In a letter to President Bush, leaders of the Holy Land Christian Society accused Israel Tuesday of confiscating land from religious groups to make room for a barrier Israel is building into the West Bank. April 13, 2004, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) -- In a letter to President Bush, leaders of the Holy Land Christian Society accused Israel Tuesday of confiscating land from religious groups to make room for a barrier Israel is building into the West Bank. Israel says the barrier, which eventually will stretch 425 miles, is needed to keep Palestinian terrorists out of Israel proper. The Rev. Donald Rooney, a society director, and the Rev. John Podsiadlo, of the society's advisory board, asked Bush to take up the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during his Washington visit. Sharon is to meet at the White House with Bush on Wednesday. They said church property was being overrun by Israeli soldiers, and an orphanage playground and part of a facility for older people had been brought inside Israel's military zone. Palestinian Christians barred from Easter pilgrimage 13 April , 2004 CathNewsPalestinian Christians in the West Bank accused Israel of sabotaging their annual Easter pilgrimage to the site of Christ's crucifixion. This year, Easter coincided with the most important Jewish holiday of Passover, and Israel enforced a complete closure of the Palestinian Territories, fearing a terrorist attack. For thousands of Christians from nearby Bethlehem, it meant another year barred from praying at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built on the site where it's believed Christ died and then rose again. Bethlehem Mayor, Hanna Nasser, who has presided over a city re-occupied by the Israeli army, then encircled by it, told the ABC's Mark Willacy: "It is depressing because Bethlehem has been closed now for 60 days, complete closure, 60 days. And not a single citizen is able to get out or visit if he doesn't get a permission. And although some of them, although they had permissions, yesterday and before yesterday they turned them, they turned them from the military checkpoints." Lutheran pastor Mitri Raheb said Israeli authorities again knocked back his application for permits to travel to Jerusalem for Easter. "We applied now 45 days ago for around 100 people from our members and so far we haven't got yet any permits," he said. Palestinian Christians barred from Easter pilgrimage, ABC AM, Monday, 12 April , 2004 08:23:14, Reporter: Mark WillacyTANYA NOLAN: Well it's been a relatively peaceful Easter celebration in the holy city of Jerusalem. But Palestinian Christians in the West Bank are accusing Israel of sabotaging their annual Easter pilgrimage to the site of Christ's crucifixion. This year, Easter coincides with the most important Jewish holiday of Passover, and Israel has enforced a complete closure of the Palestinian Territories, fearing a terrorist attack. For thousands of Christians from nearby Bethlehem, it means another year barred from praying at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built on the site where it's believed Christ died and then rose again. Middle East Correspondent Mark Willacy reports from Bethlehem. (Audio of church bells) MARK WILLACY: Bethlehem may be known as the town of Christ's birth, but for its 25,000 Christian residents the most important religious site is a few miles up the road in Jerusalem where he died. (Audio of hymn) Every year at Easter, Palestinian pilgrims set out for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. TEDDY GIACOMON: I've never entered Jerusalem for five years. I can't go there to pray. It's very, very difficult here. MARK WILLACY: Teddy Giacomon is a Bethlehem supermarket owner. Again this year he'll spend Easter at home, prevented from going to Jerusalem by an Israeli army checkpoint. HANNA NASSER: The Bethlehemites they feel that they are in the most difficult period they have passed since… since the Easter of Bethlehem.Bethlehem Mayor, Hanna Nasser, has presided over a city re-occupied by the Israeli army, then encircled by it. HANNA NASSER: It is depressing because Bethlehem has been closed now for 60 days, complete closure, 60 days. And not a single citizen is able to get out or visit if he doesn't get a permission. And although some of them, although they had permissions, yesterday and before yesterday they turned them, they turned them from the military checkpoints. (Audio of hymn) MARK WILLACY: Just a few hundred metres from the spot where Christ is believed to have been born is the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The pastor, Mitri Raheb, says the Israeli authorities have again knocked back his application for permits to travel to Jerusalem for Easter. MITRI RAHEB: We applied now four-five days ago for around 100 people from our members and so far we haven't got yet any permits. MARK WILLACY: In Bethlehem, there are about as many church steeples as there are mosque minarets. But Lutheran pastor, Mitri Raheb, says it's the Christian community which is packing up and leaving because of the Israeli occupation. MITRI RAHEB: We have estimates saying that 2,000 to 3,000 Palestinian Christians from the Bethlehem area have left Bethlehem, mainly to US, Canada, or Australia, in fact. (Audio of cash register) MARK WILLACY: A few blocks away at his supermarket, Teddy Giacomon is preparing to close down for Easter, yet another he'll spend away from Jerusalem. TEDDY GIACOMON: We hope that we can go there as to pray, to pray for peace, for joy, because it's Easter now. And we hope to see Jerusalem and we hope to pray in Jerusalem. MARK WILLACY: This is Mark Willacy in Bethlehem, for AM. Cardinal encourages pilgrimages to the Holy Land, CathNews 7 Apr 2004Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud has called for Catholics adopt an attitude of "prudent determination" in the face of danger, and travel to the Holy Land. He told Vatican Radio on Tuesday that trips to the Holy Land can bring hope to the Christians living there. He said Palestinian Christians are tempted to emigrate because of the violence and discrimination that surrounds them, and they "face the future with uncertainty." He argued that the world's Christians should come to their aid, because "we must not resign ourselves to the prospect of a Holy Land without Christians." Cardinal Moussa Daoud had been asked by Vatican Radio to comment on the annual appeal for financial help for the Church in the Holy Land, an appeal that is traditionally made during Holy Week. He replied that financial help was useful, but visits by Christians from other countries would be an even more powerful form of help. The Syrian cardinal said that Israeli and Palestinian authorities recognise the importance of religious tourism, which furnishes a large portion of the revenue for some towns in the Holy Land. He pointed out that "for the security of pilgrims, some guarantees have been made by the parties to the conflict." Those guarantees have not always been honoured. Vatican officials have sharply criticised the Israeli government in recent weeks for barring pilgrims from shrines on Palestinian territory - allegedly on grounds of "national security." Prelate urges pilgrimages to the Holy Land , Vatican, Apr. 06 (CWNews.com) Catholic World NewsVatican, Apr. 06 (CWNews.com) - The prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches has called for more pilgrimages to the Holy Land. While acknowledging that many Christians are fearful about a visit to the volatile region, Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud said that the faithful should plan pilgrimages "with prudence but with determination." Trips to the Holy Land, he said, could bring hope to the Christians living there. Speaking on Vatican Radio on April 5, Cardinal Moussa Daoud reminded listeners that the Christians of the Holy Land are tempted to emigrate because of the violence and discrimination that surrounds them, and they "face the future with uncertainty." He argued that the world's Christians should come to their aid, because "we must not resign ourselves to the prospect of a Holy Land without Christians." Cardinal Moussa Daoud had been asked by Vatican Radio to comment on the annual appeal for financial help for the Church in the Holy Land-- an appeal that is traditionally made during Holy Week. He replied that financial help was useful, but visits by Christians from other countries would be an even more powerful form of help. The Syrian cardinal said that Israeli and Palestinian authorities recognize the importance of religious tourism, which furnishes a large portion of the revenue for some towns in the Holy Land. He pointed out that "for the security of pilgrims, some guarantees have been made by the parties to the conflict." Those guarantees have not always been honored. Vatican officials have sharply criticized the Israeli government in recent weeks for barring pilgrims from shrines on Palestinian territory-- allegedly on grounds of "national security." "The Christians of the Holy Land are asking for help to overcome the isolation that pressed upon them," the cardinal said. He praised the Italian Catholic community for continuing to organize pilgrimages, and remarked that other countries could do the same, planning pilgrimage on a diocesan or national level. The Christian population of the Holy Land has been dwindling steadily since the creation of the Israeli state in 1947. At that time, Christians represented about 28 percent of the population; today they make up barely 2 percent. email this article: http://www.zenit.org/english/send_friend/index.phtml?sid=53258 Christians and Israel's Wall, Tuesday, April 6, 2004; Page A20 Letters to the EditorI commend Robert D. Novak for his column "Walling Off Christianity in Israel." I was in the Holy Land in January and will celebrate Easter there. I also just spoke with the Emmanuel Sisters in Bethlehem. After a year of ecumenical prayer vigils by the nuns against the route of the barrier, the Sharon government has decided to change the route. But a problem remains: Israel is demolishing Christians' homes and expropriating their land to give the Emmanuel Sisters access to their convent. The sisters are heartbroken and object to this. Also, the separation barrier recently took land from a home for troubled children owned and run by the Sisters of Charity in Bethany. If the route of the wall is not changed, the Christian mission could be destroyed in the Holy Land. The Sharon government should be able to build the barrier for the security of the Israeli people, something I support, without compromising the Holy Land. MARGARET CONE Washington e-mail, Jonathan Cook @ Beit Fagi, Monday April 5, 2004, The GuardianYesterday a procession of pilgrims, each holding a palm branch, made their way up the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives from the Palestinian village of Eizariya, once the Biblical town of Bethany and home to Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. The annual procession follows the route of Jesus's triumphal journey to Jerusalem, where he would soon suffer the agonies of the Passion so graphically portrayed in Mel Gibson's recent blockbuster, and is one of the final moments of celebration in the Christian calendar before Easter. Churches around the world marked Palm Sunday with their own symbolic processions and a final blessing of palm branches. In the Holy Land, however, the pilgrims had a real destination, one little known to most Christians. They were heading for two neighbouring chapels - one Roman Catholic, the other Greek Orthodox - which lay rival claim to having been built over the rock where Jesus mounted the donkey that carried him into the Holy City over a carpet of palm branches. The place is known as Beit Fagi, derived from a legend that when Jesus arrived at the rock-strewn ridge below the Mount of Olives he asked for food. All that could be found was the unripe fruit of palm date trees, leading Jesus to name the area Beit Fagi, or place of the unripe dates. Although there is no mention in the Bible of the location where Jesus mounted the donkey, Christian scholars identified the spot hundreds of years ago. The first recorded mention of Beit Fagi is in the writings of Bernard the Monk in 870, and another monk, Theodorich, refers in his 12th century travel journal to a "modest chapel" built there. Despite its long history, however, yesterday's procession to Beit Fagi is likely to be the last for the forseeable future. As the pilgrims ascended a narrow path past Palestinian homes to the edge of the Catholic Passionisti Convent attached to Beit Fagi chapel they were greeted by a short but imposing stretch of wall, consisting of eight-metre-high concrete slabs. On this occasion they were able to navigate round it to reach the two chapels. In a few more weeks, however, the section of wall will be complete and the route will be impassible - to pilgrims and Palestinians alike. The concrete and barbed wire barrier Israel is building around the West Bank to seal in the Palestinian population and, it hopes, seal out suicide bombers, has finally reached the most sensitive part of its route: the Mount of Olives. Although the wall will be shielded from most tourists' eyes by the Mount itself, it will lie only a few hundred metres from the old walled city of Jerusalem and some of the sites holiest to Jews, Christians and Muslims, including the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Bulldozers and cranes are well advanced in carving out the route of the wall across the the ancient stones of the Mount of Olives. Piles of giant concrete slabs lie stacked like dominoes, waiting to be lifted into place. According to local media reports, more than 300 ancient olive trees have already been uprooted. The silence of the Catholic and Orthodox churches has astounded local inhabitants. Hossam Katishi, a 30-year-old father of three, whose home will be a few metres from the wall and its armed guntowers, says: "Maybe the churches are frightened of becoming mired in yet another public confrontation with Israel." He may have a point. The Greek Orthodox church has been in a long-running row with the Israeli government over getting official approval for its elected patriarch, Bishop Irineos. And the Catholic church is struggling to get visas for more than 100 staff, including priests and nuns.Enham Shama, a caretaker at the Greek Orthodox convent, says she can hardly believe that the wall will bring the procession to an end with so little protest. "I can't help but ask myself, what would Jesus do faced with a wall like this?" Violence Erupts in Jerusalem Days Before the Start of Holy Week, April 2, 2004, PBSViolence Erupts in Jerusalem Days Before the Start of Holy Week For the world's two billion Christians, this coming week is Holy Week, the time between Palm Sunday and Easter when Christians remember the last events of Jesus' life. This year, new tensions in the land where those events occurred. Another violent confrontation at Jerusalem's Temple Mount between Israeli police and Palestinians gathered for Friday prayers. Thousands of Muslims barricaded themselves inside the al-Aksa mosque compound before the standoff was finally resolved. The incident comes amid growing Christian concern about their sacred sites. Prominent Christian leaders, joined by Illinois Republican Congressman Henry Hyde, say the security wall being constructed by the Israeli government will prevent Palestinian Christians from participating in traditional Holy Week observances. Among those observances are the Palm Sunday procession, which re-creates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem; Good Friday processions on the Via Dolorosa; and a Holy Saturday vigil at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the traditional site of Jesus' burial. And church and monastery property has been confiscated because of the security wall. Representative Hyde this week urged Secretary of State Colin Powell to pressure Israel to protect the holy sites and access to them. Israeli checkpoints disrupt Palestinian Catholic parish life, April 2, 2004, CathNewsPalestinian parishioners of St James Church in Jerusalem have learned to adapt to the unpredictability of Israeli-imposed checkpoints. But for several weeks in March, the seemingly random rules of the checkpoint in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Beit Hanina have affected some parishioners' ability to return home after Mass. The church, part of the Terra Sancta Centre complex, is located on the northbound side of the Jerusalem-Ramallah road on which the Israeli checkpoint is set up. A median divides the northbound and southbound lanes. Until recently, Israeli border police allowed parishioners to make U-turns in front of the checkpoint in order to return to their homes in Jerusalem on the southbound lanes. But recently, parishioners have sometimes been forced to drive through the checkpoint and take a 35 km detour to return to Jerusalem, or to pass through the checkpoint, then turn around and return southbound through it, which often takes more than an hour. Hyde presses U.S. on Israeli wall, April 1, 2004, BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNISTThere is hardly a more resolute supporter of Israel in Congress than Rep. Henry Hyde, the venerable chairman of the House International Relations Committee. That is why his March 25 letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell is so important. It is a plea to deflect Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's wall around the Holy Land from its planned position blocking the Scriptural pathway of Jesus Christ. ''I fear that important religious sites will become museums for commercial purposes and will no longer be maintained as places of spiritual worship shared by billions across the world,'' Hyde, a prominent Roman Catholic layman, told Powell. As Holy Week approaches, he asked the secretary's help to ''ensure that the Stations of the Cross are not cut off from each other, preventing the normal celebrations of Easter and the commemoration of the last days of Christ.'' That raises the question of whether the Bush administration will confront Israel on this issue. Sharon's government last year abruptly cut off negotiations with the Vatican. U.S. Catholic clergy and laity, inspecting the deplorable conditions for Christians in the Holy Land, have found the attitude of the Israeli military and bureaucracy ranges from uncooperative to hostile. When worried Catholics first visited Hyde last year to tell him of the havoc wrought by Sharon's wall, he told them to come back with proof. A delegation headed by the Rev. Donald Rooney of Fredericksburg, Va., and the Rev. John J. Podsiadlo of Baltimore did just that in March. ''If we do not turn the tide of events,'' Reverends Rooney and Podsiadlo wrote after they returned, ''Christian charity, sacred sites and the living Christian community in the Holy Land will be destroyed.'' The wall, the priests said, ''could forever change the Holy Land and the people who live in and visit this cherished historic land.'' With corroborating evidence supplied by his own staffer sent to investigate, Hyde was convinced. In his letter to Powell, he laid out the problems created by the Sharon wall. An 8-meter-high concrete wall will completely enclose the last passage from Bethany to the Mount of Olives, restricting the Palm Sunday procession from Bethpage into Jerusalem. Access will be blocked to the Sisters of Emmanuel Monastery north of Bethlehem. A proposed route of the wall will separate the convent and school of the Rosary Sisters. The process also is certain to accelerate the continuing Israeli expropriation of West Bank land still held by the dwindling Christian community there. Henry Hyde is no Israeli-basher. ''I would never criticize Israel for building that fence,'' he told me. He said he is just trying to set in motion ''some negotiations'' to protect the Christian holy places. The problem is that the Sharon government won't negotiate. The Vatican charges that Israel has violated the 1993 agreement between Rome and Israel guaranteeing West Bank land owned by the Catholic Church. Sharon has refused to enforce the concordat. The Rev. David Jaeger, representing the Holy See, is a native-born Israeli citizen who has been working on this problem for 27 years but has run into the Sharon wall. The Israeli government pulled out of negotiations with Jaeger Aug. 28. The response to me from an Israeli embassy spokesman in Washington was ''no comment.'' This state of affairs did not appear on screens of Bush administration policymakers until it was called to Hyde's attention and the congressman wrote his letter. Colin Powell, who clearly has not been enthusiastic about the wall, can be counted on to carefully study the problem in the Holy Land. But a dilemma faces Powell, Hyde and all official U.S. supporters of Israel. The wall manifests Sharon's policy of blood and iron, with collateral damage. While soldiers from the Israeli Defense Force overrun church properties, the U.S. taxpayer is paying for much of the $8 billion wall. The Christian pilgrim, stopped at IDF checkpoints, sees this graffiti at many places on the barrier: ''The USA is paying for this wall.'' That underscores U.S. responsibility for what is happening in the Holy Land. |