wfn.org | Starvation Threatens Palestinian Villages, Vatican Official Warns

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

December 12, 2000

STARVATION THREATENS PALESTINIAN VILLAGES, VATICAN OFFICIAL WARNS
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   JERUSALEM -- In a conversation with a peace delegation from the
United States, the Vatican's representative in Jerusalem warned that
there could be starvation within a month in Palestinian villages
isolated by the fresh outbreak of violence.
   While most attention focuses on the political struggle between
Israelis and Palestinians, Father Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Delegate
for the Vatican in the Holy Land, said that the economic battle has
become very serious. Unemployment is rampant and "five people depend
on each salary," he said. The destruction of crops means that
"starvation will begin soon."
   Like many church leaders who met with the delegation, Sambi is
worried about the future of the Christian presence in and around
Jerusalem. "As Christians we have some common problems," he said,
many of them related to issues of identity. "We are here to keep
alive the faith."
   "There is also a sense of solitude and loneliness for Christians,
without a strong sense of solidarity."  It was clear to him that
Christians would either survive together or disappear together.
   While Muslims in the Middle East have the support of Muslims all
over the world, that is not really true of Christians in the Holy
Land, he contended.  "The lack of solidarity, however, is felt more
at the level of church leaders than at the grassroots," he added.
Christians need "the support of disciples of Jesus around the world
for survival."
   As a minority, Christians "lack strength and courage" unless they
have a clear and strong identity. "What is the motivation for
Christian children to remain?" he asked. "What's the identity of a
Christian living in a Muslin culture, or in a Jewish culture?"

Changing images
   When asked about the collapse of the peace process and the
outbreak of violence, "We were expecting peace every day until the
new intifada erupted on September 28," Sambi said. Until then
Palestinians were doing quite well in their image before the world.
"At the beginning Palestinians gave a better image of themselves and
they got world sympathy," he said, pointing to the shooting of the
young boy in Gaza while his father tried to protect him.
   Then the crowd of young Palestinians murdered the Israeli
soldiers and tossed their bodies out of the window of a police
station in Ramallah and the pendulum was suddenly swinging the other
direction. The big difference between the present intifada and the
first intifada, which began in 1987, was that the previous uprising
was fought with stones but now the clashes include the use of guns.
   While Israel's superiority is absolute, according to Sambi,
Israelis believe that certain Muslim Palestinian fighters
intentionally provoke an Israeli military response against Christian
villages in order to gain international support for the Palestinian
cause.
   Addressing the allegation that the Palestinians are using their
children to fuel the violence, Sambi said "there is no place for
children other than the streets." And they often use their older
brothers as models. "This is a war of children and boys and it
doesn't stop," he said. "It will be a war of and for the future."
   When asked about the status of Jerusalem, Sambi said that
"internationalization" of the city is not the Vatican position but
rather the position of the United Nations which says the city
shouldn't belong to either side.  The Vatican, according to Sambi,
has said that it is "incompetent" on the political issues of the
city's status, stating that those aspects must be solved by
politicians. Whoever exercises jurisdiction over Jerusalem should
guarantee open access to the religious sites. "History shows us that
whoever exercises jurisdiction favors their own," he said. No one
should have absolute power but observe "an equality of rights."
   It won't be possible to solve the future status of Jerusalem
without making it an open city with dual administration, controlled
by a special statute and with an international power in case the two
sides don't agree.

A candle of hope in Bethlehem
   Members of the delegation traveled to Bethlehem Sunday night to
join hundreds of people on a candlelight march to Manger Square under
the theme, "Justice for the Land of Peace; the Light of Right not the
Fire of Might."
   Beginning at the Lutheran Christmas Church where they were
addressed by religious leaders from Christian and Muslim traditions,
the diverse crowd flowed down the hill, stopping at four stations to
read portions of scripture and join in song. Arriving at the square,
they moved to a stage for a series of speeches and greetings from
religious leaders.
   "We are marching tonight to tell the world of our continuing
50-year struggle to realize our self-determination and freedom," said
a statement from the organizers. "We are marching tonight to protest
the military closure imposed on us, causing poverty, misery and
hunger. We are marching tonight to give a message of hope and light
to people around the world seeking justice and freedom. We are
marching tonight to overcome fear and to light a candle for hope."
   Bringing greetings on behalf of the American delegation, the Rev.
John McCullough of Church World Service, the relief agency of the
National Council of Churches, said, "We have come to light a light of
peace and to hold it high. We know that God's promise will be
established in this land."
   Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson, executive minister for Justice and
Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ, said, "Today the
world celebrates international human rights day.  We, the U.S.
churches celebrate it with you.   The moral arc of the universe bends
toward justice, just as it did 2000 years ago, so it does tonight.
It bends toward Bethlehem."
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   *Jim Solheim is director of the Episcopal Church's Office of News
and Information and is serving as press officer for the peace
delegation. To follow the stories and photos check the Web site of
the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs: http:// www.loga.org.

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