wfn.org | Council of Churches Executive Reports Israelis Halt Ambulances

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For information contact:
Fr. Raed Abusahlia
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
P.O.Box  14152 - Jerusalem 97500
E-mail address: <A HREF="mailto:latinpat@actcom.co.il";>latinpat@actcom.co.il</A>
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Personal Homepage: <A HREF="http://go.to/nonviolence";>http://go.to/nonviolence</A>
Fr. Labib's Homepage: <A HREF="http://www.al-bushra.org/";>http://www.al-bushra.org</A>

JERUSALEM, April 2, 2002---The Middle East Council of Churches Jerusalem 
Office today issued an urgent appeal challenging the Israeli Military with 
abridging basic human rights of both the living and the dead

       The appeal was signed by the head of the Council's Department of 
Service to Palestinian Refugees, Dr. Bernard Sabella, a noted sociologist who 
also teaches at Bethlehem University, a Catholic institution that has itself 
been fired upon in recent weeks by the Israelis.

       The text of the appeal is as follows: 

Urgent Appeal

Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees

Middle East Council of Churches

Irreconcilability of Israeli Military Action with Basic Human Rights of the 
Alive and Dead

       On April 1, U.S. President  George Bush said, "There will never be 
peace so long as there is terror." The Palestinian people are saying, "There 
will never be peace so long as there is occupation." 

    Well into this morning, the sound of heavy Israeli bombardment of 
Ramallah and Betuniah, to the West of Ramallah, was heard in the northern 
parts of Jerusalem.  According to news reports, up to 40 people were killed 
in the building in Betuniah that serves as offices of the Palestinian 
Preventive Services, a key security institution that was supposed, according 
to American plans, to be instrumental for implementing peace plans between 
the two sides. 

        Four hundred people, including children, are in the building, which 
according to various sources, has suffered up to 60 percent damage because of 
the heavy bombardment. The bombardment goes on as of this writing. 

     Aside from the lack of food, medication and the curfew imposed on 
thousands of Palestinians, there is continued Israeli harassment of medical 
staff and ambulances. This has caused serious life-threatening situations to 
affect children, women and countless others. 

         The Israeli military refuses to give permission to transport the 
wounded sick or even to bury the dead.  In the Ramallah hospital, 25 bodies 
are stored in a below standard vault and the Palestinian Ministry of Health 
as well as other medical and humanitarian organizations have appealed to the 
Israeli military to allow them to bury the dead. 

      With the increase in the number of those killed in Ramallah and 
Betuniah, there is an immediate need to give dignity to the dead. 

       News just received from Bethlehem speaks of the shelling of three 
churches, burning of a church and possible injury and even death of clergy 
and nuns among other civilians. 

       Shelling, we just heard, seriously damaged for the second time the 
statue of the Virgin Mary in the city of the Nativity. 

        I appeal to you to contact your governments, churches, constituencies 
and other NGOS, to put pressure on the Israeli government to allow for the 
fulfillment of basic rights to those suffering from the consequences of this 
latest Israeli incursion into Palestinian Territories, whether dead or alive. 

     The sense of revenge that motivates the Israeli politicians and military 
should be checked. 

        The same statement that speaks of the need to end terror should also 
speak of the need to end occupation. 

     The ongoing massive onslaught of the Israeli military on 3.3 million 
Palestinians is leaving all of us traumatized and, for some, in direct line 
of danger. Beside denying Palestinians their basic human rights, these latest 
incursions and military actions make peace for us here ever more distant. 

         I trust that you would act on this urgent appeal immediately. 

         Dr. Bernard Sabella, Executive Secretary 

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