wfn.org | Tunnel opening hurts Christians

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3202 notes).

Note 3202 by UMNS on Oct. 1, 1996 at 15:24 Eastern (2782 characters).

SEARCH: Israel, holy sites, World Methodist Council
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Bloom                          488(10-21-71B){3202}
          New York (212)870-3803                      Oct. 1, 1996
                                                                  
Opening of Jerusalem tunnel
also impacts Christians: Hale

                 by United Methodist News Service

     If the tunnel in the Old City of Jerusalem remains open, it
will have a negative impact on Christians as well as Muslims,
according to the World Methodist Council's chief executive.
     The tunnel's opening already has sparked days of protest and
violence between Israelis and Palestinians, resulting in 73 deaths
and jeopardizing the peace process there. Palestinian Muslims have
objected to the opening--for tourism purposes--because it runs
underneath their houses and near their mosques.
     As Middle East leaders gathered in Washington on Oct. 1, the
Rev. Joe Hale--who has visited Jerusalem more than 25 times--noted
that the wall broken to create the tunnel's opening is on the Via
Dolorosa.
     "One of the most visible and important of the Christain holy
places in Jerusalem is the Via Dolorosa," he said. "This is the
traditional street down which Jesus carried the cross to his
crucifixion. Millions of Christians have solemnly walked it for
centuries.
     "The nature of this street will change if the tunnel remains
open and continues to be a cause for bitterness and strife," he
added.
     Hale pointed out that the tunnel opening is just across from
the Convent of the Sisters of Zion, where Christian pilgrims visit
the ancient underground ruins of the Fortress of Antonia, thought
to be the possible place where Jesus was mocked by soldiers before
being carried away to be crucified.
     After emerging from the ruins, pilgrims begin their walk on
the Via Dolorosa. "Is this the time to immediately be confronted
by Israeli soldiers armed with uzis, crowding around an opening on
an already too narrow street, arrogantly deciding who will enter
the tunnel and who will not, and who, by their presence, intrude
on the Christian visitors, who today, as in centuries past, have
come to Jerusalem to reverently reflect on events in the life of
Jesus that most movingly come into focus in the Old City?" he
asked.
     Noting that Jerusalem is not yet a unified city, Hale added
it is "too important to 18 million Jews, 1,800,000,000 Christians
and upward to one billion Muslims for any one of these religious
traditions to control, dominate or shape it."
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