Franciscans accuse Israel of ‘calculated’ visa delays The Tablet.co.uk, World Church News - 10 April 2004

Franciscans accuse Israel of ‘calculated’ visa delays The Franciscan custodians of the Holy Land have accused Israel of deliberately refusing to renew visas to Christian priests, religious and lay workers. They fear that behind the continuing denials of permission to enter, re-enter or extend their stay in Israel and Palestine is a calculated policy by Ariel Sharon’s Government.

“We are dealing with a very serious problem indeed, one which is getting worse by the day,” said Fr David Jaeger, a spokesman for the Franciscan custodians of the Holy Land. “Top-ranking government officials won’t let us know their reasons behind the new policy. There are no official channels of dialogue to bring about a resolution to the situation.”

The Israeli Government says the Prime Minister is responding to the growing number of complaints of long delays in processing visas. Sharon is said to have asked officials from the National Security Council to head the intra-ministerial committee, which will formulate clear rules for the visa extensions.

“In the Catholic world there is a growing view that Israel has deliberately framed a policy to hurt the Church,” Fr Jaeger told the Israeli daily Haaretz. “Nobody believes some clerk in the population registry is able to reach these decisions on his own.”

The pastoral work of the Church in Israel and the Palestinian territories relies heavily on missionaries. The Church says there are now 138 cases of pending requests for entry visas and for extensions of residence permits, a 50 per cent increase on the previous year. Some 89 priests and seminarians and 49 sisters of various religious congregations are awaiting decisions. They include 66 Franciscans, of whom 51 are present in the country illegally because their residence visas have not yet been renewed.

One of the Vatican’s most senior diplomats, Cardinal Roberto Tucci, is also concerned. Speaking to Vatican Radio on 2 April, he said Israel’s visa policy violated the country’s fundamental agreement with the Holy See signed in 1993. The pact makes clear that Israeli authorities are pledged to cooperate with the missionary activities of Catholic institutions.

Vatican concerns have been reinforced by the fact that the Israeli policy has not been explained, and there are no “institutional channels for dialogue” on the subject, Cardinal Tucci said. He urged Western Churches in Europe and America to apply pressure on the Israeli Government to alleviate the situation for the Holy Land’s Christians.

Although this year’s Palm Sunday procession into Jerusalem went ahead as normal, it was widely believed that the construction of Israel’s controversial security barrier will make the route impassable next year.

In recent weeks, Israeli bulldozers have concentrated their work on the Mount of Olives at Beit Fagi – “the Place of the Unripe Dates” – where, according to legend, Jesus asked for food while on his way to Jerusalem. All that could be found, the legend goes, was the unripe fruit of palm trees.

Three thousand pilgrims carrying aloft palm and olive branches had to navigate a section of the concrete wall when they reached Beit Fagi on Palm Sunday.

Lily Feidy, deputy secretary-general of Miftah, a Palestinian non-governmental organisation, told The Tablet on Tuesday that construction of the wall in the area would be completed by the end of this year.

Although the wall on the Mount of Olives will be shielded from the view of most tourists to Jerusalem, it will be only a few hundred metres from the Old City. Despite paying taxes to the Jerusalem municipality, hundreds of local families will be stranded on the wrong side of the barrier, and will soon find it almost impossible to gain access to the city or benefit from its services.

Michael Hirst