A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 21 - Tuesday, May 25th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Know What Israel is Doing Now By Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D. We are overshadowed by the darkest of all days in the Holy Land. Massive destruction is taking place again by the Israeli Army as thousands of people will become homeless from the hundreds of houses that are targeted to be demolished in Gaza today leaving 20 Palestinians dead during the raid. The fear and panic of refugees fleeing their homes is indescribable. The poorest of the poor who have already lost their homes in l948 cannot even have the right to survive as refugees in refugee camps. Since September 2000 more than 3,000 homes have been demolished and nothing the United Nations or Amnesty International say can stop the Israelis from carrying out this horrific humanitarian disaster. Please Dear God Stop Israel. Your prayers for a just peace are needed more than ever. "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications." (Psalm 116) For the people that cannot be labeled as "terrorists" and be shot or have their homes destroyed, the Israeli government has other clever ways to carry out the ethnic cleansing in creating 100% Jewish homeland. One such policy is currently targeting the Christian community in specific and making it impossible to renew proper documents for many clergy and laity to continue their service to the Church in Jerusalem. This tough Israeli policy is affecting how Christian institutions such as schools, hospitals, clinics and humanitarian organizations are being operated in the Holy Land and will not be able to have the appropriate staff and expertise to carry out their particular work which mostly serves the Palestinian communities. And this is the most important reason the Church is facing these difficulties since the beneficiaries of their work happen to be Palestinians. The Christian voice is being diminished because it speaks for a just peace in the Holy Land calling upon the International Community to give Palestinians their human rights. More than ever, clergy and laity who have given many years of service to the Church and have always received permission to work under the Israeli government are currently being denied or delayed getting their visas renewed interpreted as a way to cripple the Church. The principal at an elite school in Jerusalem who has been working since l975 in providing excellent education has not been able to renew his visa since January and at the moment is forced to stay in Israel illegally because of his obligation to his school and his obligation in overseeing the other Christian schools in Israel and Jordan. This priest who has proper documentation from the Vatican finds it difficult to do his daily work with this mental, psychological and unexplainable harassment from the Israeli bureaucracy. This is preventing him from attending important academic meetings and conferences in coordination with the other schools he oversees eventually affecting the programs and the curriculum. Another former principal of a Christian school in Ramallah, also a Catholic priest, is facing the same problem for over a year now. He cannot leave the country for the fear that he will be denied entry upon return. The Israelis are intestinally refusing to give the proper documents so that Church workers, volunteers, clergy and other Christians cannot continue their duties who some have been doing for over twenty or thirty years in a variety of services to the Church. It is bizarre to hear the stories that were for a handful of people and now are affecting hundreds. The hassle and the harassment are not so easy to describe unless you experience it. For example it took five trips to renew the registration of my vehicle last month, with many trips to the American Consulate office, the registry and back and forth so much where you finally hear the little voice in your head saying "It's easier to leave this country than to try and survive under these discriminatory policies that make your daily life so miserable and full of suffering." It is so difficult to be productive and to give of one's self when you are constantly fighting to survive and meet your daily needs. What is more frustrating is listening to President Bush say that Israel is a democracy and in this democracy if you are a Palestinian, you need a permit to go to school, you need a permit to go to work, you need a permit to go to the airport, you need a permit to go to Jerusalem for prayers, you need a permit to go to the hospital and now the new Separation Wall is going to keep the Palestinians in a prison in their own homeland and, by the way, many people are denied permits even when they bother to go through the crazy process of asking for their basic human rights. A democratic country should not occupy neighboring territories and terrorize entire populations. What type of democracy is Israeli practicing when civilians are killed indiscriminately while it tries to get militants? I am wondering why 20 Palestinians had to die today and no one seems to care about their life or human value? In the name of security, Israeli is getting away with war crimes.
Note: If you
wish to respond to this article or have any
feedback, please respond only to
khourymaria@hotmail.com. Thank you for sharing
this news from the Holy Land with your senator and
representative, local church or anyone who can
pray for a just peace in the Land of Christ's Holy
Resurrection. |
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