`Peace Is the Fruit of Justice' Christian Witness in The Holy Land
Date
2005
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
Like so many other places in the world, the Holy Land as well is a region
of conflict and tension, with a new and ever escalating outbreak of violence and
hatred since September 2000. Few places inspire such strongly held and
opposing points of view as this country.
Before coming to Nairobi, I spent two years of apostolic experience with
our community at St. Anne's Church in Jerusalem's Old City. During this time, I
also studied Arabic at the Palestinian University of Birzeit and lived in the Greek-
Catholic (Melkite) parish in Ramallah, both of which are located in the Occupied
Territories of the West Bank. I worked in a home for handicapped children in En
Kerem, in the outskirts of Jerusalem in Israel proper, and was involved in several
projects run by Catholic Relief Services in different refugee camps in the Gaza
strip.
All these activities brought me in close contact with the life situation of the
two peoples in this country, i.e. Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Witnessing
the desperation and suffering of so many families on both sides - Jews, Muslims
and the small number of Christians of different denominations - I was challenged
to study the roots of this century-old conflict and to find my own answers to one
question: how to witness to the Kingdom of God in an atmosphere so much
dominated by hatred, violence and despair. While approaching Jerusalem, Jesus wept over the city (Lk 19:41); 2000
years later, the homeland of our Lord is still in desperate need for the peace He
promised to all, His own peace which the world cannot give (Jn 14:27). In this
work, we shall investigate the mission of Christians and of Christianity in the plight
for peace in the Holy Land. After a brief glimpse into some aspects in the history
of the area, we shall then describe the life situation at present. The second
chapter presents positions of major world religions on the question of nonviolence,
with an special emphasis on the values of Christianity and the teaching
of the Church's magisterium. Looking at the struggle of the local Church in the
Holy Land and the daily witness of Palestinian Christians in the following chapter,
we shall eventually be able to outline some of the basic requirements leading to a
just and lasting solution to the conflict. A bibliography shall conclude this work.
Description
Keywords
Peace, Fruit of Justice', Christian Witness, The Holy Land