wfn.org | German Pax Christi Message Reaches Israel and Palestine

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Contact: Pax Christi, Deutsche Sektion
Postfach 13 45
61103 Bad Vilbel
sekretariat@paxchristi.de

or

Fr. Raed Awad Abussahlin
The Latin (Catholic) Patriarchate of Jerusalem
(972-2) 628-2323
Email: latinpat@actcom.co.il
Website: http://members.nbci.com/nonviolence/Raed/Olive/Branches.html

JERUSALEM, December 27, 2000--The German section of the Catholic peace 
movment,  Pax Christi,  has transmitted a declaration to Israelis and 
Palestinians calling on both to seek non-violent approaches to their struggle 
for justice and security.  
    The Assembly of the group said that the current strife in the Holy Land 
is "an expression of powerlessness and despair."  The Assembly specifically 
called upon the Palestinian National Authority to  "promote non-violent forms 
of protest and  to contribute to a new spirit of dialogue."
    It also called upon Israeli authorities to "to stop the violence 
perpetrated by Israeli military, " and "to withdraw from those territories 
which, in violation of international laws and relevant UN-resolutions, have 
been occupied since 1967." 
    The text of the declaration is as follows:

Overcoming the Violence of Despair
 
A Declaration by Pax Christi, German Section, 
as concluded at the Delegates' Convention, Burg Rothenfels, Germany.

Five years after the signing of the "Oslo-II" accords and the assassination 
of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin, the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process 
is on the verge of perishing in violence, despair and new hatred. 

In the light of the contacts we have had with friends on both sides for 
years, we are horrified about the recent outbreaks of violence, causing the 
death of more than 240 persons, mostly Palestinians and to a large extend 
young people, sometimes even children, acts of lynching on both sides, 
numerous violent attacks on Palestinians perpetrated by Israeli settlers and 
air-raids on Palestinian cities.  We consider this violence as a result of a 
policy in which the opportunity for peace was not taken resolutely and 
courageously.
 
Despite the existence of a proper civil administration in towns of partial 
Palestinian autonomy, the segmentation into A-, B-,  and C-Zones allows 
neither economic growth nor the development of a social infrastructure in the 
Palestinian Territories. 

The recent clashes in the West Bank and Gaza, provoked by the visit of the 
Israeli conservative nationalist politician Ariel Sharon to Haram al-Sharif  
(the Temple Mount), are to be seen as an expression of powerlessness and 
despair.

During the Peace Process, the confiscation of land, the destruction of houses 
and olive groves, the expansion of Israeli settlements and bypass-roads and 
the blocking of whole neigbourhoods have continued, all contradicting the 
already agreed on peace treaties.

International contacts are for Palestinians possible only via Israel.  
Palestinian residents of Jerusalem have been dislocated.  While Jews from all 
over the world can immigrate into Israel, Palestinians dislocated from their 
land are denied their right of return.
 
For the Palestinians, as being one of two unequal partners, the Peace Process 
has increasingly become a continuation of lasting humiliation, without 
prospects of a decent life.  Palestinians are still  not protected from the 
violence perpetrated by heavily armed Israeli settlers attacking their 
villages.   

In the recent military actions taken by the Israeli army, Palestinians were 
hit by carefully aimed shots.  These acts can hardly be qualified as 
life-saving actions but as  massive violations of the human rights laws and 
infractions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.  According to Amnesty 
International, the Israeli military can be regarded as the committing of war 
crimes.
 
What peace requires is more than a joint Israeli-Palestinian cooperation of  
military and intelligence services.   Peace requires mutual respect and 
recognition of the other as an equal partner in peace and a common vision of 
dignity, justice, well-being, security, political sovereignty and economic 
growth.   The two peoples on this tiny land are bound to share one common 
future.

We support the efforts made by Israeli, Palestinian and also joint 
Israeli-Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations working for peace and 
human rights and declare our solidarity with them.
 
We appeal to the government of the State of Israel, as the dominant 
participant in the the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process in terms of 
political means, military equipment and economic growth, to stop the violence 
perpetrated by Israeli military, to withdraw from those territories which, in 
violation of international laws and relevant UN-resolutions, have been 
occupied since 1967 and  to further the formation of a Palestinian State with 
East-Jerusalem as its capital.
 
We appeal to the Palestinian National Authority to promote non-violent forms 
of protest and  to contribute to a new spirit of dialogue. We also demand the 
PNA to respect human rights and to further the democratization of Palestinian 
society.
 
We appeal to the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the 
European Union to take our demands into consideration and to encourage the 
participants in the Peace Process accordingly.   We also appeal to the German 
government and the EU to stop the arms trade and to support the establishment 
of International Peacekeeping Forces maintained by the United Nations 
Security Council in the Occupied Territories.   The mediation of the conflict 
can not be handled alone by a political power which itself is biased, such as 
the USA.
 
In accordance with Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem, president of Pax 
Christi International, we trust  that the Palestinian people "will have life 
and freedom, sooner or later. We hope it will be sooner than later. Because 
violence cannot be the guide of life in this Holy Land. Justice is the only 
guide and symbol."

-End-