News,
articles and documents from the Holy Land
Issue No. 92 - Saturday, 18 August 2001
Dear Friends, Brothers
and Sisters,
While
the prayer for peace in Jerusalem continues, we see that the situation is a
little bit calm in these days, and we hope that this will be the beginning of a
new way out for peace in the region. We will continue in this same direction
because we experienced a very warm atmosphere between all the Churches of
Jerusalem and a lot of solidarity from our sister Churches of the whole world.
We send you a “Statement of Solidarity” written by the The Conference of Major Superiors of Men
and Women Religious, and sent to us from Fr. Stan De Boe, OSST who visited us
with the American delegation two months ago. We really appreciate their
solidarity with us, and above all their prayers for us and with us, and we are
confident that many others did the same.
I
send you also the Homily of Archbishop
Sewerios Malki Murad which was given during the prayer for peace in the Syrian
Orthodox Church.
I would like
also to share with you that the prayer in Tantur Ecumenical Institute was very
beautiful and symbolic because, Tantur is located between Bethlehem and
Jerusalem exactly near the famous checkpoint, which divides the two cities, and
at the crossroad between the settlement of Gilo and the town of Beit Jala. We
felt that we are in the middle of the battlefield in a safe place invoking God’s
mercy and compassion for his people and our both peoples.
If you want to join us in the campaign, I
send you the text of the PRAYERS FOR PEACE which are said every evening in the
Churches of Jerusalem, so that you will be able to share us in these prayers,
even from your own homes if you cannot join a group or a community. Of course,
in every church where we pray every evening, we have special ceremony very well
prepared in different languages, liturgies and melodies, but, these prayers are
common between all the churches every evening.
You will find also
in today’s Olive Branch some more documents:
1) Letter to our brothers Israelis, Jews and
their friends, written by my colleague in San Francisco, Fr. Labib Kobti, who is the
publisher of http://www.al-bushra.org an
working very hard for justice, peace and reconciliation, but above all, for the
TRUTH. As you will see, he writes with heart more than his pen, because he is
struggling like us to create a world wide awareness of the importance of the
end of the occupation if we want to achieve peace. This is in the best interest
of the Israelis more than the Palestinians.
2) Another strong article
written by the Israeli Journalist, Amira Hass, who is living since 8 years in
Ramallah among the Palestinians. She has always the courage to tell her people
the truth with clear and strong words because she experiences it every day in
front of her eyes. Let us see how she describes “the real balance of power”.
3) A French article
written by my brother, Dr. Sami Aldeeb, who is warning of a biologic war if the
situation of injustice continues like this, because oppression will generate extremism
and terrorism in both sides. For more articles from my brother visit his http://go.to/samipage
I hope that you will enjoy reading what
we send you, and thank you for your patience and solidarity.
Best wishes from Jerusalem the City of
Prayer for Peace Fr. Raed Abusahlia
Statement of
Solidarity for the Prayer Campaign for Peace in Jerusalem
August 14-28,
2001
The Conference of Major
Superiors of Men Institutes, USA
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, USA
To Our
Sisters and Brothers in Jerusalem:
“Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved.” Isaiah 33:20
For generations
the City of Jerusalem has been a symbol of peace for people of the Christian,
Jewish, and Muslim faiths. Within
her walls not only are found the sacred shrines and holy places where people
have come to pray, but also the places where they have lived side by side and
worked together for centuries. It
has also been a haven for pilgrims who come to pray, to express their hope for
peace that seems elusive.
Together, Christians, Jews, and Muslims stand as one common human family
before our God who calls us to be people of peace.
Today we are
saddened because there is no peace in Jerusalem. Sisters and brothers are living in suspicion and fear. People have died as a result of the
violence. Peace talks have broken
down and the cycle of violence grows worse each day, fueling more fear and
making reconciliation and peace more difficult.
The Leadership
Conference of Women Religious and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Institutes join our Christian sisters and brothers and all people of faith in
praying for peace in Jerusalem at this time. Recently members of our Conferences visited Jerusalem to
express our support and solidarity with the Christian community and all who
suffer from the oppression of violence.
We joined you in prayer at various times during those visits and our
prayer then was for peace and justice, for reconciliation and mercy. We have not ceased praying for those
gifts and we join you now during this campaign of prayer for peace.
As our
Conferences gather August 23-27 we offer our solidarity not only in prayer but
also as partners in raising our voices along with yours for justice and peace
for the victims of violence in the Holy Land and especially Jerusalem. We call upon all people not only to
pray for peace in Jerusalem, but to work actively to bring about the conditions
that will make a just peace possible and enable all people – Christians, Jews,
and Muslims – to live in peace and security.
We thank you for
your faithful witness as people of peace and prayer and we encourage you to
remain steadfast in your mission to call for peace in reconciliation in your land. We pledge our efforts to urge our own
nation to implement policies that will promote a just and lasting peace,
particularly with regard to Jerusalem.
As we join in
prayer we acknowledge that world powers alone will never bring peace to
Jerusalem, so we turn to our God who can bring peace, peace that begins in each
of our hearts and flows to the world, breaking down barriers that divide us and
strengthening our bonds as children of the One God.
We await the day
when once again the eyes of the people will see Jerusalem as the “peaceful
abode” where people of all faiths can meet, worship our God, and build a city
of peace where all will be welcome.
The Conference of
Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) serves the leadership of the Catholic orders
and congregations of the 20,000 vowed religious priests and brothers of the
United States, ten percent of whom are foreign missionaries. CMSM provides a
voice for these communities in the U.S. church and society. CMSM also
collaborates with the U.S. bishops and other key groups and organizations that
serve church and society.
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) has approximately
1,000 members who are the elected leaders of their religious orders,
representing 81,000 Catholic sisters in the United States. The Conference
develops leadership, promotes collaboration within church and society, and
serves as a voice for systemic change.
Homily of Archbishop
Sewerios Malki Murad
During the
prayer for peace in the Syrian Orthodox Church
"Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I
give you, a peace the world cannot give.." (Jn 14:27)
"... And that peace of God, which is so much
greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your
thoughts.." ( Ph 4:7 )
In the midst of
the present calamitous situation of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, which has
resulted in great pain, killing and injustice for its people, in addition to
the deteriorating economic situation, and the continued efforts of all those
responsible.
And all
institutions to bring and prevail peace in the area, and to cast off apartheid and
injustice hostility, the Christian Churches have initiated and called for
prayers for peace. Therefore, the second half of the month of August was
dedicated for this purpose following the words of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
"Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God." (Mt 5:9)
The people of
our land have suffered deeply, especially those living in the Holy Land, from
persecutions, catastrophes and violations of human rights. The people were dismayed
and were never content with the troubles that overwhelmed the Holy Land. All
other doors remained shut in their faces except those of war and those scenes
of carrying the dead to their final rest. Despite the efforts put forward by
some to stop the violating acts, and despite all calls for peace and the many
visits of the leaders of other countries to the area, nothing has changed until
now.
Now is the time
for true and sincere prayers asking for real peace to prevail over our cherished
country. It is the time for the prayers in the Christian Churches of Jerusalem
to overpass the sounds of cannons, violence and struggles, which are of no use.
People need to seek God with strong faith, humble hearts and earnest hope
asking only for one thing, and that is to bring peace and settlement in the
hearts of the people and the Holy Land. People need to pray continuously for
the presidents, leaders and governors of our beloved countries asking that God
grant them wisdom, piety, patience and courage to stop the violent acts and to
return to negotiations and peaceful meetings in order to bring justice, tranquility
and peace.
Since the
leaders and negotiators could not reach an agreement to carry out the decisions
put forward by the United Nations concerning the prevalence of peace in the area,
we thought to seek God and ask Him for peace because the peace brought by God
is more than we can understand. Peace brought by God is distinguished from the
worldly peace. This later peace is achieved after long struggles and great
efforts, and it is a temporary peace, which does not carry the meaning of
justice and tranquility. While the peace granted by God fills the hearts with
everlasting composure, comfort and security. The peace of God grants strength,
courage, quietude, confidence, wisdom, and bright and hopeful future for the
generations to come.
We wish for both
kinds of peace, peace from God and the worldly peace. We pray that
God enlighten
the minds of the governors and leaders; preserve them from harm and drive them
away from enmity towards each other and from arrogance. This in turn will be reflected
over the lives of the people in the Holy Land and will enable them to live in
peace, settlement and real dignity after long unfruitful years of hardship,
pain, tragedies and injustice.
PRAYERS FOR PEACE
To be held in the churches of Jerusalem
August 15 to 28fh 2001
These three prayers are said every
evening in the Churches of Jerusalem
P. Heavenly
Father, we praise and glorify you.
You are our only
refuge in a troubled world.
R. We praise
and glorify you. Lord.
P. We thank you
for the birth of your Son, Jesus Christ, in Bethlehem: his refuge in Egypt and
his childhood in Nazareth and his ministry in this Land.
R. Father we
thank you.
P. We thank you
for his death on the Cross here in Jerusalem, where he carried our sin and
suffering and for his glorious Resurrection in which he gave us new life with
him.
R. Father we
thank you.
P. So Lord we
come before you with all our troubles and pains.
R. Lord have
mercy on us.
P. We pray for
all victims of bloodshed and violence as well as for the perpetrators of these
evils.
R. Lord have
mercy on us.
P. We pray for
the children and young people that you may give them hope for the future.
R. Lord have
mercy on us.
P. We pray for
all bereaved families: the un-employed and all who seek to help them.
R. Lord have
mercy on us.
P. We ask the
guidance of your Holy Spirit for all the leaders of this Land: especially President
Arafat and Prime Minister Sharon, that they may be inspired to work for your
peace with your justice.
R. Lord have
mercy on us.
So we pray
together:
Gracious Father,
your love knows on limits. Fill our hearts with your compassion; open our eyes
to your presence in the world; enlarge our minds to understand your will. Take
our hands and minister through them. Speak through our words and direct our
feet in the path of peace, that Christ may be revealed in us and the world may
believe. Amen.
THE LORD'S PRAYER
Concluding
with the following prayer, said or sung;
Lord make me an
instrument of your peace;
Where there is
hatred let me sow love;
Where there is
injury, pardon'
Where there is
doubt, faith;
Where there is
despair, hope;
Where there is
darkness, light;
And where there
is sadness, joy.
(St. Francis of Assisi)
Letter to our
brothers Israelis, Jews and their friends
Dear
Israelis, Jews and their friends:
As a friend, I am trying to write to you what I think. Please accept what I say
here friendly and with a heart open to justice and peace.
Dear friends:
Do you remember the Story of Samson in the Bible? His enemies tried by
all means to kill in him everything. But they could not kill his SOUL, his SPIRIT, his WILL to return back, TO
WIN, he even killed himself, but it was disastrous for others.
Do you remember the history of the brave place called Masada in Israel?
The Jews preferred the death to surrender to the Romans, and by their BRAVE
death they inspired their people for the future. They WON the war, and by that
brave death, they multiplied. You use this place, till now, as a symbol of your
wonderful heroes. In what way Masada was a victory? How Masada won? Because the
Roman Empire with all its big army could not kill the SOUL of the Jews, their SPIRIT and their WILL to
stay and come back one day.
Do you remember the Camps of Concentration of the Nazis? By the UNJUST
and unjustified suffering and death of innocent people, the Jews eventually
became stronger and unified. No Nazi could kill the Spirit, the SOUL and the WILL of the Jews. The Jews WON the battle and history. Till now
the history speaks about HOLOCAUST and will speak and sympathize with you. The
world will say with you: NEVER AGAIN. Do you know in what way the People in
Auschwitz and other camps WON in the end? Because the suffering and the death
did not and cannot and will never be able to kill the SOUL, the SPIRIT of
people who were determined to live and survive.
Do you understand the GREAT LESSON of all these things, your history,
for the present -- for the determination of the Palestinian people under
oppression? That people will multiply and come back one day. Your history is an
example for all nations WORLDWIDE. Isn't it also the history of the wonderful
American Black people in USA, with Martin Luther king? Isn't it the
history of the Apartheid in South Africa with Mandella and many other
people who fought for their rights, dignity and identity and build their
national countries or entities. This history will be repeated for the Arabs:
Iraqis, Syrians, Lebanese, Egyptians and especially for Palestinians,
they shall overcome one day in spite of what those who do not read the history
are doing to kill their soul, spirit and will.
What do you think, Dear friends, Israelis, Jews and their friends? What do you
think that Israel will eventually accomplish by confiscating the Palestinian
lands and Arab lands, in building Jewish Settlements in the Arab quarters of
Jerusalem, in demolition Palestinian houses and killing their activits, by
controlling the Media and in telling the whole world that you are right
and the Arabs are bad people, that every Palestinian is a terrorist?
Since the beginning of the Jewish immigration, the Jewish authorities
were saying that Palestinians do not exist, Palestine have never existed, there
were no Palestinian identity. Then in Oslo, Madrid and Washington, after more
than fifty years, Palestinians were recognized partners of PEACE, people
with full rights, a proud nation. They do exist, they do have a SOUL, a SPIRIT and a WILL to
exist, and you will be unable to kill it.
Do you think that having the USA at your side now that you will have it for
ever with you and it is sufficient for you to prevail? Do you think really that
by weapon and armies you can always control the weak people?
Do you think that in killing and jailing for years without a proper trial, and
exiling Palestinians you can kill their soul and their will and destroy for
ever their spirit and future as a people?
With great respect and love, listen to me Friends:
This people will multiply, as happened to you throughout the history; the
history will speak about Palestinians and Arabs and will sympathize with
(PALOCAUST) their suffering, the war criminals will pay by the will of the
International law one day or another.
Samson will return and please be friend to him before it is too late, he
may do the same as he did thousand of years ago in your history... Already some
people say that they are Samsons in offering themselves as suicide bombers. I
do not agree with them, as I have never agreed with Samson. Samson killed
innocent children, women and families and is regarded a GREAT BIBLICAL HERO. We
do fear with you, the weapons of mass destruction.
So, please, remember your history, it could repeat itself, but this time with
another people...in an other time...and we do not want this...
The Palestinian people will live, will survive and will come back as you did.
The history is with those who have a will, a determinate will.
Time is not working for you and with you.
You cannot kill the will and spirit of a people, the will of a nation!
JUST REMEMBER THAT.
Nobody could kill yours and you came back, and you multiplied.
Just remember this, my friends.
Be friends to the Palestinians.
Give them their Lands and work for justice.
Treat them as human beings, you will then have peace and prosperity.
Stop killing them in different ways as you do ...
Samson will not stop growing his hair and come back to destroy himself and
others with him.
We do not need any Samson, we need Abraham who was the Father of the Jews,
Christians and Muslims to unite his children for a better life.
With love and respect,
Father Labib Kobti
San Francisco
http://www.al-bushra.org
Here is the real balance of power
Amira Hass
Haaretz, August 15
In the war the Palestinians have declared on Israel, they have deployed the
following weapons:
- Demonstrations before Israel Defense Forces roadblocks and in urban centers
- Commercial strikes, calls for a boycott of Israeli products, stolen Israeli
cars, leaflets
- Stones - used by the masses mainly in the first weeks of the war
- Molotov cocktails, pistols, rifles and machine-guns
- Mortar shells, roadside bombs, explosive devices, hand grenades
- "Living bombs" - the suicide-bombers.
The security positions of the Palestinians, along the invisible border
separating Palestinian territories from areas under Israeli control and from
Jewish settlements, are concrete structures, piles of sandbags, tin-shacks.
The Palestinians who continue to throw rocks and Molotov cocktails hide behind
the frames of wrecked cars or behind barrels, billboards or the walls of
houses. Palestinians in ambush positions fire shots at Israeli soldiers and
civilians from orchards, hills, empty buildings and asbestos-wall structures in
refugee neighborhoods.
In this way Palestinians have killed and wounded Israeli civilians (mainly)
traveling in non-armored cars, and Israeli soldiers. Palestinians fire from
passing cars. They have terrorist cells whose members plant explosive devices
in the dead of night on highways used by IDF vehicles and by vehicles belonging
to the settlers.
They fire on the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo as well as at Neveh Dekalim and
Psagot. Palestinians have murdered Israelis who have entered the territories
controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
One Palestinian fatally ran over soldiers and civilians at an official
"give a soldier a lift" station. Another Palestinian shot at soldiers
in the Kirya area of Tel Aviv. Explosive devices and car-bombs have been
planted in Israel.
About a dozen Palestinians have carried out suicide-bombings in Israel and
dozens more are waiting in line for the opportunity to follow in their
footsteps. More than 150 Israelis have been killed - some of them have been
women, children and elderly people.
In Israel's defensive war against the Palestinian offensive, IDF troops are
deployed throughout the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip where
three million Palestinians currently live, and these are the weapons used:
- F-16 fighter-bombers, helicopter gunships, pilotless drones
- Tanks, armored troop carriers, armor-plated jeeps
- Reinforced concrete positions on highways, observation towers
- Ships, sniper rifles, bulldozers
- Bombs, tank and mortar shells, air-to-ground and ground-to-ground missiles
- Concussion and tear-gas grenades
- Barbed-wire fences, prisons, and collaborators.
The IDF fires from the air, from the sea and from the ground. It fires from
tanks, from fortified positions, from observation towers, and from behind
jeeps.
Throughout the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the IDF has
bases located opposite neighborhoods populated by Palestinian refugees, between
cities and villages, and within Jewish settlements.
Tanks and armored vehicles travel by day along the highways and there are also
tanks and armored vehicles that are stationed atop hills or in the settlements
and which patrol the highways.
This is what Israel does with the weapons it has and with the control that
it exerts:
- Assassinates Palestinians whom the Shin Bet internal security service
says are linked to terrorist attacks against Israelis within or beyond the
Green Line
- Kills and wounds dozens of armed Palestinians
- Kills hundreds and wounds thousands of unarmed Palestinians, including women,
children and elderly persons
- Demolishes Palestinian police or national security personnel positions,
shells buildings belonging to the PA
- Demolishes houses with bulldozers and tanks, seizes homes located along
highways
- Uproots orchards and plantations, demolishes hothouses, industrial plant and
workshops
- Detains more than a thousand Palestinians, imposes curfews lasting from days
to weeks on entire neighborhoods or villages located close to settlements
- Imposes closure on the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip
- Shuts down international transit points to Palestinian vehicles, stops any
movement of cars along "Palestinian" highways for hours on end
- Creates physical obstructions - concrete blocks, trenches, and earth ramparts
to prevent Palestinian vehicles from traveling from one community to another,
shuts off main highways on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip to Palestinian
vehicular traffic
- Beats up Palestinian pedestrians
- Prevents access to beaches for the residents (including children) of Rafah
and Khan Yunis
- Limits imports of food, medicines and raw materials into the Palestinian
territories
- Limits the marketing of Palestinian agricultural produce
- Issues evacuation and demolition orders against homes in areas adjacent to
the Green Line
- Has reduced the offshore grounds in which fishing boats from Gaza can
operate, from 12 nautical miles to three.
All of the
above are in force and Palestinians will not back down, because:
- Some take part in
protest demonstrations, some fire weapons, some plant bombs, and some dispatch
suicide-bombers
- All circumvent IDF roadblocks on foot, some stay home and get shelled
nightly, or hide in stairwells because there are no air-raid shelters
- Some live in tents because their homes have been demolished
- All Palestinian children hide under the bed or under thick blankets when
Israeli fighter jets or helicopters pass over their neighborhood
- The PA arrests and holds lightning trials for those collaborating with Israel
- Many slip into Israel to earn some money, while some slip in to leave it all
behind for ever, as suicide bombers.
Guerre Israélo-palestinienne biologique?
L'édition internet du Jerusalem Post du 14 août 2001 donne une information qui
constitue une mise en garde face à la détérioration de la situation au
Proche-Orient. L'information est basée sur un article d'un directeur d'un
centre palestinien à Gaza publié par l'hebdomadaire palestinien Al-Manar qui
paraît au Liban. Selon cette information, les Palestiniens penseraient
sérieusement à l'utilisation des armes biologiques comme moyen pour contrer la
puissance militaire israélienne. Des centaines d'experts seraient capables de
les manier et de les utiliser comme moyens de dissuasion.
Quelques bombes dirigées vers les ressources en eaux, les plages, les marchés
et les centres résidentiels feraient l'affaire, et elles sont difficilement
détectables, selon l'information du Jerusalem Post (voir http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/08/14/LatestNews/LatestNews.32587.html).
Sous l'effet de l'ivresse de la force et du soutien occidental, Israël se
permet depuis cinquante ans de tout faire, en violation flagrante des
conventions de Genève et du droit international, violation qui constitue des
crimes de guerre. Rappelons à cet égard qu'Israël a détruit depuis sa création
385 localités palestiniennes, expulsant leurs habitants non-juifs pour les
remplacer par des juifs venus de partout, pratiquant ainsi un véritable
nettoyage ethnique digne de Hitler et ses émules. Un de ces villages n'est rien
qu'Emmaüs qu'Israël a rasé aux bulldozers en 1967 et transformé en place de
pique-nique appelé Parc Canada! (Voir les photos de la honte dans http://www.palestineremembered.com/al-Ramla/Imwas/index.html).
Sans le respect des droits légitimes des Palestiniens reconnus par les
documents internationaux, l'ivresse israélienne risque fort de se transformer
en un cauchemar pour tous les habitants du Proche-Orient, qu'ils soient juifs,
musulmans ou chrétiens. Pousser les gens au suicide est une politique
désastreuse pour tous.
Il est grand temps pour que les politiciens occidentaux se réveillent et
mettent fin à la folie israélienne afin d'éviter que tout le Proche-Orient ne
se transforme en un champ de ruine et de désolation. La paix que nous cherchons
tous doit être une paix basée sur la justice et non pas sur la logique de la
force. Isaïe l'avait déjà dit il y a 2700 ans: "La paix sera le fruit de
la justice" (32:17). Et ce qui se passe aujourd'hui au Proche-Orient n'est
nullement de la justice. Tout silence devant l'injustice équivaut à une
complicité.
Sami Aldeeb, docteur en droit
Chrétien d'origine palestinienne
Ochettaz 17
1025 St-Sulpice
homepage: http://go.to/samipage
|
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 |