Holy Land Christians: Rooted in Bonds of Peace

by Delinda C. Hanley

MORE THAN 450 participants from 15 states and five countries attended the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation's sixth international conference, held Oct. 22 to 24 at the Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. Speakers described the terrible hardships Israel's occupation inflicts on Christians, as well as Muslims, who live and work in the Holy Land.

Four of Jerusalem's major Christian leaders spoke at the conference, showing their unity as they called for peace and an end to Israel's occupation of the Holy Land. Moderator Donald Kruze introduced the speakers and summed up why Jerusalem is so revered by all religions: "People can pray to God from any place in the world. But from Jerusalem," he quipped, "it's a local call."

Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal, Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem, told of the dwindling numbers of Christians who remain locked down in the Holy Land. "Only 60 or 70 years ago," he noted, "Christians were 22 or 23 percent of the population of Palestine. Today, all Christians put together hardly make up 1.5 percent."

The Bishop recalled his February 2003 meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in which he advised Blair that the problems in Iraq would lessen once the Israel-Palestine problem was solved. "Please remember that once peace comes to Jerusalem, peace comes to the whole world," Abu El-Assal told Blair.

H.B. Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, discussed ecumenism among Holy Land Christians. There are 13 different churches, he said-five Orthodox, six Catholic, and two Protestant-and they meet often and share good relations. While Israelis and Arabs fight for control of religious sites, Sabbah noted, "The holy places are places only to pray, not to make war, not to hate each other."

It is the duty of every Christian in the world, he insisted, to bring reconciliation to the "land of the roots" of Christianity.

Rt. Rev. Munib Younan, Bishop of Jerusalem's Evangelical Lutheran Church, agreed, adding that it's the duty of the church to speak out against injustice, the spiral of violence and oppression. Calling occupation "a sin against God and humanity," he explained that it "deprives people of their God-given rights and dignity" and "demoralizes first the occupier and then the occupied."

According to Bishop Younan, all three religions have allowed extremism to grow and have a loud influential voice. Instead, he said, Christian, Jewish and Muslim voices should create a "choir of justice" that sings loudly to world leaders, and promotes positive common values of justice, forgiveness, peace and reconciliation.

Archimandrite Innokentios Exarchos, representing H.B. Irineos I, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, added his emphatic voice to implore Christians around the world to unite and assist the people of the Holy Land in building peace. Describing the Holy Land's long history of coexistence, he suggested making the Middle East a nuclear-free zone.

Sir Rateb Rabie, HCEF president and chairman, summed up the religious leaders' words: "The situation today is more critical and desperate than ever before, but with the joint commitment of Arab and Western Christians, we are stronger than ever, and our faith in the impact of these lasting bonds is greater than ever before."

While Holy Land Christians represent less than 2 percent of the population of the Holy Land, Rabie said, they can act as peacemakers and serve as a bridge between parties in conflict.

Ambassador Edward "Skip" Gnehm described his "inauspicious start" as the new U.S. ambassador to Jordan, arriving in Amman on Sept. 10, 2001. He was in a reception line welcoming embassy employees as the planes struck the World Trade Towers. The next day, amid fears of another attack, an agitated security officer reported that large numbers of Jordanians had surrounded the embassy. Both went outside, only to discover Jordanians coming to the gate with flowers and notes of sympathy. Over 3,800 Jordanians came from all over the country to express their sadness over the loss of life.

This story astonishes Americans when Gnehm tells it today, he said. It illustrates that Arabs who object strongly to American policies in the region can feel compassion for Americans as people, Gnehm said. It also underscores the fact that the average American does not understand that Arabs are individuals with the same feelings and emotions as Americans.

Archbishop of Washington Theodore Cardinal McCarrick was keynote speaker at the HCEF Awards Banquet on Oct. 22. A Palestinian Cultural Night on Oct. 23 celebrated Palestinian culture through traditional Arabic food, crafts, music and poetry. The DC-Dabkeh Troupe danced, and a fashion show of traditional Palestinian attire from circa 1930 delighted attendees.

As adults listened to internationally recognized spiritual leaders, scholars, authors and ambassadors, a simultaneous youth summit brought together children from the Holy Land and the United States. The adults asked Palestinian children about their day-to-day lives and their dreams for the future. Mariana, 13, from Beit Sahour, said she hoped for peace in Palestine. As she described her dreams for the future, however, her true expectations sobered listeners. "I want to become a pediatrician like my father," she said, "so I can help children who get shot."

To close the conference, the children sang "Miracle" to express their vision of a Holy Land at peace and free from occupation.

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This article was published in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. It is used here with permission.