wfn.org | Jerusalem Clergy Fail to Reach Arafat in Ramallah

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For information contact:
Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal
St. George's Episcopal Cathedral
Nablus Road, Jerusalem
Tel: (972-2) 628.3302

Christian Leaders Also Seek Appointment with Sharon on Easter

JERUSALEM, April 2, 2002---Shortly after Easter morning services, the 
Christian clergy and leaders from this Holy City left their sanctuaries and 
journeyed toward Ramallah hoping to bring greetings to Palestinian President 
Yassir Arafat, breaking the Israeli seige of the leader.

According to the Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem, " all our 
three-hour-endeavor to enter the city came to an empty hole."

Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal said: "We felt that the authorities do not want the 
Church to provide a channel for peace and reconciliation."

He described how he had, before leaving the Episcopal Cathedral of St. George 
in Jerusalem, spoken "several times with the deputy Foreign Minister of 
Israel, Rabbi Melcheor, who was part of the Alexandria Declaration, initiated 
by the Archbishop of Canterbury, as we committed ourselves to work for peace 
and justice as religious leaders. We asked for his help and intervention to 
mediate with the authorities, and allow us to enter into Ramallah." 

"I even challenged him to come with us, expressing readiness to meet with 
Sharon as well," Bishop Assal reported in a letter to friends and colleagues 
in U.S. and Canadian Churches.

The delegation that was turned back before reaching Ramallah included "the 
Roman Catholic Patriarch and his clergy, the Greek Catholic Archimandrite, 
and representatives of the Armenian, Lutheran, Coptic, and Franciscan Bishops 
and clergy. We were 15 people altogether," according to Bishop Assal. 

     The text of the Bishop's Easter letter follows:

Monday, April 01, 2002 6:47 PM
Dear Friends,
 
Salaam and grace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and blessed greetings 
from Jerusalem.
 
It is Easter Day, the day of Resurrection. However, this year's celebration 
of Christ's new life is remembered in the middle of total chaos, and 
persistent suffering of a lonely people, who have long been fighting for 
their freedom and dignity. 

The services in the Cathedral this morning took place with half the number of 
people we normally have, due to closures and checkpoints. 

This year, the Easter story has been as vivid and clear as never before. The 
biblical drama continues; the actors change, but the plot remains the same. 
We have been witnessing the many Judas Iscariots, who continue to betray the 
Truth, and the many Pilates, who wash their hands, to defend their own 
safety. We weep before those who continue to watch the cross from afar, as if 
the scene means nothing to them. 
 
After the services, I left with clergy and heads of Churches towards Ramallah 
on a mission of peace and justice, trying to break down the siege inflicted 
on the city and its people, and to visit President Arafat.

Apart of the Anglican clergy with me, we had the Roman Catholic Patriarch and 
his clergy, the Greek Catholic Archimandrite, and representative of the 
Armenian, Lutheran, Coptic, and Franciscan Bishops and clergy. We were 15 
people altogether. 

We gathered at St. George's Cathedral, and left in the afternoon hours 
towards the city of Ramallah.  Prior to our departure from the Cathedral, I 
spoke several times with the deputy Foreign Minister of Israel, Rabbi 
Melcheor, who was part of the Alexandria Declaration, initiated by the 
Archbishop of Canterbury, as we committed ourselves to work for peace and 
justice as religious leaders. We asked for his help and intervention to 
mediate with the authorities, and allow us to enter into Ramallah; I have 
even challenged him to come with us, expressing readiness to meet with Sharon 
as well. 

But all our three-hour-endeavor to enter the city came to an empty hole. We 
felt that the authorities do not want the Church to provide a channel for 
peace and reconciliation, to bring an end to all the suffering and pain of 
the peoples of this land. 

As we were waiting, some settlers were passing by, some cried at us with the 
words: 'Go to hell', others spit at us. We were forced to return back to 
Jerusalem. 
 
Ramallah has been declared a war zone, nobody allowed in or out. The reports 
that are coming from the city are incredibly horrendous. Our people could not 
attend church on Sunday. George Kopti, our priest in charge of the community, 
said his prayers with the immediate neighbours, who are living in the church 
close. He cannot walk out of his house, like everybody else, for fear of 
being shot dead. 

He reported that people were executed in the neighbouring Islamic Club with 
cold blood. There is lack of food and water supplies in the houses. President 
Arafat's compound has run out of water, too. 

Ambulances have not been allowed to reach to the injured, and one of the 
hospitals has been invaded. The soldiers are threatening to blow it up, 10 
minutes after they leave the building; and all this comes with the ongoing 
reports of lack of blood in the hospitals for the injured, a matter that is 
causing the death of many others. 

Twenty five dead Palestinians are still kept in one of the hospitals, while 
the Israelis are not allowing their burial. The hospitals report that there 
is no more space to keep more bodies. Some of those bodies have been 
recognized, others have not been recognized due to the extreme degree of 
torture. The church is planning tomorrow to donate blood here in the 
Cathedral, the least we can do in our support for the community in Ramallah. 
 
Stephanie Koury, an American citizen, lives and works in Ramallah as the 
legal adviser on settlements for the Palestinian Negotiating team. She 
reported to me personally that on Saturday, March 30 at 1:45 pm, 10 Israeli 
soldiers invaded her house, and threatened to kill her cat. They ate her 
fruit on the table, even when she told them that that was the only food left 
for her. 

One of the soldiers lied down and asked her to give him a massage, an act of 
total humiliation, if not a war crime. She witnessed them holding an 18-19 
year old young man, the son of her neighbour, forcing him on his knees, and 
pointing the gun at his head. When they left her house after three hours of 
sheer humiliation, they ran over her car with their tanks. 
 
Israeli troops have surrounded Bethlehem and its area, and the people there 
are preparing for another Israeli invasion. All this comes to us, and to our 
people at a time when we remember and celebrate the life of God who makes the 
suffering and the death of these people his own. We remember how they flogged 
him, how they spit on him, and how they crucified him. It all becomes clear 
how though we believe in the resurrection, we also believe that the 
resurrection does not cancel out the crucifixion. 

We are burdened with all this suffering, and total hopelessness. To whom do 
we turn to? We have no one to turn to except to him , who suffers, and dies 
with us, Jesus Christ our Lord.  For he alone can raise us up. 
 
Know that this comes with my prayers, and best wishes,
 
In Christ,
 
+Riah Abu El-Assal.
 
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