Bethlehem mayors: 'the Wall in Cremisan will kill Christian community'

Vera Baboun- screen shot

Three Christian mayors from the Bethlehem area met Pope Francis at the end of the General Audience. Palestinian Catholic Vera Baboun, together with Nicola Khamis, Hani al-Hayek and Issa Kassissieh, Ambassador of Palestine to the Holy See. then were received by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

Vera Baboun said:  "They want to build the Separation Wall in the Cremisan Valley and then expropriate the lands that belong to Palestinian Christians. If that happens, the whole area will be choked by the Wall, and Christians will be forced to leave."

"We have reached a tipping point," Baboun told Fides. " We showed Cardinal Parolin maps and photos that we had with us. And he listened carefully, with great concern".

The Separation Wall built by Israel, around Bethlehem, now threatens the fertile area of the Cremisan, where there are lands with vineyards and olive groves belonging to 58 Christian families in Beit Jala, along with two monasteries and a Salesian school. The route of the wall, "is only intended to separate Christian families from their land and then confiscate and enlarge the area available for new illegal Israeli settlements".

If the lands of the valley - which is the only green lung of the whole area - is confiscated, "there will be no future for Christians: the population density will rise to unsustainable levels" says the mayor of Bethlehem, "and many will eventually choose the path of the exodus, which has already reduced the Christian presence in the Holy Land".

The Cremisan area was visited on January 13 also by sixteen Bishops who participated in this year's visit to Palestine and Israel organized by the Holy Land Coordination, a body that brings together Bishops and representatives of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe and North America . At the end of their visit, the Bishops reiterated their commitment to oppose the construction of the Wall in the valley and the confiscation of Palestinian lands.

Source: Fides