Israeli oppression of religious minorities – Christians

'No such thing as justice in the Holy Land'
Stuart Littlewood, Al Ahram Weekly, 23-29 Dec 2010

"Christianity in the region has been destroyed by Israel"
"We need only to be protected from the crimes of the Israelis
"The Israeli occupation denies freedom of religion
"Christians or Muslims, we are all Palestinians
"I saw Israelis drop phosphorous bombs on school yard"
"Israeli occupation is the crucixion of the nation of Palestine
"Israeli violence towards Palestinians is state policy"
"Hamas rebuilds churches destroyed by Israel"

A delegation from the Palestinian Christian churches was in Ireland recently to explain the situation in the occupied territories to Irish politicians.

"We need only one thing: to be protected by the world against the crimes of Israel," was their central message...During their visit the churchmen described the Israeli occupation as the "crucifixion of the nation of Palestine", and made a plea to all of Ireland's leaders to "act and intervene, or nothing will change...the Israeli occupation denies even freedom of religion."

Archbishop Hanna, "Palestine is the place from where Christianity comes. Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Holy Land in general are very important for Christians... Everything that has happened to the Palestinians between 1948 and today has happened to all Palestinians, including Christian Palestinians."

"What we are after is freedom and dignity...Unfortunately, in the Holy Land there is no such thing as justice."

He explained that in Gaza 1.5 million people are living in an open-air prison. "Christian or Muslim, we are all Palestinians and we all experience the same thing."

...The Archbishop spoke briefly about the Kairos Palestine Document, the Christian Palestinians' message to the world requesting the international community to stand by the Palestinian people who have faced oppression, displacement and apartheid for more than six decades. The suffering continues while the international community silently looks on. It asks Christians all over the world to stand up against injustice and apartheid and to work for a just peace in the Holy Land.

Fr Manuel Musallam told the committee that "I was in Gaza during the war [Operation Cast Lead] and suffered with my people for 22 days. I saw with my own eyes a phosphoric bomb in the school yard. I saw people injured by these phosphoric bombs, although these bombs are forbidden. These crimes against us were ignored by all the people of the world. No- one was courageous enough until now to say 'No' to Israel or 'No' to America or to say 'Stop killing' and 'Stop making war'."

"What happened in Gaza was not a war. A war is a clash between soldiers, aircraft and weapons. We were victims, just victims. They destroyed Gaza. I was there and saw with my own eyes what happened. We in Gaza were treated like animals...We are not terrorists. We have not occupied Israel."

"We do not want to die to liberate Palestine. We want to live to build Palestine....

"From 1948 to the present, our state has had no borders. It is the only country state without borders... They refused to discuss borders. They refused to end the state of war. Europe and America were partners in this war and all the crimes committed against us, because they set up Israel in Palestine. People were gathered from more than 20 countries."

Fr. Constant Dabbagh, "The occupation within Gaza has ceased, but we are cordoned off and are living in a big prison... A population of 1.5 million people includes 2,000 Christians, but we are part and parcel of this community. We have no problem with our Muslim compatriots, but it is true that the extremists are growing, and I repeat the warning on this point from Monsignor Musallam. This is as a result of the occupation, the oppression, the humiliation and the poverty. These factors are making more people side with the extremists and this is what we want to stop.

Archbishop Hannah, "The problem in Palestine has nothing to do with religion -- it is not a religious issue. It is not a conflict of Christians, Muslims and Jewish people. It is a conflict between those who are the holders of a rightful cause and those who took away that right by military might [from] Palestinian people as a whole, including Christians and Muslims...Israel, he pointed out, has a violent attitude towards the Palestinians as a matter of state policy.

Fr. Manuel added that Palestinians are not terrorists. "All we ask of Israel is to respect us and not treat us like animals. We also ask parliamentarians and governments across the world not to give us food aid. We do not need cookies from Israel. We do not even need to trade with Israel. All we need is to be protected. We are suffering from a war that we have endured for more than 60 years."

"...As for the church, Christianity in the region has been destroyed not by Muslims but by Israel. Israel destroyed the church of Palestine and the church of Jerusalem beginning in 1948. It, not Muslims, has sent Christians in the region into a diaspora."

He told his listeners how he had seen the Israeli army target the Christian school in Gaza. "Five Hamas ministers visited the school after it was attacked and promised they would repair the damage. Someone intended to create havoc in the area, particularly when Hamas and Fatah were clashing. When I visited the school, a Hamas minister, a Muslim, picked up the Holy Bible thrown on the ground, kissed it and put it back on the altar. He said Muslims were forbidden to do such things to the Bible. Hamas paid more than US$122,000 to repair all the damage caused."

"Afterwards, I met the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. When he embraced me he said this, and we believed it. This is the reality. Christians in Palestine are not suffering persecution, because we are not considered to be a religious community, but rather the people of Palestine. We have the same rights and the same obligations."

He finished by telling those present what the situation in Palestine is really like. "We have spoken to Israel for more than 18 years, and the result has been zero. We have signed agreements here and there at various times, and then when there was a change in the government of Israel we have to start again from the beginning. We ask for our life and to be given back our Jerusalem, to be given our state and for enough water to drink. We want to be given more opportunities to reach Jerusalem. I have not seen Jerusalem since 1990."

He described the nightmarish system of entry and exit permits, which Israel invariably refuses to give. "We want to see an end to this occupation, and please do not ask us to protect those who are occupying our territory."

Dabbagh rounded off the churchmen's contribution. "We are not just a community but part and parcel of the whole society. This does not mean that we have not encountered any difficulties. Such difficulties come from those extremists who derive their raison d'être, unfortunately, from the policies of the West. They are even very dangerous to Hamas, which is giving protection to the Christians, whenever it is needed."

"We hate to see rockets being launched from Gaza, but committee members should consider the state of Israel with its arsenal of weapons and the destruction which is being inflicted on Gaza. I would like them to come to Gaza again and witness the daily incursions over the border led by tanks and bulldozers. The Israelis keep a buffer zone of between 300 metres and 500 metres along a 45 km strip of the border with Gaza... They shoot at any farmer who tends his land."

"...We are suffering under the siege. People cannot travel for medical treatment, for education, for normal business. I could not get into the West Bank or Jerusalem to attend meetings or prayers. A number of Christians in Gaza are given permits to go there at Christmas time and for the New Year, but many others are deprived. My children are under 35 years old and they could not go. Are they not allowed to go to church until they are 35 or older?"

...Earlier, the church leaders met with the Irish minister for foreign affairs, Michael Martin, and stressed the need for Ireland and other western states to put pressure on Israel to comply with international law and UN Security Council resolutions. They urged the Irish government to reconsider the preferential trade relations Israel has been allowed to enjoy with the EU.

Stuart Littlewood, Al Ahram Weekly 23-29 Dec 2010