Patriarch Sabbah: there will only be peace when the tragedy of the Palestinian people is brought to an end

Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah

Source: Fides

The catastrophe that is devastating the Holy Land and the entire Middle East "did not begin on October 7, 2023". The cycles of violence that have generated the tragic present experienced also in the land of Jesus "have been unending, beginning in 1917, peaking in 1948 and in 1967, continuing ever since, until today". Now the furious retaliation of the Israeli military force "can destroy and bring death," but "it cannot bring the security that the Israelis need", because peace can return "only when the tragedy of the Palestinian people ends."

These are opening words of a document-appeal issued by the Latin Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah and members of the 'Christian Reflection' group, one year after the massacres committed by Hamas against Israelis on October 7, 2023.

After a year of relentless war, "as the cycle of death continues unabated" Patriarch Sabbah and the members of the reflection group feel the urgency "to seek out the hope that comes from our faith" while admitting that they are "exhausted, paralyzed by grief and fear. We are staring into the darkness" while "our beloved Holy Land and the entire region are being reduced to ruins" and "daily we mourn the tens of thousands of men, women and children who have been killed or wounded especially in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, Israel, Lebanon and beyond in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Iran".

In Gaza, "homes, schools, hospitals, entire neighbourhoods are now heaps of rubble. Disease, starvation and hopelessness reign." In all of this - the authors of the document ask: "has the Zionist dream of a safe home for Jews in a Jewish state called Israel brought security for Jews?"

"Shockingly" Patriarch Sabbah and members of Christian Reflection note, "the international community looks on almost impassively. Calls for ceasefire and an end to the devastation are repeated with no meaningful attempt to reign in those wreaking havoc. Weapons of mass destruction and the means to commit crimes against humanity flow into the region." If the international community is absent - the document continues - Christians, despite their helplessness and small numbers, are called to be confident in the Resurrection of Christ even in the current tragic situation.

What is taking place - the document stresses - "is not a religious war. We must actively take sides, the side of justice and peace, freedom and equality. We must stand alongside all those, Muslims, Jews, and Christians, who seek to put an end to death and destruction."

Sabbah and his companions in the reflection group appeal to Christian leaders, "to our bishops and our priests for words of guidance. We need our shepherds to help us discern the strength that we have when we are together. Alone, each one of us is isolated and reduced to silence." Above all, they add, there is a need to ask for God's help "so as not to despair, not to fall into the trap of hatred. Our faith in the Resurrection teaches us that all human beings are to be loved, equal, created in the image of God, children of God and brothers and sisters of one another." For this reason, "our schools, hospitals, social services are places where we care for all in need, indiscriminately." And faith in Christ "makes us spokespeople for a land without walls, without discrimination, spokespeople for a land of equality and freedom for all, for a future in which we live together."

The authors of the appeal-document recognize that peace will only be possible "when the tragedy of the Palestinian people is brought to an end." For this reason, there is a need for "a definitive peace agreement between these two partners and not temporary ceasefires or interim solutions."

.Israel's massive military force "can destroy and bring death, it can wipe out political and military leaders and anyone who dares to stand up and oppose occupation and discrimination. However, it cannot bring the security that Israelis need. "The international community must help us by recognizing that the root cause of this war is the negation of the right of the Palestinian people to live in its land, free and equal."

"We are one people, Christians and Muslims. Together, the document continues, "we must seek the way beyond the cycles of violence. Together with them we must engage with those Jewish Israelis who are also tired of the rhetoric, the lies, the ideologies of death and destruction."