JERUSALEM, Nov. 7, 00 (CWNews.com/Fides) - The Holy Land is a land of great fear and little hope: more than six weeks after the outbreak of the new crisis, Jerusalem is a ghost city. Since the November 2 car bomb explosion in the populated Mehane Jehuda district, the old part of the city--equipped with day-light illumination and television cameras on every street corner--is deserted.
Fides has been told by local Jewish sources that several synagogues, including the one in Efrat, near Bethlehem, have been profaned with graffiti. The same sources say that most Israelis, although against war, are pessimistic about the chances of negotiating with the Palestinians. Among the Palestinian people, fear and frustration are growing. From September 27 to October 16, a team of Middle East representatives of Christian relief agencies made a visit to the Holy Land drafting a statement in which they fault Israel for violence against Palestinian civilians and call for international negotiations, urging the European Union to do more, criticizing the partisan United States position. International negotiations are also the idea at the basis of talks resumed between Yasser Arafat and former premier Shimon Peres.
"The present events mark a turning point in terms of the peace process. It will be impossible to return to the Oslo framework. We are convinced that at the core of a just peace must be self-determination and independence for all Palestinians." said the report sign by Bread for the World (Germany), Christian Aid (United Kingdom), Church of Sweden Aid, DanChurchAid (Denmark), EZE (Germany), ICCO (Netherlands), and InterChurchAction (Canada).
The delegation visited the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Arab-populated areas in Israel and spoke with partner organizations, members of churches, medical personnel, eyewitnesses to the violence, as well as victims. They received the impression that the Palestinian people fear the excessive violence of the Israel Defense Forces and armed Jewish settlers. "We witnessed the impact on Palestinian children killed or injured and also the psychological effects... Palestinian citizens of Israel, 20 percent of the total population, have reacted with shock and bewilderment at being fired on by their own police force leaving 13 dead and over 500 injured," they said.
They also noted the negative impact of acts of violence carried out by Palestinians, specifically the destruction of Joseph's Tomb and the mob deaths of two soldiers in Ramallah: "The negative impact made it possible for the media to talk about violence on both sides and equate what has happened to the Israelis with the vastly greater violence done to Palestinians."
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
7. november 2000