Holy Land : a wall reminiscent of apartheid...

(Vatican Radio ) Father John Peter Pearson Director of the Parliamentary Office of the South African Bishop's Conference took part in the 13th annual Holy Land Co'ordination which brought to the region a delegation of bishops from Europe and North America in an effort to express solidarity with Christians there.

An annual visit which, Father John Peter Pearson deems necessary: " in a sense we wouldn't have to come back, we wouldn't have to express solidarity if the situation were improving ..but we do come out to assure the beleagured Christian communities that they have friends outside, that their struggles are not forgotten.."

Following a visit to the Cremisan area where the building of another large segment of the "separation wall" is about to be built Veronica Scarisbrick asked Father John Peter Pearson to share with her his emotions and thoughts regarding this wall often referred to as the "apartheid wall":

"If you look at the graffiti on the wall you'll see many references to apartheid and to the Berlin wall. So it carries that same purpose: to divide, to safeguard privilege and benefit and so forth. And this is very reminiscent of South Africa, of the crudeness and the harshness of what ideology can do when it becomes so linked to one ideological perspective...ordinary people reach a point when they say: 'we're not going to allow sytems that dehumanize us, that take land on spurious arguments. We're not going to allow these to define our lives and we're going to stand up for our rights...it brings back painful memories, the searing pain you feel when you see people who are in a position you were in not so many years ago. But by the same token having emerged politically from that apartheid situation I think the presence of people who've come through those situations in this country also offers a sign of hope...in the region people are seeing education as one way of restoring dignity and equipping people for the future..."...

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