by Rev. Drew Christiansen,S.J. Rev. Drew Christiansen, S.J. is a senior fellow at the Woodstock
Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and a Special
Counselor to the United States Catholic Conference. Good afternoon. My name is Father Drew Christiansen of the
Society of Jesus. I serve on the Board of Advisors of the Holy Land Christian
Ecumenical Foundation, which has invited me to speak today, and as Special
Counselor to the United States Catholic Conference on Middle East Affairs.
I am here today to speak on the condition of Christians in the Holy Land,
that is, Israel, the Palestinian Self- Rule Areas, and Jerusalem, and
on the Catholic Church's hope for the future of Jerusalem. (1) Israel: Tensions in Nazareth. As we speak, a critical
situation is unfolding in the Israeli city of Nazareth. You may have read
press reports the last couple of days of Easter Sunday riots between Muslims
and Christians and of a subsequent general strike on the part of shopkeepers
in the city. This situation has been developing for more than a year.
It was begun and is driven by Muslim Fundamentalists and has divided the
Muslims as well as the wider Arab community in Israel. Tensions have been
aggravated by divisions between different ministries of the Government
of Israel on how to respond to the tensions. Opportunistic electioneering
by right-wing Israeli politicians have also aggravated an already volatile
situation. These religious tensions in Nazareth are especially alarming
because for fifty years Christians have been able to prosper, relatively
speaking, in Israel, with the population quadrupling in the last half
century. While Israeli Arabs generally suffer the disadvantages
of second-class citizenship, Christians have been able to lead relatively
secure lives in Israel proper. Nazareth has been a major Christian center. The present tensions are distressing because they threaten
to stimulate an increase in Christian emigration from Israel, resulting
in the rapid disappearance of the Christian population in the land of
Jesus. They also forebode grave ethnic and religious tensions in Israel
and an ominous collaboration across religious lines by radicals against
moderates. (2) Palestinian Self-rule Areas. In the Palestinian Self-Rule
Areas, the Christian proportion of the population has shrunk from about
ten per cent of the total fifty years ago to about two per cent. In the period since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the
West Bank, through the Intifada and the interim Self-Rule period, as the
West Bank and Gaza have suffered economic decline and varieties of repression,
Christians, with education and international contacts, have tended to
emigrate to escape the hardships of life under occupation and to find
a better future for themselves and their children. Those who remain identify as Palestinians and continue
to suffer with their compatriots through an elusive and painful peace
process. The Palestinian Authority has been firm in dealing with acts
of intolerance against Christians. Accusations by Israeli authorities that the PA has orchestrated
persecution of Christians is wrong. In addition, charges that President
Arafat controls the now largely Palestinian hierarchies of the churches
are a deliberate misconstrual of the fact that most of the Patriarchs
and bishops are now locally born, Palestinian Christians. Their nationality
reflects the de-colonization and inculturation of the Church which has
taken place worldwide over the last forty years. The bishops' as defenders of justice and human rights
and spokesmen for their people means that they have often been critics
of government policies both in Israel and the Palestinian areas, and so
they are perceived by some officials as unfriendly actors on the scene.
For this reason, they have on more than one occasion been defamed by public
authorities and politicians. (3) Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, a variety of Israeli policies,
at the local and national levels, have both directly and indirectly diminished
the Christian population of the Holy City. Chief among these have been
the withdrawal from Palestinians of Jerusalem residency permits and the
denial of building permits for construction, expansion and repair of housing
in the Old City and East Jerusalem. The deterioration of the housing stock has led to patterns
of late marriage and emigration, which have prevented the natural growth
of the Christian community and accelerated its reduction. (4) Future Status of Jerusalem. Finally, a word about
Catholic hopes for Jerusalem. These have been laid out in a series of
statements by the Vatican Secretariat of State, and in addresses by the
Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, in addresses last
October in Jerusalem and again last month here in Washington. The Holy Father in his annual address to the diplomatic
corps last January noted that "It is not reasonable to put off until
later the question of the status of Jerusalem, to which the followers
of the three monotheistic religions turn their gaze." For brevity's sake, let me make just three points. First, as the future of Jerusalem is negotiated in the
months ahead, the Holy See has asked for the drafting of "a special
statute" for Jerusalem which would affirm the city's universal religious
significance as home to three monotheistic religions. Secondly, the Holy See asks that such a legal instrument
include guarantees i) for equality of rights and services of adherents
of the three faiths in Jerusalem, ii) for the three religious communities
to function freely in all dimensions of their communal lives, and iii)
for freedom of access to the holy places for all pilgrims, local (i.e.,
Palestinian) as well as international. Finally, the Holy See proposes that these guarantees
which would be negotiated by Israelis and Palestinians, be further supported
by international agreement. Such special arrangements, in the view of
the Holy See and of the local church, would assure that Jerusalem realizes
her vocation as a city of peace and a place of encounter with God for
all humanity. I have taken more than my share of time. Thank you for
your attention.
Hart Senate Office Building
April 7, 1999
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