West Bank priest: 'I'll shut up and wait.'

National Catholic Reporter, Oct 11, 1996

After a week of renewed bloodshed in the Middle East, Pope John Paul II and other religious leaders urged Israelis and Palestinians to keep the peace process alive and put an end to provocations and violence.

The violence began Sept. 25 after Israel opened a new exit to a set of archaeological tourist tunnels which Palestinians claim are underneath the Dome of the Rock and El-Aqsa Mosque.

The pope said Sept. 29 that the events were a blow to the fragile peace process, and he encouraged the area s three main religions to help reverse the polarization.

"It is the duty of believers -- Jews Christians and Muslims -- to seek every means to promote understanding and mutual trust in favor of peace for a land that God wanted holy," he said.

Latin-rite Patriarch Michel Sabbah and other Christian religious leaders issued a statement urging Israelis and Palestinians "to reactivate the peace process with new determination." They asked Israeli authorities to take into consideration Muslim sensitivity regarding the tunnel.

"The tunnel is illegal because it was made by one side on land which does not belong; to them," said Fr. Adib Zoomot, chancellor of the Latin-rite patriarchate. "It is illegal to take any steps to change the status quo of Jerusalem."

Sabbah, a Palestinian, said that both Israelis and Palestinians will have to face the reality that Jerusalem will always be a city belonging to two peoples and three religions. "Those who insist in saying that Jerusalem is the exclusive capital of Israel are blocking every avenue to peace," he said in an interview with the Italian newspaper, Avvenire.

Sabbah said he thinks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not believe in the Oslo peace accords, but cannot renounce them because of international pressure.

"He is forced to walk along a road but he's convinced it's the wrong one. So he slows down at every step," the patriarch said.

One West Bank priest said most of the young members of his parish were out in demonstrations. "People felt desperate over the closures, the economy, the settlements, the new roads, the declarations by Netanyahu," said Fr. Emil Salayta of Bir Zeit. "As someone who has worked for peace, I feel everything falling from my hands. I will still talk about coexistence -- there is no other choice -- but not now. Now I have to shut up and wait."

Classes at the Catholic-run Bethlehem University were canceled when students were unable to reach the university because of a military closure imposed on Palestinian areas.

A statement said the university feared the "current policy of total isolation of West Bank towns by the Israeli military forces will jeopardize the very mission of the university." More than 60 percent of the students come from outside Bethlehem.

A special prayer service was called Sept. 29 by the heads of Christian churches in Jerusalem. About 500 people attended. Afterward was a peaceful march to the new exit of the tunnel.

One Christian tourist taking part in the march asked where the new opening was. "This?" she asked looking at the metal doors. "Just this, nothing more?"