wfn.org | Starvation threatens Palestinian villages, Vatican official warns

[ENS@ecunet.org]

For more information contact:
James Solheim
Director
jsolheim@dfms.org
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

2000-232

Starvation threatens Palestinian villages, Vatican official warns 

by James Solheim

     (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."

--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: www.loga.org.