Christians in Israel, Palestine and Middle East join in prayer for peace, trusting in God and offering their help to those most affected by the conflict
ACN.- The Christian community living scattered in Israel is very diverse. Many of them are of Arab origin, but they also include visitors, students, religious, volunteers, and about 110,000 foreign workers. They have experienced firsthand the fear of terrorist attacks, as well as the pain and anguish of family, friends or colleagues.
Holly is one of them. An American national, she was in Jerusalem when the world she knew until then collapsed: «These last few days have been incredibly long and heartbreaking. My heart is breaking because the atrocities committed by Hamas are inhumane and unfathomable. The first day of this war marked the largest number of Jews killed in one day since the Holocaust. Truly unimaginable.
Family members and friends immediately helped her find a plane ticket home, Holly tells the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). She had a ticket booked for Monday. «Even though my heart was heavy, I packed my bags,» she says. «On Sunday I received a message that changed all those plans in less than a minute.» A humanitarian organization asked him, through a friend, for help in caring for displaced Jewish families from Sderot (a town on the Gaza border). «These families had to leave their homes at the last minute fleeing the ruthless terrorists. I immediately volunteered to help,» Holly tells the ACN Foundation.
«I had to stay. I want to help in any way I can. It was especially hard to tell my parents. We were all holding back tears as I shared the news. They are incredibly supportive, which means a lot to me. At the same time, I know it’s hard for them.»
«The last three years, I lived in Poland, where I visited many of the horrific places where the Holocaust took place. As a believer and a Christian I have asked myself many times, why did all this evil happen? Today, if I have the opportunity to help, I must do it.»
In Gaza, in Jerusalem, in the West Bank, in Israel, ACN receives stories of pain and fear, but also testimonies of faith, sacrifice and dedication. This is the Christian response to show that evil should not have the last word.
After Pope Francis appointed Bishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, he wrote a message to the Christians of his diocese: «The pallium reminds us that we have chosen in baptism to take upon us the yoke of Christ, the weight and the glory of the cross, which is love given until death and beyond».
Lebanon: «We do not want another war».
The other great fear is that, if there is a massive offensive, Lebanon will enter the war, which would be a terrible escalation of violence and death that would spread throughout Israel and Lebanon. Both countries have already suffered tremendously under the war.
In Lebanon, a country already battered by a terrible economic and political crisis, there is anxiety, fear and expectation. Faithful from the diocese of Tyre, in the south of the country, for example, have already sought refuge in Beirut. The situation brings to mind difficult and painful times suffered due to previous wars in their land.
Marielle Boutros, a young Lebanese woman in charge of projects for ACN in Lebanon, says: «What we are seeing now in Gaza and southern Lebanon is bringing up old fears. We are haunted by the shadows of the 2006 war. As Christians living in Lebanon, we pray for the victims and their families, but we are also worried about our own country: we don’t want our country to be dragged into another war. My generation has already lived through two wars. We are not willing to relive all this again.»
A conflict that may spread
Not only in Lebanon, but also Christians in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and other countries in the region are watching the outcome of this conflict with trepidation. During a visit in September to the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need, the patriarch of the Melkite Catholic Church, His Beatitude Youssef Absi, stressed the importance of finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the entire Middle East: «The Palestinian cause is the main cause. This is very clear to us here. Without a solution for the Palestinian situation, there is no solution for the Middle East,» said Patriarch Absi.
Endemic political turmoil, Islamic extremism, persecution, wars, socio-economic injustices and the discrimination faced by Christians has also generated massive emigration in all these countries. «The second intifada caused the emigration of 500 Christian families from Palestine. With great regret I dare to say, that if this war does not end soon, we will have another strong wave of emigration from the Holy Land, therefore, we must do everything possible to save what can be saved in these critical times,» says George Akroush, director of development projects of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
