News, articles and documents from the Holy Land

“Peace will be the fruit of Justice and my people will dwell in the beauty of Peace”

Issue No. 98 - Saturday, 15 September 2001

Dear Friends, Brothers and Sisters,

The whole world, not only the USA, is trying to wake up from what happened last Thursday 11, 2001. Everybody is shocked and saddened, trying to show his solidarity with the victims of these attacks and their families. But as soon as the dust will settle and the hearts will calm down, we have to ask ourselves why this happened in this tragic way before calling to revenge and vengeance. This is the best way to deal with these terrible events, because when we know the causes of the sickness we will try to cure and heal it.

I have said in the last Olive Branch that the door of the solution to this whole tragedy of the world is the peace of Jerusalem, I will say today that they keys of this door is in the hands of the USA, and without more details, I would like to call upon Mr. George Bush to show his courage not in throwing his strong country against the whole world in order to combat terrorism, but to use that courage and invite Mr. Sharon and Mr. Arafat to Washington and press both of them to sign a comprehensive and just peace agreement based on the International legitimacy which showed be implemented as soon as possible and once forever.

This might be a very strange idea which might not be logical or linked with what happened in NY and WDC and the battle against terrorism, but I assure your that the Israeli Arab Palestinian conflict is the mother of all violence in the world since more than a whole century, and it is time to put an end to the suffering of our both peoples in order to spare more sufferings to many other peoples.

Today we joined many other religious leaders from all over the world in the ceremony of the enthronization of the new Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem which tool place at the Basilica of the Anasthasis (the Holy Sepulcher). It was a very impressive ceremony which was attended by a huge crowd representing all the parishes from Jordan Palestine and Israel, but also many people came from Greece were the Patriarch used to be in Athens representing his Patriarchate for twenty years. With this official ceremony which was proclaimed and confirmed by a royal decree from King Abdullah of Jordan and another Presidential decree from Mr. Yasser Arafat of Palestine, the new Patriarch takes over his responsibly in guiding the Orthodox Church in the Holy Land which will not be very easy due to the difficult situation of both the Church and the Country. Nevertheless, it seems that many people hope that he will be able to deal with it in a good way. We also hope that and wish him all the best.

We took part also in yesterday Candle vigil in remembrance of the victims of the USA (see the report) and we will celebrate holy mass tomorrow in our ConCatherdral of the Latin Patriarchate which will presided by our Patriarch Michel Sabbah in the presence of H.E. Msgr. Pietro Sambi and other personalities in Jerusalem and many faithful both locals and Internationals.

You will find in today’s Olive Branch more details and reports about the whole situation of both the attacks on the USA and the continuing attacks on the Palestinian people:

1) Sister Mary, who returned from her vacation, wrote her Jerusalem Journal # 29 in which she will give us a real and true report about the reactions on the attacks.

2) A report about the vigil of prayer and solidarity.

3) How Americans living among Palestinians in the Holy Land lived the tragic events? You will find that in the “Thoughts of an American couple in the Holy Land” written by Elizabeth and Marthame Sandars who are volunteering in my home village.

4) Statement of the Presidents of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) In Response to the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001. I send this statement because it reflects a good position on what happened and calls to reasonable reactions.

5) And here, the situation is deteriorating, therefore, Grassroots International Protection for Palestinians is necessary as you see in the press release signed by many Palestinians associations.

6) Upon here return from her vacation, Dr. Maria C. Khoury, realized that she Returned to the Land of Bloodshed, and this is true, but what shall she do?

7) Finally, I send you the last article of Uri Avnery about the tragic collapse of the “Twin Towers” which is ended with this prophetic sentence “Instead of the destroyed New York edifices, the twin towers of Peace and Justice must be built”. Isn’t it true?

I send you many things to read, but, I ask you one thing to do: to work for peace.

Please do that for the sake of Jerusalem, the City of War and Peace. Fr. Raed Abusahlia

Jerusalem Journal # 29

Sister Mary

15/9/2001

The pain, the shock and the grief over the terrorist attacks in America was met with various reactions here in Jerusalem.  I happened to be in an Israeli shop on Jaffa Rd. in west Jerusalem when the news broke. The shop owner who was an Israeli brought out a portable TV and the shop took on a circus atmosphere with exclamations of "Wow!"  "Look at that!"  "What a hit; look, look!"  "Now Americans will know what terrorism is!"  The shopkeeper kept yelling at me: "Do you know what this means?"  I finally just left the shop, not wanting to hear any more of what our Israeli ally had to say.

    I was told that in another area of the city, at the Damascus Gate, Israeli security cameras recorded another "circus" as some Arabs expressed their satisfaction that Israel's friend, America, was now experiencing terror.  For they were mindful that America has been supplying the Israeli Occupation Forces with F 16s, Apache helicopters and rockets, all of which continue to be used against the civilian Palestinian population.

    As I returned to the Christian Quarter of the Old City, a young family literally pulled me into their home and told me that I was to eat supper with them -- consoling, with comfort food.  This family expressed horror and sadness at the events seen on their TV.  After spending time with them, I left and entered the courtyard I share with my neighbors, and Nadia called out to ask me to come up for tea and cakes.  Then, when I went up to the roof to bring down my laundry, my landlady stopped me and asked if I would want to see the CNN news.  Inside, she served me juice.  This was the way the Christian Palestinians compassionately reached out.

      It is hoped that the TV news throughout the world showed the candlelight vigil held at the Damascus Gate Friday night. Many Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian, as well as internationals, participated in that vigil and walked from the Damascus Gate to the American Consulate to pray for the American people during this time of sorrow. There at the Consulate they added their candles, flowers and signs, expressing their grief and solidarity with Americans in their suffering. Such expressions of condolence had already begun last Tuesday as members of the Palestinian community came to pay their respects in front of the Consulate.

    On Sunday many Christian Palestinian communities, especially here in Jerusalem, will celebrate liturgies for the American people. Christian comunities throughout the West Bank will surely do the same. 

    I personally received many e-mails from Palestinian friends and I would like to share with you the closing of a message from Elias:

 "Our hearts go out to every person harmed in any way. To the killed, their families, to those working to bring calm and resolution to all this pain and sorrow. We send love and concern for all of our friends and for all affected by this tragic happening. May God bless all of you."

Day of Solidarity and Prayers

Hundreds of Palestinians took part in the international day of prayer and remembrance outside the gates of the Old City of Jerusalem in a candle light vigil to remember and pray for the thousands who were killed in the terrorist attack on the United States, and to condemn all acts of violence and terror against humanity.

Palestinians and foreigners, led by Muslim and Christian clergy, prayed for the lives that were lost and for God to ease the pain and suffering of those who lost loved ones. After prayers outside Damascus gate, the group marched through the streets of East Jerusalem. The procession ended at the entrance of the United State’s Consulate in East Jerusalem, where as seen from the picture on the right, the flag was raised at half-mast. The participants placed flowers and candles on the entrance of the Consulate.

We, in Palestine, continue to pray so that all terror for all peoples will end. As people who have suffered for so long, we cannot but feel the pain of a family that has lost a loved one or a child that will not again see his father or his mother. As we unite in grief, we pray for the day when all of us will unite in celebrating justice to all the peoples of the world.

Thoughts of an American couple in the Holy Land

Elizabeth and Marthame

Candlelight vigils.  Prayer services of remembrance and mourning. Rallies of solidarity.  Blood drives.  Institutions closed out of respect for the untold numbers of victims and their families.  Official and individual statements of support and outrage.  All of these are happening in Palestinian communities of the West Bank and Gaza in response to the horror unleashed upon the United States three days ago. Without exception, our friends, neighbors, and acquaintances - young and old, Christian and Muslim, male and female - have expressed their condolences and shared their prayers, asking us to tell people in America that they are praying for them.  Like us, many had been frantically calling friends and family in the States to make certain they were OK.  Following all of this, the violence in our area has increased, as the cities of Jenin and Tubas have been targeted. Zababdeh, between the two, has felt this.  Many of the teachers and students at our school live in Jenin and Tubas, and we have all been very worried for their safety.  Wednesday morning, our small clinic was busy treating wounded from helicopter attacks - with Jenin sealed off, no one can get to a hospital. We even had to evacuate our school after there was shooting near a school in Tubas.  No doubt that the sense of panic was compounded by watching the aftermath of the attacks on the U.S. Tuesday night.  The fear and unrest here paled in comparison to that of our homeland, but it has added to our general exhaustion and sorrow.

It is unlikely that any of this information will erase the images of Palestinians celebrating in the streets of Jerusalem, and the reports of similar events in Nablus.  No matter how many reassurances we can offer you from friends of ours that this jubilation was sparse at best, we cannot - and will not - deny it.  Many of you have written to us with deep questions - knowing your own experience of Palestinians, or living vicariously through ours - wondering how such images could be reconciled with statements of sympathy.  It seems to us that there are now two paths before us. We can choose to see these statements of solidarity as cynical plays for political gain, and no doubt some of you have already made that choice.  That not only assumes for us the role of naive rubes, pawns in a deadly scheme, but it lays a blanket condemnation on an entire people for the heartless emotions of a few. This is the path we fear, and its consequences are potentially tragic.

But we are left with another path: to understand that Palestinians are no better or worse than anyone else - they share with us a common humanity, as created beings steeped in sin and surrounded in grace. This path sees that Palestinians are a diverse people, with all of the joys and embarrassments that this brings.  One thinks of the horrors unleashed upon America by its own citizens: Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City, Dylan Kleibold and Eric Harris in Columbine, Benjamin Nathaniel Smith from Wilmette, IL, and the terror wrought by groups like the Ku Klux Klan on their fellow Americans.  Hopefully no one would think of these perpetrators as representative of all Americans, or judging us worthy of blanket condemnation.  Rather, they are symbolic of the darkness that haunts us and of the evil of which we are all capable. Even so, we are called to a grace which is greater and more powerful and more perfect than any evil we can render.

The second path is the path we urge, for it is lit by the light of the gospel - the good news that sees no difference in people, whether Jew or Greek, male or female, Arab or American - or Arab-American.  It understands that God shows no preference for one nation, one race, one political system, one economic theory, over another.  This is the path that leads to redemption, for it recognizes our common humanity, created in the image of God.  It is only on this path that we can touch mercy, that we can witness the defeat of death by life, and that we can truly work together as instruments of grace.
Choose this path.
Grace and Peace,
Elizabeth and Marthame

Statement of the Presidents

of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)

and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)

In Response to the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001

“No matter where you are, I, your God, will heal you and give you peace.” Isaiah 57:19

At this time of national tragedy when the lives of untold thousands of people have been shattered by violence and fear resulting from terrorist attacks in the United States, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) express both shock and sorrow. While the details of the terrorist attack on United States landmarks are still unknown, we are sadly aware that thousands of people died or suffered injury. We condemn senseless acts of violence that show a complete disregard for human life, abhorrent wherever and whenever it occurs, here in the United States or elsewhere in the world.

We pray even as we grieve for the lives that have been lost and we commend them to our loving God. We join with the U.S. Catholic bishops and religious leaders of other faiths in offering prayers for healing to those who have suffered injury and pray that our God will comfort them. We express our condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died in this tragedy and pray that they will find comfort in their sorrows as we extend both spiritual and material support as we walk with them in the long journey to healing.

CMSM and LCWR are grateful for the many people, professionals and volunteers, who responded so quickly to the tragedies. We mourn with the families of the firefighters and police officers who gave their lives in service to others. We are united in grief within our religious families at news of the deaths at the World Trade Center of Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, New York City Fire Department Chaplain, and Holy Cross Father Francis E. Grogan, passenger on United Airlines Flight 175. We offer our condolences and prayers to their religious communities.

At this early stage of dealing with the tragedy, so many things are still unclear. The identities of those who plotted the attacks remain unknown; estimates of casualties increase daily. As shock and fear give way to sorrow and anger, we, individually and as a nation, may be tempted to call for action before sufficient information and facts are gathered. We could be tempted to respond to violence with violence of our own. We could be tempted to blame all people of a given nation, ethnicity, or ideology for the actions of a few.

CMSM and LCWR call on all people, especially people of faith, to seek truth and justice, witnessing to God’s forgiveness and reconciliation. In a word, we are called to be peacemakers in a wounded and chaotic world. We condemn all terrorist acts. At the same time, we call for restraint in our national and personal responses. Terrorism is not confined to the actions of September 11, 2001. Terrorism is a daily reality for many people throughout the world. We are

united in our fear, sorrow, and vulnerability. We must also be united in our efforts to end

terrorism and violence. We are equally united in efforts to renew and sustain right relationships grounded in mutual respect. Justice for all people is the sure foundation for peace. This is not the responsibility of national leaders alone; it is the responsibility of each person of faith, regardless of ethnic background, national heritage, and way of life.

At this time of national tragedy, recognizing and acknowledging worldwide violence and terrorism, we turn in prayer to our merciful and compassionate God. We pray that the God of all people bring healing to all victims of violence, especially at this time, the victims of violence here at home. We pray that from the ashes of this tragedy we will journey in hope to the promise of resurrection. We pray that relationships will be healed, that renewed life will emerge, and especially that peace, grounded in justice for all people, will prevail upon this earth.

The memberships of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) have approximately 1,500 men and women religious leaders who are responsible for more than 700 Catholic institutes in the United States. Together, the conferences’ members represent more than 100,000 of the country’s Catholic sisters, brothers, and priests.

Grassroots International Protection for Palestinians

An Urgent Appeal    Sep 13, 2001

Do not say that you did not know!
Do not claim that you were not told!
Do not declare that you did not witness!

As our incessant calls for an immediate end to OCCUPATION and SETTLEMENTS resound, the onslaught against our people continues unabated, while the world watches in silence! Palestinians are being massacred and are facing the most brutal measures which have escalated in the aftermath of the terrible tragedy that has befallen the American people, as the attention of the world became diverted from our region.

The need for international protection is becoming increasingly urgent as our men, women and children stand defenseless before the formidable Israeli army violating every article of international and human law and allowing heavily armed Israeli settlers to colonize our land. The last wave of assassinations of high caliber political figures, engineered by the Israeli government, the  destruction  of homes and entire residential communities with no regard to human suffering, and the tight closures and sieges imposed under the pretense of security, will only exacerbate the situation and lead the region to the brink of war.

We call on the international community to rise up to its responsibility of providing protection for the Palestinian people, as we hold it accountable for creating and encouraging this destructive unbridled force bent on dispossessing our people and establishing facts on the ground by aggression and state organized terrorism, while turning a blind eye to our plight and refusing to accord us justice!

The fate of a whole people is at stake!
The future of the whole region is threatened with war and destruction!
We call upon you to act before it is too late!

The National Umbrella
The General Union of Palestinian Women
The General Union of Charitable organizations
The Palestinian Council for Justice and Peace
Palestinian Non Governmental Organizations Network
Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
YMCA/YWCA
Legislative Council Members-Hanan Ashrawi, Rawya Al Shawa

Return to the Land of Bloodshed

11-Sep-01

Dr. Maria C. Khoury

In such a sacred place where Christ established our Christian roots it certainly takes your breath away to see death all around you and a total escalation of violence and broken promises of peace.  Muslims, Christians and Jews can not seem to share a land that is precious to all three groups.  The fear and the unknowing of what will happen day to day, tear up my soul the most.  The "shootings and the bombings" are just what most people consider "rain" in other parts of the world.  You wait until it goes away and go out again. Three months of peaceful vacation and no Israeli checkpoints fooled me into thinking I can escape to middle class America.  It's good I have wise children because they said if everyone was like me there will be no Palestinians left in Palestine.  I must admit, I was totally shocked that they rather stay two hours at a checkpoint going to school in their own country near their extended family rather than become part of the melting pot of America. Of course, if we did not have this severe closure and blockade, this two-hour checkpoint aimed at taking away your human dignity and humiliating you to the maximum degree would instead be a ten minute ride to school on the beautiful hills and country side of the West Bank.

"Checkpoint" actually means very little to people that have not seen the daily suffering and agony of the Palestinian people trying to go to work and school.  For me, it is a very loaded word because these checkpoints make my life miserable and I see them as depriving people of a basic right to just earn their daily bread and children's basic right to receive education.  One of our first grade teachers, Ms. Luma Khalak in the Latin Birzeit Patriarchate School travels from Beit Hanina near Jerusalem where she lives through two checkpoints to make it to the Birzeit school.  A twenty-minute ride turns into a three-hour nightmare.  Luma said to me:  "It's a sacred mission to stay here. It's my duty.  If every person will think it's horrible and we must leave, who will stay?  Somebody has to decide to stay and help this country and develop this country...Jesus, our Lord and Savior came to this land.  He suffered here and was crucified...two thousand years of wars, dead people, injuries...and I am waiting for the word 'holy' to come true...we will hope...we will pray...God gave me this mission to stay in this country."  Working with such loyal and dedicated human beings should eventually help me stop thinking of running away.  Not to mention they inspire and strength my faith.  However, young adults like Luma are deprived of everything that others take for granted all around the world.  They are adults but are forbidden to live, there is no social life.  They can not celebrate birthdays, take trips, go to conferences, and visit family.  All activities are cancelled.  They suffer just to make it to work, go home and close the door until the routine starts again the next day with those awful checkpoints.  Checkpoints make normal people go into a rage. 

Returning to Palestine meant a return to fear and anxiety for me.  Returning to a place where American money and American weapons have destroyed the Holy Land.  Returning to a place where millions of Palestinians want their basic human rights deprived by Israel since l948.  Returning to a place where fear and the Grace of God accompany you unceasingly.  Returning to a place where some people have not worked for over ten months.  Returning to a place where martyrs, killings and daily funerals have not brought freedom and independence to Palestine.  Returning to a place where the price to maintain Christian roots and Palestinian identity is far too high to pay.  Returning Palestine as our homeland is the answer to peace in the Middle East.

Twin Towers
Uri Avnery
15.9.01.
After the smoke has cleared, the dust has settled down and the initial fury blown over, humankind will wake up and realize a new fact: there is no safe place on earth.
     A handful of suicide-bombers has brought the United States to a standstill, caused the President to hide in a bunker under a far-away mountain, dealt a terrible blow to the economy, grounded all aircraft, and emptied government offices throughout the country. This can happen in every country. The Twin Towers are everywhere.
     Not only Israel, but the whole world is now full of gibberish about "fighting terrorism". Politicians, "experts on terrorism" and their likes propose to hit, destroy, annihilate etc., as well as to allocate more billions to the "intelligence community". They make brilliant suggestions. But nothing of this kind will help the threatened nations, much as nothing of this kind has helped Israel.
     There is no patent remedy for terrorism. The only remedy is to remove its causes. One can kill a million mosquitoes, and millions more will take their place. In order to get rid of them, one has to dry the swamp that breeds them. And the swamp is always political.
     A person does not wake up one morning and tell himself: Today I shall hijack a plane and kill myself. Nor does a person wake up one morning and tell himself: Today I shall blow myself up in a Tel-Aviv discotheque. Such a decision grows in a person's mind through a slow process, taking years. The background to the decision is either national or religious, social and spiritual.
     No fighting underground can operate without popular roots and a supportive environment that is ready to supply new recruits, assistance, hiding places, money and means of propaganda. An underground organization wants to gain popularity, not lose it. Therefore it commits attacks when it thinks that this is what the surrounding public wants. Terror attacks always testify to the public mood.
     That is true in this case, too. The initiators of the attacks decided to implement their plan after America has provoked immense hatred throughout the world. Not because of its might, but because of the way it uses its might. It is hated by the enemies of globalization, who blame it for the terrible gap between rich and poor in the world. It is hated by millions of Arabs, because of its support for the Israeli occupation and the suffering of the Palestinian people. It is hated by multitudes of Muslims, because of what looks like its support for the Jewish domination of the Islamic holy shrines in Jerusalem. And there are many more angry peoples who believe that America supports their tormentors.
     Until September 11, 2001 - a date to remember - Americans could entertain the illusion that all this concerns only others, in far-away places beyond the seas, that it does not touch their sheltered lives at home. No more.
     That is the other side of globalization: all the world's problems concern everyone in the world. Every case of injustice, every case of oppression. Terrorism, the weapon of the weak, can easily reach every spot on earth. Every society can easily be targeted, and the more developed a society is, the more it is in danger. Fewer and fewer people are needed to
inflict pain on more and more people. Soon one single person will be enough to carry a suitcase with a tiny atomic bomb and destroy a megalopolis of tens of millions.
     This is the reality of the 21st century that started this week in earnest. It must lead to the globalization of all problems and the globalization of their solutions. Not in the abstract, by fatuous declarations in the UN, but by a global endeavor to resolve conflicts and establish peace, with the participation of all nations, with the US playing a central role.
     Since the US has become a world power, it has deviated from the path outlined by its founders. It was Thomas Jefferson who said: No nation can behave without a decent respect for the opinion of mankind. (I quote from memory). When the US delegation left the world conference in Durban, in order to abort the debate about the evils of slavery and in order to court the Israeli right, Jefferson must have turned over in his grave.
     If it is confirmed that the attack on New York and Washington was perpetrated by Arabs - and even if not! - the world must at long last treat the festering wound of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is poisoning the whole body of humanity. One of the wise guys in the Bush administration said only a few weeks ago: "Let them bleed!" - meaning the Palestinians and the Israelis. Now America is bleeding. He who runs away from the conflict is followed by it, even into his home. Americans, and Europeans too, should learn this lesson.
     The distance from Jerusalem to New York is small, and so is the distance from New York to Paris, London and Berlin. Not only multi-national corporations embrace the globe, but terror organizations do so, too. In the same way, the instruments for the solution of conflicts must be global.
     Instead of the destroyed New York edifices, the twin towers of Peace and Justice must be built.

Important note to our dear readers

We really hope that you enjoy what we try to send you and find it useful, and if you need any further information, please feel free to contact us: nonviolence@writeme.com

* But, you have to take in consideration that this newsletter is not an official newsletter of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem;

* Only the documents signed by the Patriarch himself, express an official position, but all the other news, articles and documents express the personal opinion of their authors;

* I remain the only responsible of the presentation and the editorials of this newsletter, which is wanted to be a simple instrument of information without any pretension;

* We don’t side with anybody, we only side with the truth, and strive for human rights, justice, peace and reconciliation for everybody as usual.

Thank you for your understanding & Best wishes from Jerusalem Fr. Raed Abusahlia