Longing For a Just Peace

Holy Land Co-ordination Visits Bethlehem University

21 January, 2008

Bethlehem University students, faculty and staff hosted a delegation of about 30 cardinals, bishops and other church officials as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations from Europe, USA and Palestine on Saturday, 12 January. Their visit was a part of the annual meeting of the “Co-ordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land and the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land ”, also known as the “Holy Land Co-ordination”. The aim of this convention is to “walk in solidarity with the local church and its bishops, to support the search for a just peace and to offer their prayerful presence and encouragement”, as expressed in the Co-ordination's declaration.

After delegation members celebrated Mass at the University's Chapel of the Divine Child, Br. Jack Curran, Vice President for Development, and Father Jamal Khader, Chairperson of the Religious Studies Department, welcomed them in Cardinal Furno Hall, expressing their appreciation for their visit. “Your visit is a great sign of hope for our students. It shows them that they are not forgotten”, Br. Jack said. Father Jamal stressed the importance of their efforts to obtain first-hand information about the socio-political situation the students live in rather than depending upon the stereotypes dominating the mass media. In the name of the delegation, the Archbishop of Liverpool, Patrick Kelly, who is the Vice-President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales and a friend and benefactor of Bethlehem University , greeted the staff and students and described the only Christian university in the Holy Land as being an unforgettably welcoming place to visitors.

The students also welcomed the guests and, divided into small groups, led them to different classrooms where they engaged the delegation members in discussions about their life as young Palestinians and as students of Bethlehem University .

Above all the visitors were eager to learn more about how the Israeli military occupation, the separation wall and the checkpoints influence the students' daily lives. Elias Kattou'a, a third year accounting student from Jerusalem , said that it takes a long time for him to reach Bethlehem because the wall is separating the two cities from each other. “The distance between the two cities is only 10 kilometres, but it takes me and my classmates one hour or more to reach the University; we are often delayed at the checkpoint, where Israeli soldiers frequently treat us in an arbitrary and humiliating way”, he said.

Amir Bannoura, who is completing his studies in Computer and Information Systems this year, explained that not only most of the people living in Bethlehem are not allowed to enter Israel , but also they can't move freely inside the West Bank . “Today I was in Ramallah. There are two checkpoints between the two cities and on our way home we had to wait about half an hour at one of them, because the soldiers just closed it down without giving any reason. This happens frequently, sometimes you have to wait several hours and, of course, traffic is terrible after they open the checkpoint again.”, Amir said.

“Things like this make people upset and many go abroad, because they want to live more peacefully. Also, the uncertainty and restrictions keep companies from investing in Palestine . How can there be peace if the economy is down?” commented Areej Jafari, who obtained a Bachelors degree in Computer and Information Systems in 2007.

Ahmad Issa, a fourth year English Literature Major, described how he was taken prisoner by the Israeli army and detained at an Israeli prison for 10 months: “They accused me of throwing stones without having any evidence. However, I didn't let them discourage me and took the Tawjihi exams [accumulative high school exams taken at the end of four years] while I was in prison”.

Marian Saadeh, who is studying Social Sciences in her second year, belongs to one of the many Palestinian families who have suffered the loss of a family member because of Israeli military attacks on civilians. “On the 25 th of March 2003, my family and I were on our way to a supermarket in the middle of town and Israeli soldiers suddenly opened fire at us. They were waiting to assassinate some wanted people, but instead killed my 12-year-old sister”, Marian said, who, along with her other family members, was injured in the attack.

Mrs. Claudette Habesch, Secretary General of Caritas International in Jerusalem and Vice Chair of the Bethlehem University Board of Trustees, said that many Palestinians were ready to enter in peaceful dialogue. However, there have been serious difficulties with Palestinian – Israeli encounters, because the Israeli and Palestinian who engaged in a peaceful conversation the day before are caught in a violent encounter the day after where “the same Israeli is holding a gun to the same Palestinian” .

When asked to hear their opinion of US President George W. Bush's visit and the Annapolis peace summit, some students expressed their hope that the visit and the peace talks would have positive results while most of them were very sceptical. “As President Bush is now nearly finishing his presidency, the visit seemed more a public relations twist rather than a serious effort to support peace in the Middle East ”, Bassel Mansour, a second-year student in Accounting, commented.

Emad Sleibi, who studies Computer and Information systems in his third year, stated: “We have to do what the Israeli government and military tell us to do. How can there be peace when one group is at the mercy of the other group?” However, he said that he and his fellow students will not give up hope and wholly trust in the support of visitors. “We have hope in you. We have hope in the message that you will send to your countrymen”.

Marian Saadeh, said that the message that Palestinians are not terrorists, should be in contrast to the stereotype created by the Western mass media. “We love to live. And we want peace, but with our rights!” she said.

“I would like you to carry a message of love to everyone from us; tell them the truth about our situation and how we want to live peacefully and freely”, Amir Bannoura added.

Speaking for the other members of the delegation, Fr. Timothy Bartlet, Secretary of the Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs (ICJSA) for the Irish Bishops' Conference, encouraged the students not to loose hope and to continue with their struggle to improve the situation in the West Bank . Reflecting on his childhood in Belfast , he shared his own experiences with the group about the violence he experienced in Northern Ireland . “Five years ago I did not think that we would be where we are today in Ireland . But sometimes hope and history do rhyme, and that is what I have hope for the people living in this region”, Fr. Timothy said, referring to the words of the Irish poet and Nobel Prize laureate Seamus Heaney.

After the discussions, the visit was concluded at the University's Institute of Hotel Management and Tourism where they exchanged more stories and enjoyed dinner prepared by the students and faculty of the institute.

In the final statement of the Holy Land Co-ordination 2008 the members included the positive and encouraging impressions they had during their visit to Bethlehem University : “We found signs of hope in our visit to the Holy Land . We met young people at Bethlehem University and in various parishes. At the University, Christians and Muslims study together harmoniously. We were impressed by their commitment to their studies, their energy and enthusiasm, their wish to stay in the land of their birth, and their hope for a just peace that will bring them, and all people of the Holy Land a better future”.

Bethlehem University students, faculty and staff were delighted to host:

Fr Timothy Bartlett
Secretary, Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs (ICJSA), Irish Bishops' Conference

H.E. Cardinal Seán Brady
Archbishop of Armagh , Irish Bishops' Conference

Bishop Mgr Pierre B ürcher
Bishop-Elect of Reykjavik , Iceland

Dr Stephen Colecchi
Director, International Justice and Peace, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Mr Alexander DesForges
Director, Catholic Communications Network, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales

Bishop Mgr Michel Dubost
Bishop of Evry, French Bishops' Conference

Bishop Raymond Field
Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin , Chairman of I rish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs , Irish Bishops' Conference

Msgr Peter Fleetwood
Archdiocese of Liverpool , Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales

Rev Daniel A. Flens
Secretary to Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago

H.E. Cardinal Francis George OMI
Archbishop of Chicago , United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Mr Hermann-Josef Grossimlinghaus
Executive Director, German Bishops' Conference Commission for International Church Affairs, Vice-President of German Association of the Holy Land

Ms Philippa Hitchen
Vatican Radio

Archbishop Patrick Kelly
Archbishop of Liverpool , Vice-President of Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales

Bishop William Kenney CP
Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham , Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales

Mr Justin Kilcullen
Director of Trócaire, Irish Bishops' Conference

Fr Paul Lansu
Pax Christi International

Msgr David Malloy
General Secretary , United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Mr William O'Keefe
Senior Director for Advocacy, United States Catholic Relief Services

Msgr Mario Paquette PH
General Secretary, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

Mr Rateb Rabie KHS
President, Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation

Dr David Ryall
Assistant General Secretary, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
International General Secretary, Holy Land Co-ordination

Dr Rudolf Solzbacher
Director, Department for International Church Affairs and Mission , Archdiocese of Cologne , Board Member of German Association of the Holy Land

Bishop Joan Enric Vives i Scicilia
Bishop of Urgell and Co-Prince of Andorra , Spanish Bishops' Conference

Archbishop V. James Weisgerber
Archbishop of Winnipeg , President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

Dr Michael Whelan KGCHS
Lieutenant, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of England and Wales

Mrs Claudette Habesch
Vice-President, Caritas Internationalis, Jerusalem

The Bethlehem University Office for Public Relations and Development thanks the following students for their commitment:

Ahmed Issa

Al-Mutaz Salem

Amir Bannoura

Areej Ja'afery

Bassel Mansour

Elias Kattou'a

Emad Sleibi

Fida' Musa

Jacoub Sleibi

Joseph Hodali

Khalil Fawadleh

Marian Saadeh

Muhammed Karjawally

Samar Khalil

Shatha Daqqaq

Sister Maria Hijazine

Sister Mira Kasabreh

Tariq Shahwan