www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Catholic Response to Palestinian Suffering

Shlomo Ayo Samer,
Thank you very much. I try to reflect what the Christian leadership in the Middle East is saying. To often, Christians both Eastern and Western, if they are not of Middle Eastern background or have a strong attachment to the Middle East, just ignore us, and the plight of our communities. Further, they do not see how their governments' foreign policies impact us.

As I have said before, a lot in my opinion, stems from the fact that their native lands persecuted and murdered Jews, and therefore they are ashamed of their peoples past actions. I hope that one day that they can face head on ALL THE CRIMES that they have committed or help to perpetuate.

Poosh BaShlomo,
Yuhannon

Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
This was published on the offical site for the World-wide Syriac Youth Club, of which I am a member.

Dear Members and friends of the Syriac Catholic Youth Club, many of you, in some student associations for the defense of the Palestinians have been writing us letters in order to know our official stands concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The position of the Catholic Church, in general, and the one of the Syriac Catholic Church in particular have always been very clear. We pray for a peaceful solution to the Middle-East conflict that will lead to a permanent, just and fair peace based on United Nations resolutions between both parties. We therefore are for two states living side by side in peace, and an end for the occupation that started in 1967. We believe than any final solution of the conflict will have to acknowledge the sacred character of the holly city of Jerusalem, sacred for the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

We sympathize with the parents of the civilian victims on both sides, and acknowledge the enormous sufferance the Palestinians endured during the last fifty five years, especially in the camps.

But we have no choice, than to decline to sign any political motivated letter. We are a social organization, and not a political one. We don�t support any radical view, and on the contrary as our Holy Father said we strongly believe in the culture of peace. We pray to see an independant Palestinian state living side by side with the state of Israel in peace and harmony.

May God bless you all.

THE SECRETARIAT GENERAL OF THE SYRIAC CLUB

Written Intervention of Pax Christi International, The Status of Palestinian Citizens in Israel

Feb. 15,04


Ref.: ME.11.E.04
United Nations
Commission on Human Rights
60th Session - Item 9

Pax Christi International wishes to draw attention to the situation of Palestinian citizens inside Israel within the borders of 1948. The focus of the Arab- Israeli conflict is mostly on Palestinians of the Occupied Territories and to a lesser degree on those Palestinians who live inside Israel. In essence, their situation has many similarities with the situation of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories[1].

Pax Christi has submitted numerous interventions regarding the deteriorating human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada. The Intifada and Israel's reaction to it have also had a great impact on the situation of Palestinians citizens in Israel, as the world witnessed during the suppression of demonstrations in Israel in October 2000, leaving 13 people dead; the Israeli public discourse on "transfer"; the "demographic threat" and the public perception of Palestinians inside Israel as being a "fifth column"[2].

Equality under the law and freedom from discrimination are basic human rights that are enshrined in international law and the various human rights treatises of which Israel is signatory.[3]

Pax Christi believes that any solution for the Arab -Israeli conflict can only succeed if the human rights, including civil and political rights, of all inhabitants are secured and guaranteed, whether in an Israeli state or a future Palestinian state.

Background

The Palestinians in Israel are descendants of the people that did not leave during the years of the establishment of the state of Israel and during the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbours.[4] Palestinian citizens of Israel comprise approximately one million persons, about 20% of Israel's total population of about 6 million[5]. They numbered at that time approximately 150.000, of which about 25% became internal refugees (Internally Displaced Persons). This group now numbers about 250.000. Geographically the Palestinian Israelis live in Arab villages and cities in Galilee, in the so-called "Arab Triangle", in the Negev Desert and in mixed Arab-Jewish cities such as Haifa, Akka, Lydda, Ramla and Jaffa.

The majority of Palestinian citizens are Sunni Muslims; about 10% are Christian and 10% are members of the Druze community. The Bedouin, Sunni Muslims for the most part, account for about 12% of Palestinians in Israel.[6]

The cultural and political identity of Palestinian citizens put under major pressure by the Israeli state, and expressions of collective identity are regarded as subversive. At the same time Palestinian citizens, Arabs living in Israel have often met with distrust within the Arab world.

Occasionally the Israeli state plays on the religious and ethnic differences of its Palestinian citizens. A well-known case is that of the Druze, who are the only non-Jewish group that can enlist in the army and thus enjoy far more privileges than other groups[7], though still less than Jews on the average. Druze recruits most often perform combat duties in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Inequality under the Law

The status of Palestinians in Israel as a Jewish state is problematic. From 1948 until 1966 the Palestinians in Israel lived under military rule and in fact under military occupation. Palestinians faced restrictions on the freedom of movement, restrictions on the freedom of press and opinion and legal confiscation of land and property. Under military law Palestinians faced the possibility of deportations, illegal detentions without trial, curfews, house arrests etc. The end of military rule in 1966 did not end this legal and institutional discrimination.

The inequality under the law is felt in almost all aspects of social, political and economic life, including a discriminatory educational system where curriculum is routinely biased in favour of Jewish customs and norms at the expense of Arab culture[8]. The notion of collective rights and protection of the Palestinian minority are absent from the Basic Law [9].

An example of an explicit discriminatory law is the "Law of Return" which grants every Jew, wherever he or she resides, automatic Israeli citizenship if desired, at the expense of refugees and stateless persons who have lived on the land for generations.

The fact that non-Jews (with the exception of the Druze) cannot perform military service bars them from a broad spectrum of services and benefits and effectively diminishes the opportunity for social mobility that any Jewish Israeli would have.

This inequality is also evident in the fact that only a fraction of government budgets allocated funds for the maintenance and building of infrastructure in Palestinian towns in Israel. Palestinian citizens face similar building restrictions that are known in the Occupied Territories.

This active policy of under-development also becomes clear in the case of the "unrecognised villages". About 100.000 people live in these villages, mostly in the Negev and in the North, which officially do not exist. This means that even the most basic services are not made available to their inhabitants, such as running water, health services, sanitation, electricity, safe roads, adequate education facilities or postal and other communication services.[10]

Recently the Knesset adopted the "Nationality and Entry into Israel (Temporary Order)" law that bars Palestinians married to Israelis from living with their spouses in Israel. Since the outbreak of the Intifada the issuing of residence permits for Palestinian spouses has been frozen "in light of the security situation and because of the implication(s) of the immigration and the establishment in Israel of foreigners of Palestinian decent".[11]

The Intifada and Palestinian Citizens in Israel

As stated earlier the demonstrations in 2000 were suppressed with the same means that are used against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Palestinian citizens in Israel are faced with house demolitions, illegal detentions, deportations and police brutality.[12]

Political parties are more closely being monitored and controlled, as was seen in the case of the lifting of the immunity of Israeli Palestinian MK Azmi Bishara in November 2001 after he visited Syria.[13]

In the September 2000 Herzliyya Conference, which hosted the political, academic, media and business elite, the concept of transfer came out as a serious option for the solution to the "demographic threat", that is, the faster growing non-Jewish minority in a Jewish state. Palestinian citizens in Israel would be given the option to either continue to live as second-class citizens or to give up their Israeli citizenship and move[14]. Similar remarks were made at the 2003 Herzliyya Conference.

More than three years of Intifada, radicalisation and numerous deaths of Israeli and Palestinian civilians have all refuelled the discourse on the idea of transfer. This discussion was active during the Iraq war.

Political parties as Moledet publicly advocate the concept of transfer. The radicalised mood is also reflected in the appearance in public places of signs, posters, graffiti and banners that promote the expulsion of Palestinian citizens. The insecurity of Palestinian citizens regarding their future is growing as Israel's position hardens.

Conclusion

Given the continuing attacks against Israeli citizens and its consequent public insecurity and uncertainty, the radicalisation of public opinion is to a certain extent understandable.

However, exploiting this mood and imposing more restrictive measures against Palestinians both within Israel and in the occupied Territories will only add to the cycle of death and the loss of human dignity. It will also in the long term preclude a peaceful and just solution in the region.

The long history of relations between the Israeli state and its Palestinian citizens reveals the deep roots and complex causes of the conflict. Nonetheless it is clear that fundamental questions remain that must be addressed. A solution for the Arab -Israeli conflict can only succeed if the human rights, including civil and political rights, of all inhabitants in the region are secured.

Acknowledging the chronic difficulty of the parties to come to a just and sustainable solution to the conflict, the international community has a particular responsibility to defend universally accepted moral and legal principles in respect to the ongoing struggle in the Middle East.

���

Pax Christi International therefore calls upon the international community and on the UN Commission on Human Rights to intensify efforts to bring all parties to a just and sustainable solution to the present conflict that ensures the security and fundamental rights of all inhabitants in the region.

Furthermore, Pax Christi International specifically, with regard to the Arab Palestinians living in Israel, urges the State of Israel to

1. Appoint an independent commission to investigate and make recommendations concerning the legal status of Palestinian citizens in Israel with the intent to end any inequalities that exist in respect to said group;

2. Take clear and decisive action to ensure and protect the political, economic, social and cultural rights of Palestinian citizens and of all persons that reside within its borders;

3. Take measures to provide the infrastructure and basic services that are necessary to the health, safety and overall well-being of Palestinian citizens in Israel.

Further sources

1 See also Amnesty International: Racism and the Administration of Justice AI Index: Act 40/020/2001 p.10

2 See for example an interview with Benny Morris by Ari Shafit: Survival of the fittest In Ha'aretz January 9 2004 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/380986.html

3 "All Persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any grounds such as race, colour, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." Article 26: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

4 Between 1947-49 about 750.000 Palestinians fled to the West Bank, Gaza and to neighbouring countries.

5 CIA Worldfactbook: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html#Intro

6 As a traditionally nomadic and tribal group in a state organized society, Bedouin typically face repressive measures such as forced settlement in comparison to other groups.

7 In order to enjoy public benefits such as housing loans, public employment and student financial aid one has to have fulfilled military service.

8 See: Human Rights Watch: SECOND CLASS Discrimination Against Palestinian Arab Children in Israel's Schools (2001)

9 Ittijah: Fact sheet Legal Discrimination

10 Ittijah Fact sheet: Unrecognised villages

11 Human Rights Watch: Don't Outlaw Family Life, Press Release July 28 http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/07/israel072803.htm

12 Amnesty International: Racism and the Administration of Justice AI Index: Act 40/020 (pages!!!)

13 Gad Barzilai: The Case of Azmi Bishara Political Immunity and Freedom in Israel in Middle East Report Online, January 9, 2001 http://www.merip.org/mero/mero010902.html

14 Middle East Report Living on the Edge; the threat of transfer in Israel and Palestine (Middle East Report 225, winter 2002)

Appeal from Sister. Croyal Concerning the Construction of the Separation Wall

15-Feb-04
Sr. Marie Dominique Croyal, Director of the Home of Our Lady of Sorrows

Jerusalem, 15th January 2004

I would like to inform you about what is happening in our neighborhood and around our house concerning the construction of the new wall of separation, 9 meters high (30 feet), which began on 11th January 2004.

It replaces a much lower wall that allowed people to climb over it after they were no longer permitted to go from Bethany and Abu Dis to Jerusalem.

This first so-called security wall was built in August 2002. It disturbed and deeply affected the life of the population as well as our own. Separating Jerusalem from the West Bank and running along the road leading to our house, it passes in front of the main entrance to our property.

Thousands of people have climbed over this first wall: children, students, mothers with their babies, elderly people, etc. Many people have fallen; some have even died from their fall. Two months ago, we had to call the ambulance for a man about 65 years old who fell on his head and lost consciousness. It took the ambulance more than a half-hour to get here. As it reached the Bethany intersection on its way to the hospital, the army searched the ambulance and forced the wife of the injured person to get out, thereby further delaying arrival at the hospital. The things that happen in front of this wall have become intolerable!

Hundreds of persons have passed through our property on a daily basis over a period of many months, climbing over our fences in order to escape military control, because many of them work in Jerusalem but do not have the required permits.

The people around us live in fear: fear of being arrested, fear of being tear-gassed, and fear of being mistreated, as so often happens. Tension is constant for the entire population whose living conditions have become more and more miserable. It's a daily struggle for these people who are constantly humiliated and assaulted. We really feel alone and helpless in the face of generalized inertia. We want to be spokespersons for these voiceless people who, each day for more than two years, have had to fight their way to reach their workplaces, schools, etc., to say nothing of all the sick who die for want of medical treatment.

In trying to accomplish our own mission, we too meet up with many difficulties when it comes to hospitalizing elderly people from the West Bank because Palestinian ambulances do not have the right to enter Israel. We must therefore find a way of getting these people to the other side of the wall without crossing any checkpoints so that their families can then bring them to the hospital. The same problem arises when someone dies. The families must shift for themselves to bring the bodies back to the other side. Life has become very complicated these last two years, and things are about to get worse with the construction of this new wall.

Elderly people who are still able to get around have not been able to run their errands for the last several months because all the shops are on the other side of the wall. Very often, they have been obliged to call merchants to the front of the wall and place their orders through an opening between two cement blocks.

Many of our elderly patients from the West Bank are very lonely because their families can no longer come to visit them. Since the construction of the wall, we have had to be more vigilant than ever about the security of our elderly people. We have had to change suppliers. This represents an increase in the cost of our overhead because life is more expensive in Jerusalem.

Today, we really do not know what will happen if the construction of this wall is completed because the majority of our elderly people and our personnel come from the West Bank. Of our 18 employees, only three have a Jerusalem ID card. For two years, they have had to climb over the wall and constantly change their route in order to avoid the checkpoints because, even with a laissez-passer, the soldiers do not always let them come to our house.

This wall of 9 meters (30 feet) will oblige us to
1. Hire new personnel from Jerusalem and, at the same time, fire the majority of our present personnel.
2. Stop receiving elderly people from the West Bank, i.e. to say, the poorest among them.

We are worried. Also, thousands of people are anguished as they see the wall being built without anyone resisting or protesting on the construction site itself.

We were not apprised of the government's plans, and our house is now more isolated than ever because of the condition of the road. Everyday we must pick up our personnel at various places because the neighborhood has become a military zone. Purchasing supplies has become extremely complicated, and we spend our time trying to manage the unforeseen. Given the terrible condition of the road giving access to our property, we hope that we won't have to hospitalize any of our elderly persons during the current rainy season.

This week many journalists and photographers have visited the neighborhood to see this land of desolation and humiliation. We all hope that the interviews they've conducted for the various newspapers, radio stations and TV networks will alert public opinion and stir the consciences of politicians. We hope that you in turn will become our spokesperson and call for the destruction of this wall of shame.

We count on your prayers so that a dialogue can resume between the responsible parties involved on both sides. Also, we count on your taking action, thanking you in advance for diffusing this information.


Sr. Marie Dominique Croyal
Director of the Home of Our Lady of Sorrows

Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
As requested I will keep my posts on this subject short. Please go to the New York Times Editorial [nytimes.com] page and read the full version of this article by Noam Chomsky. I would like to list though a few key points that he made that seems to be ignored for the most part in the West.

Few would question Israel's right to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks like the one yesterday, even to build a security wall if that were an appropriate means. It is also clear where such a wall would be built if security were the guiding concern: inside Israel, within the internationally recognized border, the Green Line established after the 1948-49 war. The wall could then be as forbidding as the authorities chose: patrolled by the army on both sides, heavily mined, impenetrable. Such a wall would maximize security, and there would be no international protest or violation of international law.

What this wall is really doing is taking Palestinian lands.

As the design of the wall was coming into view, the World Bank estimated that it might isolate 250,000 to 300,000 Palestinians, more than 10 percent of the population...

The wall has already claimed some of the most fertile lands of the West Bank.

Palestinians in the seam between the wall and the Green Line will be permitted to apply for the right to live in their own homes...

Poosh BaShlomo,
Yuhannon

Yuhannon,

this is a discussion board. Do you actually want to discuss something, or is this thread just for you to post articles on??

Shlomo OrthodoxSWE,
No I do have discussions on this thread if you read back. Also, some members who feel intimidated by some others on the board, do carry on private e-mails with me on this issue. Others, who lack knowledge about the Middle Eastern Christianity, espically many North Americans have also expressed support for the thread.

Finnally, there have been many posts that were just posted News and/or articles. Now my question to you is why do you ask?

Poosh BaShlomo,
Yuhannon

Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Also for those that do care about a Christian presence in the Holy Land. Here are two links to see what many are still suffering.

Kafar Bir\'em [birem.org] is a Maronite (Arab Christian) village in Upper Galilee of Israel. It's inhabitants were ordered in 1948 to leave their village for two weeks. Until now, They are uprooted in their own country. Their land was confiscated and the village was demolished in 1953. Until now the Israeli authorities insist they would not to let the uprooted villagers return to their village and lands.


Iqrit [iqrit.org] is 25 km north east of Acre. Like a number of other villages in the neighborhood, Iqrit was linked to the coastal highway from Akka to Ras an-Naqoora via a secondary road leading to Tarbikha.

There were 339 people living in 50 houses in 1931. The number rose to 490 by 1945. At the moment of eviction in Nov. 1948, there were 491 citizens in Iqrit, 432 of them were Greek Catholic who inhabited the entire area of the village.
Recently four families built their houses opposite the village from west, on a side hill of al-Bayad. Few of its 59 Moslems lived by rent within the village, while others built their houses in esh-Shafaya.

In 1951,the villagers of Iqrit pleaded to the Supreme Court to allow them to return. The case was "lost" in the Supreme Court of Justice (!).

In Its third verdict the Court (Feb. 1952) blamed the villagers for depending on promises from the military ruler of Galilee, instead of benefiting from the "legal medication" which was "given" to them by the Court in its first relevant verdict.

You can use the above links to contact the Israeli government so that they know that the international community want's Justice for our fellow Christians.

Poosh BaShlomo,
Yuhannon

LATIN PATRIARCHATE � JERUSALEM
Message for Lent 2004

Our spiritual life
1. The time of fasting is a time of repentance and return to God. It is a time of presence before God. �The Kingdom of God is among you�, Jesus says. God is present among you. All your life and not just during Lent, should be a time of perpetual purification in order to better perceive God among yourselves and in all His creatures, beginning with every brother and sister who has a part in your daily life.

Fasting is a spiritual path in the life of the believer, in the midst of daily preoccupations and the complexities of life, of its joys and its trials. The Spirit of God that sustains us and gives us the true strength to persevere and remain constant in our daily spiritual combat is our guide in the building up of the Kingdom of God on earth. Thus, every land and every parish might indeed become the abode of God on earth and a holy land.

In the daily life of the believer there is faith. However, there is also a perpetual combat with various challenges, both within us and in every manifestation of evil in our society. After forty days of fasting, the tempter says to Jesus: �Tell these stones to become loaves of bread� (Mt 4:3). In Jesus� response: �Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God�, we understand that material needs need not become an obstacle to listening to the word of God. It is the word that reminds us of God�s presence within us. The construction of God�s Kingdom is to be pursued in all circumstances, whether easy or difficult. God�s grace shall be given us in all circumstances, whether easy or difficult. �My grace is enough for you� (2Cor 12:9), God says to Saint Paul, who was also struggling between weaknesses in the face of evil within himself and the grace of God who had called him to preach the Gospel.

The criterion of a just Christian life, which is on the path to sanctity, is in the accomplishment of the single commandment that Jesus left us: �Love your neighbor as yourself� (Mt 19:19). If we want to know whether we are on the right path or not, we must question ourselves, we must review our positions and our behaviors, in order to see whether we really love our neighbor. It is he or she who shows us and tells us, according to our actions and our feelings with regards to him or her, whether we are on the right path or not. This neighbor is every neighbor without exception, every person in our life, a member of our church or of another church or of another religion. Christian love, conforming to the love of God, has no limits. Jesus says: �You must be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect� (Mt 5:48). Elsewhere, he also says: �Love one another just as I have loved you� (Jn 13:34). The example that must be imitated is God�s example, nothing less. If Jesus gives us this commandment it means that we are capable of fulfilling it and he will give us the grace to sustain us and make us capable of imitating him. Just as God loves all God�s creatures, so we too love all our brothers and sisters, members of all churches, belonging to all religions.

Fasting is to return to God and thereby to return to all our brothers and sisters. It is to rid ourselves of all the evils that have accumulated in us, so that we acquire the strength of the Spirit in order to be strong in all the areas of our life. The others will then respect our strength, which will be then the fruit of love and not the fruit of pride or the oppression of others.

The conflict in the Holy Land in our lives in these days
2. Lent is a time of sharing. In the difficult times we are living and in face of the various deprivations imposed on many, sharing is a duty. On the other hand, and spiritually speaking, we cannot build up the Kingdom of God that is among us alone. We build it up with all those that suffer. By living, within our souls and within our prayers, the oppression of some and the fears of others and by becoming conscious of our part in the responsibility for putting an end to this, we carry out our Lent. Thus we are involved in constructing the Kingdom of God among us and within our society that is at war.

The circumstances within society that we have to face in the Holy Land are in fact circumstances of war: siege imposed on all, death imposed on some, prison and torture, various deprivations, house demolitions, destruction of agriculture, attacks and killings of innocent victims. In the midst of all this, our life is a difficult and painful search for justice and peace. It is an unceasing demand to put an end to oppression and fear and to the cycle of violence that is their consequence. One day, God will get rid of all these but human beings will do this as well. We will participate with God, each of us, by refusing both the oppression of a people and the spilling of innocent blood, and leaders too, through their wisdom and their lack of vested interests, becoming the servants of the people instead of serving themselves and their own interests.

Those responsible for war in this land seem to be acting in these days as if they were planning for a permanent war and not for a permanent peace. However, the human person in this land is not called to live in a state of permanent war. God has said: Live in the land in peace, peace with God, who chose the land for his abode, and peace with those who live in it. Peace cannot be established while oppression and the violence that results from it continue. Depriving a people of its liberty and of its land is oppression that no conscience can accept. Likewise, no conscience can accept killing innocent people in order to protest oppression. Let us not become twofold victims of the war, first victims of material destruction and second, victims of a hatred that demolishes the human person, Palestinian or Israeli. No person is better than another when he or she is transformed into a carrier of hatred and revenge. Sadly, this is what is happening in this land, holy for the three religions and towards which the entire world looks because it is holy. This is why those who impose oppression have the duty to put an end to it so that the land might then know the security and peace that are so much desired.

Parish priests and men and women religious in the various parishes spend long hours at the military checkpoints in order to carry out their pastoral work in their parishes and throughout the diocese. We say to them: be patient and pray to God for every human person, Palestinian or Israeli. Make your trial a prayer for all, for all those who suffer on both sides of the conflict. Your trial is little compared to death, torture, attacks, demolitions that are faced by so many other victims. Accept these difficulties as a sharing with all the poor ones of this land, to whom God has sent us in order that we might serve them and share in their sufferings and their hopes.

Brothers and sisters,
3. Lent, a time of fasting and prayer, is a time to return to God. It is a time to be conscious of the Kingdom of God that is among us and that we are to establish in our society. It is a time when all believers in God might be filled both by His love and His force.

In the difficulties we face, let us continue to live and to believe. St Cyril of Jerusalem used to say to his faithful, who also were carrying a difficult cross at that time: �Do not rejoice in the cross in time of peace only, but hold fast to the same faith in time of persecution also. Do not be a friend of Jesus in time of peace only but also in time of persecution� (St Cyril of Jerusalem, 2nd reading, 4th week of the year).

+ Michel Sabbah, Patriarch

Jerusalem, Ash Wednesday
25.2.2004

Dear Friends,

The following emergency appeal from a Leading Israeli peace activist was send to me by Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center. I have included his introductory remarks. Please try to take action today to help stop this horrible tragedy.

PLEASE READ, AND TAKE ACTION!!!

Dear friends, rabbis, sisters & brothers in the Spirit and in the struggle for peace, justice, and simple decency --

These weeks it seems as if atrocity follows on atrocity. Scarcely had we begun to absorb and respond to the torture of Iraqis by US soldiers than other Iraqis beheaded an American. Scarcely had we let our curdled bellies begin to digest the murder of a mother and her daughters by Palestinians in Gaza than we read what follows.

It comes from Gila Swirsky, one of the most honest, clear-eyed, and committed Israelis that I know, a founder of the movement that has brought Palestinian and Israeli women together in NONviolent action for a just peace.

I implore you to read and respond.

We are taught, "Seek peace and Pursue it." Why both verbs?" said the ancient rabbis. And they answered: "With other precepts, we can do them sitting, eating, even lying down to sleep. But this one we must run after and pursue -- even when peace is running away from us."

With blessings that our heartbreaks of these weeks will open of our hearts still wider to all who suffer from war, and make our legs still stronger for pursuing it.

Shalom, Arthur

Friends,

We need your help.

There is an emergency situation right now in the Gaza Strip and the town of Rafah, in particular, with scenes that bring to mind Israel's invasion of Jenin and Nablus in the spring of 2002. So far today, 18 Palestinians were killed, but the action continues. Last weekend, 116 homes were destroyed, making over a thousand people homeless (www.btselem.org [btselem.org]). Hundreds more are slated for destruction. Amira Hass, filing dramatic daily reports from inside Rafah, describes the scenes of people grabbing their children and whatever comes to hand and fleeing their homes, anticipating the entry of the bulldozer-tanks (www.haaretzdaily.com [haaretzdaily.com]). Even Yossi Sarid from the Yahad Party (formerly called Meretz), normally a staunch defender of the IDF, described actions in Rafah as "war crimes". My friend In'am called me from Gaza trembling with fear, and reported that the Palestinian news roadcaster broke down in tears as he spoke.

Many -- Israelis, internationals and Palestinians -- are desperately trying to halt the bloodshed. The Israeli women's peace movement just placed an ad in Ha'aretz calling for an immediate halt to the violence and renewal of negotiations for a peace agreement that will extract us from all the occupied territories ("True and enduring solutions," we wrote, "are attained by negotiation, not destruction, revenge or humiliation"). This morning, forty women drove to Gaza to see if they could intervene physically, but they are being prevented from entering Gaza by the army. The women have set up an encampment at the Sufa checkpoint and say they will not leave until the army stops its actions there. Other peace and human rights organizations have placed newspaper ads, and many are organizing a larger delegation to join the women on Friday.

International figures have begun to speak out, but we need more, and quickly. Can you please take a moment to write a letter (email or fax) or make a phone call to any or all of the list below? A sample letter is appended.

Please take a minute to try to save someone's life or home. Imagine that you had to walk out the door of your home at this very moment, with nothing but what your arms can carry, and you would never see your home or its contents ever again. Please make a couple of calls.

Gila Svirsky

**********************************
Coalition of Women for Peace:
http://www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org
**********************************

Sample letter text:

There is an emergency situation in the Gaza Strip right now. Please demand that Prime Minister Sharon halt the death and destruction wrought there by the Israeli army. The cycle of bloodshed must end.

Contact people (First try the US, European and UN officials. All the fax numbers work):

(1) President George W. Bush -- Tel (202) 456-2461; Fax (202) 456-2461.

(2) Secretary of State Colin Powell -- Tel (202) 261-8577; Fax (202) 261-8577.

(3) US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer -- Tel in Israel: (+972-3) 519-7575
webmaster@usembassy-israel.org.il

(4) Your member of Congress:
Call the Capital switchboard toll-free: 1-800-839-5276 and ask to be connected to your member of Congress.

For your information, you can send a free fax by internet (to certain places only, but definitely area code 202 in the US) at http://www.tpc.int/sendfax.html. Note that this is a service provided for free, but is not to be used for bulk fax mailings because they can only handle a relatively limited number of faxes at once. [Thanks, Mike Wolfson, for this info.]

(5) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, coi@un.org

(6) Council of the European Union, public.info@consilium.eu.int

(7) European Union, civis@europarl.eu.int

(8) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Fax (+972 2) 670-5361
rohm@pmo.gov.il

(9) Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz, Fax (+972 3) 691-6940
sar@mod.gov.il

(10) Minister of Justice Yosef Lapid, Fax: (+972 2) 628-5438
sar@justice.gov.il

Thanks for doing this -- but please don't send me a copy of your letters, or I'll be flooded (I hope...Gila

Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
I have more news on what is happening to Christians in Palestine/Israel. Please read, and write to your officals in support of our brothers and sisters.

Poosh BaShlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Yuhannon
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ROME - 25 June 2004

Pope again appeals for support for Holy Land Christians

The Pope once again called for prayers for peace in the Holy Land and support for the struggling Christian communities there, when he met 70 participants in the annual meeting of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches.

He said: "the Christian communities of the Oriental Churches, are subject at this moment to serious trials due to current conflicts, terrorism and other difficulties."

Referring to the collection for the Holy Land which is taken up every Good Friday all over the world, and to the recommendation of his predecessors "to care for the mother Church in Jerusalem," the Pope said: "it is necessary to persevere, praying intensely for peace for the people who live in the land of Jesus. May Christians, who are so tried by the never-ending violence and by numerous other problems that produce economic impoverishment, social conflicts, cultural and human degradation, never lack the support of the entire Catholic Church. Thanks to the collection ... it is also possible to contribute to the resolution of problems and to nourish the spirit of acceptance and reciprocal respect, promoting a common will of reconciliation. All of this will contribute to building up peace which is so-longed for."

The Pope emphasized that one of the most important duties of the congregation "in order to sustain pastoral care and the labour of evangelization of the Oriental Churches is the formation of those who give formation." He highlighted the economic contribution of the dicastery "in preparing priests, and in following seminarians, women and men religious and lay people so that the Churches may be able to count on expert pastors and responsible and competent lay people."US bishops

Source: VIS

� Independent Catholic News 2004
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LONDON - 29 June 2004

Israeli soldiers shoot at church aid workers

A Christian Aid delegation has been fired upon by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip.

The fact-finding team was visiting Rafah on Monday to see the extent of the destruction from last month's military incursions. Sarah Malian, communications officer for the Middle East, says she saw the impact of bullets three metres from where she was standing.

"We were all very shaken," she said. "I can't believe they fired at us. We were clearly civilians. We were surrounded by children at the time."

The shots were fired as the delegation was looking at the wall at the end of the newly cleared Israeli 'security zone', with two IDF watchtowers in the distance.

Two days later a group of British MPs and peers also came under fire in the same place.

Much of the section, called the Brazil area of Rafah, has been demolished by Israeli tanks and bulldozers. People who have lost their homes are living with relatives or in rough tents slotted in between the wreckage.

There is only a single road to Rafah which is controlled by Israeli army checkpoints. It is difficult for people - including foreign observers - to get to the area. Sarah Stewart, part of the Christian Aid team, said: "The message appears to be that the Israeli army wants no witnesses. We can leave to ask questions and tell the story; Palestinians cannot."

Christian Aid supports humanitarian projects in Gaza, helping farmers whose land has been destroyed by military incursions, working with children in refugee camps and funding mobile health clinics.

The destruction in Rafah has directly affected Christian Aid's work. A women's coordinator for the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees told how her house was surrounded by tanks and part of it demolished in the May incursions. Medical teams left their clinics to provide emergency assistance.

Christian Aid will be making a formal complaint about the shooting incident on the delegation's return. Contacted by Christian Aid regarding the incident, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, after several requests, met the delegation in Jerusalem.


� Independent Catholic News 2004
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ROME - 29 June 2004

Pope welcomes Israeli and Palestinian families

The Pope particularly welcomed a group Palestinian and Israeli families among the 20,000 strong crowd gathered in St Peter's Square for the Angelus yesterday.

The delegation are in Italy on a peace initiative hosted in Naples. The Pope said: "Together they want to tell the world that they desire peace and reconciliation for the Holy Land. They say it with even more strength given that their families, both Palestinian and Israeli, suffered losses in the conflict. It is everyone's duty to not disappoint these youths and help them grow in the trust of God and others".

He also made a special statement condemning torture, saying: "May a mutual effort of both institutions and citizens completely ban this human rights violation, radically contrary to human dignity".

And he announced that he would celebrate the feast of St Peter and St Paul today with the Ecumenical patriarch of Costantinopoli, Bartholom�e Ier, who is visiting the Vatican.

Source: VIS

� Independent Catholic News 2004
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Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Sorry that I can not post as much as I would like, but I do not have the internet at home right now. Here is, an article that I saw today, that again shows that no matter were we are in the Middle East, Christians are in danger, and we have to fight for their rights in their native lands.

Poosh BaShlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Yuhannon


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Last update - 02:32 12/10/2004
Jerusalem's disgrace

The police interrogation of Armenian Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, who allegedly slapped yeshiva student Zvi Rosenthal after Rosenthal spat at Manougian and at a crucifix during the Exaltation of the Holy Cross procession in the Old City this week, reveals a little bit of the increasingly wild Jewish-nationalist-religious atmosphere in Jerusalem.

It is the bad luck of the Armenians, a peaceful and modest community in the city, that its churches and other institutions, including their ancient cemetery, is on the way to the Jewish Quarter in the Old City. As a result, the priests of the community suffer from the unrestrained behavior of yeshiva students who pass through the Armenian Quarter, sometimes deliberately, to do harm and cause strife.

This is not the first time the Armenians have fallen victim to such bullying. The police does not make an effort to prevent the disgraceful phenomenon of spitting at priests - Armenians and others - and at the crosses they carry.

The Interior Ministry has done nothing in response to appeals by the heads of the church regarding their plight. Thus the state is neglecting its duty to protect the legitimate representatives of a peace-loving community.

That negligence, just like the bullying, is a disgrace to the state of the Jewish people, which was persecuted through the generations because of its religion and customs.

Moreover, it is a disgrace for Jerusalem. Ever since the city was "reunited," the city burghers and ministers in charge of it have claimed the capital of Israel would protect the dignity and stature of the three monotheistic religions and that their rights would be honored, including the right to freedom of movement.

And now, while the police and Shin Bet focus on preparations for the threat of impassioned assaults on Muslims on the Temple Mount, it turns out that for some time the Christians in Jerusalem have been suffering from various and sundry provocations by wild young people. The provocations - from spitting near or at crosses to throwing trash on the doorsteps of Christian edifices on Mt. Zion - have become an ugly routine in recent years, fitting right in with the increasingly extremist political atmosphere.

Jerusalem is a city holy to the three monotheistic religions. The state of Israel and the Jerusalem municipality are responsible for all the institutions and personages representing those three religions. The churches, monasteries, schools and gardens in within the municipal jurisdiction not only have the right to protection or police escorts during their holidays, but also the sense of belonging and full freedom of activity.

It is intolerable that Christian citizens of Jerusalem suffer from the shameful spitting at or near a crucifix. Similar behavior toward Jews anywhere in the world would immediately prompt vehement responses.

The mayor, the government and the security services must therefore make clear to the heads of all the religious communities that the protection of their safety is the top-ranking priority for them. At the same time, they must take firm action against those enflamed youths looking for opportunities to sabotage the complex fabric of life in Jerusalem.
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I remember my pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in 1992. It was a wonderful experience, and one of the treasured moments in a blessed life. I still feel a thrill, when I remember Midnight Matins in the Church of the Resurrection. It was a wonderful pilgrimage, and a great grace.

Another memory, (not quite so treasured) was of being spat upon. I was so stunned, and surprised, I was far too shocked at the time to be angry. Later on, I felt great humility, at the honor of experiencing in some minor way, an insight into the greeting given to our Savior himself, in the city.

I know of course, that at various times in history, Christians (not very good ones anyway) have engaged in their share of religious persecutions. It is good that we are not doing that now. And persecution of Christians, has always been the best way God has of strengthening the Church, and deepening our faith and commitment to our religion. I know that good will come from it.

I have never understood bad behavior from Jews. With what they themselves have suffered throughout history, they should be the wisest, holiest, and most admirable people on Earth. However, it is possible to suffer and never learn a thing from it. That entire Middle East situation is a nightmare, and it seems like no one has a solution for it.

Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
This is why I keep up this thread. We Christians, especailly Eastern Christians need to understand that Middle Eastern Christians are under attack, from all sides. Before the founding of the State of Israel we were 15% of the population, now we are less than 2%.

In our native lands that have Muslim majorities we are also being driven out. Right now even though Christians form only 3% of the population of Iraq, they are over 20% of the refugees. It is my hope that we who live in the West would work harder for our brethern in the Middle East.

Poosh BaShlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Yuhannon