wfn.org | Starvation threatens Palestinian villages,

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Note #6305 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Vatican official warns
14-December-2000
00449

Starvation threatens Palestinian villages, 
Vatican official warns

U.S. delegation attends peace vigil in Bethlehem

by James Solheim
Episcopal News Service

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 Muslim
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 the night of Dec. 10 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."

    	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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