wfn.org | Praying Under Israeli Guns in Ramallah

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For more information:
Fr. Raed Abusahlia
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
P.O.Box  14152 - Jerusalem 97500
E-mail address: latinpat@actcom.co.il 

Dr. Maria C. Khoury

RAMALLAH, PALESTINE, April 16, 2002-- While everyone is rushing to buy bread 
in Ramallah during the four hours the military curfew is uplifted, Fr. 
Ibrahim Hijazin is rushing to visit as many elderly and sick parishioners as 
possible giving them the "Bread of Life" by offering Holy Communion in their 
homes. 

He doesn't have much time on his hands, because at exactly 2 p.m. when the 
curfew is enforced again, the Israeli soldiers begin to shoot at anyone 
moving in the streets. 

Thus, Fr. Ibrahim rushes back to conduct a quick Mass for the rest of the 
parishioners at the Holy Family Parish.  During the last three times the 
curfew was uplifted, a handful of parishioners came to pray.  Yesterday, the 
church was nearly full.

My cousin Fr. Iacoub Khoury also conducts services daily with Fr. Meletios at 
the Greek Orthodox Church especially now for the Lenten season. (By 
agreement, churches in the West Bank follow the Greek Orthodox calendar 
during Lent as an ecumenicalk act.)  

Since they live right next to the church they can hold the services but the 
faithful can not attend for fear Israeli snipers, enforcing the strict curfew 
now in its third week, will shoot them. 

Ms. Maha, a wonderful English teacher at the Ahliyyah College told me she 
could not even walk from her house to church because the main road was 
completely destroyed by the Israeli tanks.  She sadly said: "Ramallah is not 
the Ramallah you know...there is a great deal of damage to the whole city."  

Maha decided to go to church during the uplifting of the curfew to " just 
gather and pray...to ask God to protect us...at least we can talk to God...we 
can ask, where are you God?  Why can't you stop these massacres? What have we 
done to be prisoners in our own homes?  We started to think of our faith 
more...before I sleep I pray." 

Finally, Maha could talk on the phone today after being many days without 
phone service. She was one of the lucky ones because in her neighborhood she 
was only without electricity and water for the first four days.  Eighteen 
days into the occupation and still there are actually people without water. 

As more and more civilians continue to be punished without running water, 
electricity, phones and horrid house invasions that leave their property 
totally damaged, we continue the Christian legacy in the land where 
Christianity was born.  We continue to pray and ask for God's mercy.  We 
continue our Christian values in the midst of bloodshed and under Israeli 
guns.  In Jerusalem this week another friend, Sister Maria Stephanopoulos was 
tonsured receiving the new name Mother Agapia.  Thus, Christians continue to 
serve Christ.  

They continue to be witnesses in the land of Christ's birth and give glory to 
God with every breath they take.  We shall speak the truth of the Israeli 
atrocities although some readers think these crimes against humanity are so 
awful they can't possibly be true and therefore must be "Palestinian 
propaganda."  Maybe that is why God keeps us here to keep reminding the world 
the Holy Land is a sacred place and whether we are Christians, Muslims or 
Jews, we were given life to give glory to God.  How easy it is for guns to 
help you forget that we were all made in the image and likeness of God. 

Maha explained to me that the last two weeks have been full of terror for her 
family.  "Not just the children are terrified, we are terrified too.  We 
can't sleep at night.  My husband and I take shifts because we are scared if 
the soldiers knock on the door and you don't open immediately they will bomb 
the door causing much damage and fire.   You expect them to come and enter 
any time...the only sound you hear outside is the sound of tanks in the 
street all night and our heart just beats with terror...and no one is talking 
about going back to schools...there is nothing...and they terrify us how they 
steal everything valuable and damage and destroy property...only God can 
protect us." 

Fr. Ibrahim listens to his parishioners with a heavy heart.  The grounds 
keeper for the school and church, Abu Ghassen after having his home invaded 
by the Israeli soldiers and turned upside down was also robbed of all his 
wife's gold and valuables. 

Maha's brother was also robbed of all valuable and had his home damaged by 
the Israeli soldiers.  When the soldiers searched the Latin convent and 
school grounds, Fr. Ibrahim asked them not to enter the church with weapons 
because it was a holy place.  

One soldier insisted to enter the church so the priest tried to explain the 
Holy Sacrament was in the altar and the soldiers must show respect for 
Christian religious values and traditions.  The soldier quickly stated that 
Jesus was himself Jewish so for sure he would be forgiven if he entered the 
church with his gun. Fr. Ibrahim reminded the soldier of a hard and cold 
reality that "Jesus was not behaving like the Jews of today." 

Since the Israeli soldiers are simply out to get the "terrorists," I have 
such a hard time understanding why they steal and totally destroy people's 
homes as they did to the principal of the Friend's Girls School, Ms. Diana 
Abdel Noor. 

They just damaged anything and everything in their site.  She is a member of 
the Greek Orthodox Church not of Hamas nor of Islamic Jihad.  Do you think 
these poor young soldiers have a hard time knowing the difference between a 
terrorist and a civilian or are they simply brainwashed that all Palestinians 
are terrorists. 

As the military destroys educational and cultural places along with homes, it 
seems the Israelis wish to wipe out the entire identity and culture of the 
Palestinian people.  Little do they know that Palestine will forever exist in 
the heart of each and every Palestinian and can not possibly be destroyed no 
matter how many homes are demolished and bombs are dropped. 

The will and the desire of the people to be free and seek their human rights 
can never be crushed with guns.  Sharon will only help create a new 
generation of "terrorists" because his military tactics are not the right and 
just solution to the conflict in the Middle East. 

The resistance will continue because the Palestinian people have a legitimate 
right to free their land from occupation.  And for the time being they only 
have their life to use as a weapon.  Although we condemn suicide bombers, we 
can't stop them because their daily life is full of suffering beyond the 
imagination of the average human being. 

Thus, we can only pray that this catastrophic cycle of violence stops and God 
delivers us from this evil.  

-end-