European and North American bishops touring Israel and Palestine as part of the annual
pilgrimage of the Holy Land Coordination met Palestinian leaders in the West Bank
town of Ramallah. Philippa Hitchen has this report:
How do you turn a ‘Promised
Land’, as the Jewish people see this country between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean
Sea, into a ‘promising land’ where two peoples, Israeli and Palestinian, can live
together in peace and security?
That’s the question the chief Palestinian negotiator
Dr Saeb Erakat struggles with daily as he tries to represent the interests of his
people, yet at the same time make any small step forward in the stalled peace process.
Just back from apparently fruitless talks in the Jordanian capital with his Israeli
counterpart, the frustration was written all over his face as he spoke to the bishops
on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Palestinian authority in Ramallah.
“Meeting
with them, I’m giving it every possible chance. I’m asked by the Quartet committee
to introduce my positions on territories and security. I did. I hope that they will
take the opportunity that Jordan offers, which is a big opportunity, the Quartet offer.
And honest to God, I don’t see anything that will serve Israel’s interest more than
making peace.”
Increased violence by Israeli settlers, the relentless progress
of the separation or security barrier cutting off Palestinian families from their
lands and an increasingly strident discourse from the extreme right wing in the Israeli
parliament, all add to his sense of hopelessness in the current political panorama.
So
what can the bishops do when they leave here on Thursday and return to their home
countries? A question I put to the US representative on this delegation, Bishop Gerald
Kicanis of Tucson Arizona
“As I leave here this time, I’m beginning to be deeply
concerned about further delays in addressing this question. And I think it’s important
for the Church to approach the administration, and to approach the Congress, that
despite the fact that this is an election year, this is a situation that has potential
to unravel in a very negative way. And there’s an urgency to the question.”