Palestine, a plural society.
Sometimes
there have been conflicting claims between Muslims and Christians. My father in
his position, especially in the Supreme Muslim Council, was exposed to
conflicting claims; say, about places or property. Now faced with this my
father was strictly Muslim and would defend the Muslim community even though he
did not take an intransigent position. I was reading in his papers, and I could
see that he was a staunch defender of Muslims. I couldn’t expect anything else
from a Muslim sheikh. But aside from this he had a very objective attitude
towards Christians. I think he had more Christian friends than Muslim friends
in Gaza. Aside from his Muslim career, he also studied and practiced law. He
wouldn’t blindly follow Muslim claims; he was a very sincere law-abiding
person.
I
think there have been conflicting claims here or there in Palestine. For
instance, in Nazareth. The Muslims want to establish a mosque near the
Basilica. The situation became emotional, which is regrettable. If people abide
by legal principles, then, my feeling is that a conflict never needs to
deteriorate to the level of differences between religions.
Religion
is strictly personal. It does not need to be reflected in other affairs. It is
the right of every individual to make up his mind and to follow what he wishes
out of conviction. So as far as I’m concerned, I never saw [religious
affiliation] really as a problem. It only becomes a problem when people expose
themselves to prejudices.
So you are saying that most of those disputes are not really about religious identity?
Yes. But as far as the
question of Muslim-Christian relationships in general is concerned, I think the
example of Palestine is rather positive as compared to other areas. There have
hardly been any real examples of conflict between Muslims and Christians in
Palestine
You know I think that the relations of mutual-respect between Muslims and Christians go back to old times, to the time when the Muslims came to Palestine and when the Caliph Omar set an example in Jerusalem in support of an objective attitude towards religion [He respected Christians and Christian sites]. I think the present tolerant attitude is rooted in that. The fact that a Caliph came to emphasize mutual respect between two religions really became rooted in the minds and emotions of the people. It is maybe difficult for anyone to see that such attitudes are rooted in matters a long time ago. Things usually don’t stand for that long. But I think it is true. You know of course that there were exceptions at certain times. But it never changed the general attitude. Any friction between Muslims and Christians was immediately contained. It never went out and created a situation.
Do you see the Palestinian Christian
community as bridge-builders between the Muslim East and the Christian West?
It has been my feeling that the Christians in Palestine are also a very tolerant strand among the Christians in general. I hear about Christian prejudices in other places in the world. I don’t know if this is a trait of Christian people or because of the circumstances they are experiencing. But here, the Christians are rather objective and not prejudiced.
However, they can’t be bridge-builders for although they are Christians, they are still Muslims [laughs]. On a cultural level and on a national level they are more in solidarity with the Muslim than with the Christian world.
Do you think the expression of Muslim
identity and a Christian identity supports or weakens Palestinian national
unity?
I think it supports it. On the national issues Muslims and Christians are very much hand in hand. The Christian community in Palestine have been in solidarity with the Muslims against what was happening in Palestine, whether during the British Mandate or in 1948 or afterwards. I think the national affiliation of both Muslims and Christians today is the source of unity. The religious affiliation does not disturb or weaken the national affiliation.
As the Christians are a very small minority here, in fairness nobody is expecting them to be visible in the national struggle. At certain times, they contribute to the national cause, there were sacrifices among them. The fact that the good part of the sacrifices are on the part of the Muslims also didn’t have any negative impact on relations between Muslims and Christians.
What do you think of the PNA’s strategy to
emphasise religious plurality in Palestine?
Although I am not happy with Arafat’s performance, the PNA never adopted anything that could give one the impression that it is prejudiced. I think by and large it has a very objective attitude towards the religions.
What do you think of the terrible
polarization in the minds of Westerners between Moslems and Christians,
particularly since September 11th 2001?
I think after 11th September, the USA has blown up the issue of Muslims and Christians. In my opinion the performance of America after 11th September was very irresponsible. It did not match up to the real needs of the situation. It should be the attitude of normal rational people not to be carried away by their religious emotions or prejudice. People should sober up. The USA attitude really exceeded everything that was rational and normal. I see and read everyday about the way Americans handle Muslims there and crack down on them in different ways just because they are Muslims. This is terrible.
I think what happened on 11th September is certainly far from being a model for Muslims or representing something that Muslims have the inclination to follow or imitate. In my opinion Al Qaeda, and what it stands for, has not yet come under a Muslim estimation. Muslims look at Al Qaeda. But the Muslim world has not adopted an attitude towards Al Qaeda yet. Perhaps they should – especially in the context of what has been going on. But one cannot accuse the Muslim world that they are supporting Al Qaeda.
A final question: Can you comment on what
the mosques and sometimes the Imams say about Christianity? In other parts of
the Middle East the mosque can definitely be antagonistic.
If there is
anything like this, it is against the spirit of Islam. Islam propagates
tolerance and mutual respect. If it is anywhere in the Muslim world different,
it must have been affected by some other factors, special factors. Maybe
related to national issues, or differences of attitudes. But this has never
happened in Palestine.
Pacem in Terris
Dr Harry
Hagopian, LL.D, KOG-KSL
Everyone must sincerely co-operate in the effort to banish fear and the anxious expectation of war from our mind.
Pacem in Terris
HH Pope John XXIII
11 April 1963
Pope
John XXIII issued his Encyclical letter Pacem in Terris a short while
after the world had witnessed the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and
the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. This comprehensive quasi-juridical document
underscored the Pope’s committed belief that the four pillars of peace were
truth, justice, charity and liberty. Pax Christi International (PCI), the
largest Catholic grassroots worldwide movement, adopted this message from Pacem in Terris as one of its flags, and
Pope John-Paul II referred also to its theme in his World Peace Message 2003
earlier this year.
On
29 March 2003, HB Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and PCI
International President, re-visited this Encyclical when addressing the Pax
Christi National Congress in France. The highest Catholic cleric in Jerusalem
underlined that ‘a guiding moral order has been lacking to direct and sustain
the economic, political, cultural and military order of our day. Without such
guidance, ideological systems like Communism or unbridled capitalism arise with
a seemingly solid base, but in reality they are very weak because they lack
clear moral foundations.’ He added that, ‘they are like the enormous statue in
King Nebuchadnezzar’s vision: of extraordinary brilliance and terrible
countenance, his head was of pure gold, his chest and arms of silver, his
abdomen and loins of bronze, his legs of iron, but his feet were part iron and
part clay. It was enough to strike the statue’s feet for it to crumble like
sand on a sand-swept beach, blowing away and leaving no trace.’
Indeed,
if the world were to succeed in making a transition from a culture of war to
one of peace, the different world religions must also assume their ecumenical
and interfaith roles to help create a more just and free world. To start with,
religions should not be used wrongly and exploitatively as tools for war! As Pope John XXIII said, those four
pillars of truth, justice, love and freedom could help realise ‘humankind’s
perpetual dream’ for world peace in a broken world.
But
those lofty papal ideals articulated forty years ago are also being challenged
almost daily in the uneven conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Under
the guise of dismantling the infrastructure of Palestinian terrorism, Israeli
forces have systematically destroyed almost every political and civil
Palestinian institution in the past twelve months! Not only have Chairman
Arafat’s proto-government and security services been decimated, so have banks
and businesses, schools and research centres, town halls and the media, the land
registry and the courts. Sad really, when the USA could shape the future of
this region but lacks the political resolve, whereas the EU governments have
the ambition but lack the political means. Did St Augustine not write in De
civitate Dei, ‘Take away justice, and what are kingdoms but mighty bands of
robbers?’
It
is becoming clearer now, more so with a post-Saddam Iraq upon us, that the only
practical way forward for Israelis and Palestinians alike is the ‘roadmap’
offered by the Quartet of the EU, the UN, the USA and Russia. However, this
‘roadmap’ should be unpacked now, not at some convenient distant future, when
all ‘terrorism’ has ceased - as America has demanded of Palestinians for months
now. After all, addressing the conditions in which terrorism flourishes is not
the same as condoning it! Recognising the terrible plight of the Palestinians
is not to offer excuses for the massacre of innocent Israelis!
I
also do agree that there are numerous potholes, boulders and blind corners with
the ‘roadmap’. Those who read the document carefully will see the many
ambiguities - over the immutability of Israel’s pre-1967 borders, over
settlements in the occupied territories and over the final status of Jerusalem.
But marking out the route remains a formidable achievement. There are staged
confidence-building measures, careful sequencing and a solid commitment to
provide the necessary security guarantees that are meant to bring about a
viable and democratic Palestinian state. Yet, for all its flaws as an ‘Oslo-Minus’
document, the ‘roadmap’ combines a rational and fair destination with
intelligent sign posting and assured international support along the way. The
signature of the UN confers legitimacy, that of the EU financial resources and
that of Russia strategic depth. Surely the final ingredient lacking now is US
pressure that would tap into the American moral fibre for truth.
Observing
the situation in the Holy Land today, I recall another Encyclical letter Libertas
Praestantissimum issued by Pope Leo XIII on 20 June 1888. The document said
that ‘true freedom, freedom worthy of the sons of God, is that which most truly
safeguards the dignity of the human person. It is stronger than any violence or
injustice.’ Indeed, such freedoms tally with Patriarch Michel Sabbah’s query
about the moral foundations on which a sustainable peace can be built today.
And as I envision peace on earth, the image of Nebuchadnezzar’s brazen statue
with soft clay feet springs very much to mind too!
© hbv-H @ 11 April 2003
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Thank you for your understanding & with best wishes from Jerusalem Fr. Raed Abusahlia |