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Reflection on Advent 2004 Pilgrimage for Peace in the Holy Land Joyce Ruhaak We know the foundational principle of Catholic Social Teaching is the life and dignity of the human person. I really appreciate Father Ray Lescher, pastor of Joliet's Sacred Heart Parish's, personal translation. He said, "Each of us is God's beloved daughter...or God's beloved son.... and everyone we meet is also." Human beings are precious and deserve respect, basic rights, including having a voice. On the recent trip to the Holy Land all the Palestinians and Israelis we twenty-eight pilgrims met treated us with respect, warm hospitality, concern for our safety, and thankfulness for our presence. We, in turn, came in solidarity, to let them know we cared about them. The first hand stories we heard were more than sad. At present Arabs in the Holy Land suffer daily humiliation, diminished dignity, respect, and quality of life. Yet, they have hope. Many, many Christian families have left the area. One church in Jericho said it lost 40 families. The ones who remain have much courage, long-suffering, and hope for a just peace. All of the adults we met with were peace-minded, forgiving, and loving people who believe in a non-violent solution to the present situation. Their personal witness to living as Jesus would is obvious. The Christians are so few in number that they seem to collaborate on every community project, program, and even operate parochial schools jointly. We spoke with parents, grandparents, women, men, students, peacemakers from many groups both Israeli and Palestinian. Nearly every evening between Nov. 30, 2004 and Dec. 9, 2004 we met with Arab or Jewish peacemakers. These included people in Nazareth, Haifa, Jericho, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem. We heard from students, faculty, and administrators at Bethlehem University and several elementary schools, some health care facility administrators, Catholic Relief Services staff and leaders of groups they help support, the Latin Patriarch-overseer of Catholics in Jordan, Israel, and Palestine, the General Administrator of Latin Patriarch Schools Legal Department, the Deputy Administrator of the Palestinian Authority in Jericho, a member of the Christian peacemaker teams, parishioners at St. James Catholic Church in Jerusalem, Jewish and Christian people committed to working for peace through their grassroots-started organizations, Christian! or interfaith religious peace movements. All of them basically had the same message. Conditions for families are bleak. Unemployment is 60% in the West Bank and Gaza. For the past four years there have been next to no pilgrimages to the holy land, which has devastated their tourism-based economy. The manager of the Bethlehem Souvenir Center said we were the first busload of tourists in the shop for four years. Checkpoints and the 28' wall built to confine Palestinians and protect Israelis limit or prevent Arabs living in the area from tending to their farms, businesses, schools, or even arriving home to be with their families. The proprietor of St. Margaret's in Nazareth, where we stayed our first 3 nights, often cannot get home to his wife and children. During the 42 day siege in Bethlehem he did not know the state of his family for several days. Arab residents can be detained at or refused entry at any checkpoint at any time. They have to walk across checkpoints. Different colored license plates are distributed to them than to Jews. Vehicles with Israeli plates get waved on past the checkpoint while Palestinians have to walk across and take a taxi or walk to their destination on the other side. Sometimes ambulances or women about to give birth are not allowed to cross over to go to the hospital. Births sometimes take place at the checkpoints and some newborn babies have died. The critically ill are often delayed or denied entry and sometimes die there also. Very young Israeli soldiers determine who can and who cannot cross the checkpoint on any given day. There does not appear to be any objective criteria for making those decisions. These facts prompted some Jewish grandmothers to form a volunteer WATCH group to monitor Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints. They report injustices to the Israeli authorities. Their presence and reporting continues to make checkpoints more tolerable and have also won for them the gratitude and respect of the Palestinians. Our Arab Israeli Christian guide Iyad suggested that the 28 of us US citizens on the pilgrimage walk across a checkpoint near Ramallah so we would have a taste of the Palestinian twice a day experience. During the time spent waiting at the checkpoint I could imagine the Jews being herded onto a cattle car during the holocaust. There were so many people close together waiting to cross. A machine-gun armed younth Israeli soldier stood above us on a high platform as we waited. We spoke to some of the English-speaking Palestinians next to us in the crowd who told us the crossing sometimes takes hours; we were fortunate. It only took us 20 to 30 minutes. It was raining, but luckily the line was not much further than the sheet metal overhang above us. It would have been easy to lose one's family members or friends in the line. The crowd was tight and pushing forward. Fortunately for me, Sister Betty! grabbed hold of my coat before I got swept away. After crossing the checkpoint, Iyad introduced us to one of the Grandmother volunteer of the Women for Human Rights WATCH group. ID's and permits are very difficult to get. A young couple spoke with our group in Jerusalem about the difference between a Jerusalem Identification and a West Bank or Gaza one. The wife had a Jerusalem ID, but her husband has a Palestinian ID and a yearly permit to live in Jerusalem. The permit is due for renewal and they are both worried he will not receive a new one. She does not want to give up her Jerusalem ID because it allows her more movement and easier access to her extended family. However, at present if her mother-in-law visits overnight, they are subject to arrest. Because of difficulty getting permits to build or add on to Palestinian dwellings, often 20 people live cramped together in small homes. Students and faculty have difficulty crossing checkpoints and told us it will get worse if the walls are completed. A Bethlehem University administrator told us completion of the wall will result in the loss of 25% of their faculty, whose qualifications and areas of expertise will not most likely be replaceable. Besides the identification and permit problems, checkpoints and 28' wall, more than thousands of Palestinian homes have been demolished (We saw ruins of some homes from the highway), water is rationed, and they receive fewer services, including garbage pick up, for their equal payment of taxes. Recreational opportunities are very limited to them also. Only after being asked did university students disclose the fact that none of them had been to a movie theatre for over four years. Also, Palestinians do not have access to beaches they had previously frequented. And currently many of their children do not even know how to swim. Despite all of this misery and diminishment, the people we met with have faith, hope, and a resilient spirit of forgiveness and love. They collaborate with other believers in sustaining themselves, their families, communities, and institutions. They remind us that we are all the Body of Christ and children of Abraham. All of them asked us to work for a peace that will be just for both sides; they cautioned us not solely consider their plight. We
have heard their stories. Now what can we do to help, to encourage them,
to continue to listen, to build relationships with them, to advocate for
a just peace?
Suggested Reading: Matthew 25, the parable of the sheep and the goats. Reflection
Question: "Lord, when did I see You a
victim of injustice? Suffering? Turned away or ignored? Disrespected?
Humiliated? Imprisoned? Did I listen to you? Did I try to help you? Possible
Actions on the behalf of People Living in the Holy Land:
5. Consider going on a pilgrimage yourselves. See www.paxjoliet.org for details. 6. Other...
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