wfn.org | Delegation to Middle East hears pleas for help, peace

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

March 4, 2002 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71BP{084}

NOTE: Photographs are available with this report.

By the Rev. Larry Hollon*

JERUSALEM (UMNS) - With the red laser beams of sniper rifles trained on
them, four United Methodist bishops and two top executives of general church
agencies made their way in the darkness along a rock-strewn pathway,
re-entering the city after a day of meetings on the West Bank.

Local residents and United Methodist mission staff aided the group, which
had spent the day meeting with church, government and community leaders in
Ramallah, a key Palestinian town on the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Earlier in the day, they had been allowed to walk across the Kalandria
checkpoint, which was closed to all other traffic. By nightfall, the
crossing was completely closed following violent incidents at several
checkpoints, including the separate shootings of a Palestinian mother in
labor and an expectant Israeli mother. Both women had been on their way to
the hospital to deliver.

The nighttime walk back into Jerusalem gave the United Methodists a
firsthand experience of the inconvenience and danger resulting from the
violence plaguing Israel and the Palestinian territories today. The
delegation had arrived on Feb. 23 as part of an 11-day fact-finding mission
to the Middle East and Pakistan.

During the week before the delegation arrived in Jerusalem, 52 people were
killed in separate incidents. A 17-year-old Palestinian youth was shot at
the Kalandria crossing two days before the delegation passed through it.

In their first meeting in Jerusalem, the delegation spoke for nearly two
hours with Rabbi Michael Melkior, Israel's deputy foreign minister. He was
candid in his assessment of the current impasse: "We're in a mess, and we
need help from someone else to get out of it."

Two days later, Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian National
Authority, was equally candid. "We are in need of a strong, quick push from
the international community (to re-open negotiations for peace)," he said.

The United Methodists heard this concern often during the course of three
and a half days, as they met with more than two dozen leaders of religious
and community groups including Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and
Jewish clergy, as well as laity, community leaders, government officials and
private citizens in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

While noting that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not about religion but
territory, Melkior said that the faith traditions must be involved in
finding a solution. 

"Religious leaders can help create a win-win situation that politicians have
not had the ability to do," he said. "It's very important for religion to be
shown as a way to peace. The onus is on us to prove to humankind that
religion can be a tree of life, a hope, and not only something that brings
misery. This is especially so in the Middle East, where religion is a source
of identity, of who you are."

'Stand with us'

Melkior's view is underscored by the plea from Palestinian Christians for
more support from and stronger ties with churches in the West.

"Do not abandon us and leave us alone," said Bishop Munib Younan, head of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and Syria. "Pray for us. Support
us. Stand with us. Be with us. The more we are together, the better our
witness for peace and justice." 

In a joint statement, Bishop Elias Galvan of the United Methodist Church's
Seattle Area and Bishop Clifton Ives of the West Virginia Area responded to
that plea. "We heard a clear message that it's important to Christians here
who feel isolated and abandoned to know that the Christian community in the
U.S. and elsewhere is concerned for them," said the bishops, co-leaders of
the delegation. "And, in addition, we heard from them that it's important
for us to tell their stories and make a witness in public policy so that the
U.S. will be a fair and even-handed third party in protecting the rights of
both the people of Israel and the people of Palestine."

Christians have been here for 2,000 years, but emigration is causing their
numbers to shrink and their community is in danger of extinction. In 1948,
17 percent of the region's population was Christian. Estimates today place
that number at only 2 percent.

"The Palestinians say we, the Christian community, are the embroidery in the
fabric of Palestinian society," said Jean Zaru, presiding clerk of the
Society of Friends - the Quakers - in Ramallah. "We are interwoven and an
essential part of the life of the community. To maintain a viable, vibrant
community, we are needed here."

"Our influence in society is greater than our size," Younan added. "With our
ecumenical work, our role as political mediators, our hospitals and schools,
we are the local expression of the global church. If we are not in the Holy
Land, what would it be without these holy people? With our theology of the
cross and grace, we can be mediators. As victims of injustice, we must not
allow injustice to have the last word."

Rabbi David Rosen told the delegation he sees need for a "deeper, solid,
profound theological discussion." Rosen is international director of
Interreligious Affairs with the Israel/Middle East Office of the American
Jewish Committee in Jerusalem.
 
"To be sympathetic to the rights of the Palestinians should not be seen as a
cause of disloyalty to Israel," he said. "We need a win-win. Despite the
difficult times we are going through, and the world is going through, we
live in a blessed time. We (can) see the holy in the other."

Checkpoints and ID cards

Thirty-four years of Israeli occupation have caused hardship and suffering
for the Palestinians, exacting a heavy toll from both the church and society
at large. The current uprising, known as the Intifada, has added to the
burden, but many Palestinians see it as necessary in their struggle for
statehood.

The Palestinian economy is in a state of near collapse. Unemployment ranges
from 30 percent in some areas to 60 percent in Bethlehem and Ramallah. 

Checkpoints throughout the West Bank are lightning rods for violence and
sources of resentment for local residents. Israeli soldiers frequently
harass and intimidate Palestinian civilians attempting to pass through on
the way to work, school or home. 

One soldier pointedly corrected the Rev. Sandra Olewine, United Methodist
liaison to Israel-Palestine and guide for the delegation, when he heard her
refer to the blockade at Bethlehem as a "checkpoint."

"Checkpoints are border crossings between nations. This is 'makhom,'" he
said, referring to a Hebrew word that means "a place," and in conversation
might be used to say, "meet me at this place." However, the young soldier
added, "It is where we decide who comes in and who goes out."

International relief workers told the delegation that food delivery is
difficult and medical care inaccessible in the West Bank. People often
cannot commute into neighboring cities or towns to work because of travel
restrictions. Teachers who can't get to their home schools when checkpoints
are closed have developed an alternative system of reporting to the nearest
school in the area where they are detained. 

A system of identity cards gives some individuals access to some areas but
not others. For example, most Palestinians cannot enter Jerusalem. This
makes it difficult, if not impossible, for individuals or families to travel
from one town to another, and those who are allowed to pass face long delays
and often great danger. Marwan Toubasi, an Orthodox Christian, said some
Palestinian families have not celebrated Christmas together for two years.

The system also hampers church workers in their ministry across the Holy
Land. Zaru said she has been unable to attend district meetings of her
church and other organizations for several months.

Bishop Ann Sherer, leader of the United Methodist Church's Missouri Area,
drew an analogy. "Imagine how it would impact the church in Missouri, or
anywhere else, if the president of United Methodist Women had to pass
through 16 checkpoints to get from St. Louis to Columbia, Mo., as Jean Zaru
must do to get from Ramallah to Nablus, a distance of 33 miles. She hasn't
traveled the 15 miles from Bethlehem to Ramallah in two years. This
contributes to a feeling of isolation and frustration. Imagine how it must
affect the quality of community life.

"I don't see how peace will ever come, or even how a common agenda for peace
can be developed, if the peacemakers cannot come together," Sherer said.
"But I do hope because I know that God is at work for peace in this land."

Signs of hope

Despite the crushing reality of violence and occupation, a reality that
Rabbi Melkior summarized by saying, "Sadly, both sides are bleeding," there
was talk of hope by both Israelis and Palestinians.

"There are still signs of hope," Zaru told the delegation. "The Palestinian
people are still here. They are not wiped off the face of the earth. Your
coming to visit us in solidarity is a sign of hope. After all, we serve a
resurrected Lord. Nothing in Jesus Christ is without hope."

Bishop Beverly Shamana, leader of the San Francisco Area, saw hope in the
ministry of Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. The church
uses the arts as a means of creative expression, especially helpful for
traumatized children and adults in the besieged village.

The Rev. Mitri Raheb cleaned out rooms used for storage and with a grant
from the Finnish government created the International Center for the Arts.
The center includes exhibit space, a gift shop outlet for workshop products,
an outdoor cafe and guest quarters for international visitors. The center
was built during the last two years amid the unrelenting attacks.

"Our people have to have an outlet for their frustration," he said. "This
will keep them strong for the resistance."

"I believe he took courageous steps to bring something into being that
honors the capacity of the arts to nourish the spirit with hope that cannot
be destroyed by bullets, tanks, intimidation or humiliation," Shamana said.

A variety of voices

Since returning to the United States on Feb. 28, delegation members have
been working on a report that they will present to the United Methodist
Council of Bishops this spring.

In assessing the delegation's fact-finding mission, James Winkler, general
secretary (top staff executive) of the United Methodist Board of Church and
Society, reflected on the range of voices the group heard. 

"We listened carefully to a variety of voices representing a broad
cross-section of the region," he said. "We heard from brother and sister
Christians who represent churches that have been in this land for 2,000
years and have lived under occupation for 34 years. We heard from rabbis and
others who also represent a cross-section of opinion in Israel, and from
Israeli government leaders who said they want and need our help to resolve
their differences.

"We heard the desire for security for Israel and for fairness, respect for
human rights and justice for Palestinians," Winkler continued. "And they
made it clear they can't do it themselves. As we move forward, this
information will shape our report to the church and our future
relationships."

They also made it clear that the Israeli occupation must end, according to
Ives, who serves as president of the Board of Church and Society. "From
church persons, community leaders, private citizens, the first and most
important message they hope we carry home is that the occupation of
Palestine must end and that the U.N. resolutions will be implemented,
including Resolution 242. Every Christian leader we spoke to called for an
immediate end to Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank." Resolution
242 offers principles for a lasting peace in the Middle East, including the
withdrawal of all Israeli armed forces from the occupied territories.

The United Methodist Church, through its General Conference, has spoken in
support of Palestinian human rights and access to Jerusalem, against
confiscation of Palestinian lands and in support of economic assistance to
Palestine, among other issues. Formal statements are available at
http://infoserv.umc.org/faq/archives.htm online. The Web site also contains
links to sites of the Board of Church and Society and the Board of Global
Ministries, where additional resources and statements on the Middle East can
be found.

# # #

*Hollon is general secretary of United Methodist Communications, with main
offices in Nashville, Tenn. He was on the fact-finding delegation to the
Middle East and Pakistan.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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