A first-hand look at conflict in the Holy Land |
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Written by DEACON ANDY McMAHON, Van Wert St. Mary of the Assumption
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Tuesday, 14 July 2009 01:00 |
Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to the Holy Land as part of Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Global Fellows Program. Our group, including priests, deacons and seminarians from around the country, journeyed to the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the weeks surrounding Pentecost.
As a Global Fellow, we are asked to observe, first-hand, the work of CRS, the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States, and talk about the organization’s mission in our parishes. With this goal in mind, our team traveled to the Holy Land where we were able to meet with Christian and Muslim Palestinians, Israelis and several U.N. officials.
Everywhere we went and every group we met, we asked, “What do you want us to tell the people back home?”
“Tell them we are still here,” was the reply from Palestinian Christians.
We met with people working for peace in the Holy Land, both Israelis and Palestinians. They felt the Christian population has had a steadying effect on the area and Palestinian Christians are essential to long-term peace in the region. Yet the number of Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has been declining. In Beit Sahour, the Christian population has remained at 80 percent. In Bethlehem, it has dropped from 80 percent to 40 percent and in Jerusalem from 20 percent to 2 percent.
We also met with two men from the Parents Circle — Families Forum, an association of 500 bereaved families of Israel and Palestine who support peace, reconciliation and tolerance. One man was an Israeli Jew whose daughter was killed by a suicide bomber. The other man was a Palestinian Muslim whose father was shot when walking home from work by an Israeli soldier.
Both men chose to work for peace rather than seek revenge. Both chose to love while others chose to hate. They work together to talk with others who have gone through similar experiences and speak to high school students in both Israel and the West Bank to give a message of peace and reconciliation.
When speaking at high schools, they often find that it is the first time Israeli students have ever met a Palestinian, or the first time Palestinian students have ever met an Israeli Jew, other than a soldier.
“Tell them we are not terrorists,” was the reply to our question from Palestinian Muslims.
We met with Palestinians in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp, where CRS has funded programs for pre-schoolers and supports a library. The camp houses 13,000 Palestinians in a small area (1 square kilometer) and unemployment is 75 percent. Men who used to work as day laborers in Israel before the uprising can no longer cross the border to work, and the need for day laborers in the West Bank has declined. CRS supports these men through access to its Food for Work and Food for Training programs.
The Palestinians we met emphasized they did not condone the suicide bombings and they wanted peace, not conflict. They are willing to recognize Israel’s right to self-rule, security and peace and want Israel to recognize their right to the same.
“Tell them what you see,” was what Israelis working for peace wanted us to share.
In Hebron, we saw another CRS-supported initiative. B’Tselem, a non-profit organization that employs both Israelis and Palestinians, distributes video cameras to monitor human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank. They began a project in which video cameras are supplied to people in Hebron so they can videotape violence caused by either side of the conflict.
Since its beginning, the project has had a direct impact in reducing violence, and documenting human rights violations against Palestinians. This has proven vitally important so an accurate account can be presented to the responsible authorities in a case of conflict.
Just before our trip, Pope Benedict XVI had visited the area. He called for Israel to stop the settlements and work toward a two-state solution. This is also the position of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). During our visit, President Barack Obama also called for Israel to stop the settlements and work toward a two-state solution.
We asked Palestinian Christians and Muslims as well as the Latin Patriarch what they thought. They all favored a two-state solution.
For more information, visit www.crs.org/Jerusalem or join CRS’ Advocacy Network at actioncenter.crs.org.
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