Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 2000, Pages 93-96

Waging Peace

Fears for the Holy Land’s Future

“The Future of the Holy Land: A Cry For Justice” was the theme for the Oct. 20-21 Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s (HCEF) second annual conference hosted by the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. HCEF’s mission, according to its president, Rateb Y. Rabie, is to alert American Christians to the very real possibility that in the near future the descendents of the original Christians will become extinct in their ancestral homeland.

“Due to Israeli occupation, Christians are in danger of losing their homes, livelihoods, and holy places,” Rabie told attendees. “They are denied the basic human rights enjoyed by their Israeli non-Arab counterparts.” Throughout the conference speakers told their audience that, while American pilgrims can go to pray at the Holy Sepulchre or the Via Dolorosa in Old Jerusalem, Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza are denied access.

Father Majdi al-Siryani, legal adviser to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who learned Israel's missiles had shelled his parish a few hours earlier, talked about the plight of the 160,000 Christians living in the Holy Land. Wherever he goes in the world, he said, people ask him, “When did you convert to Christianity?”—not realizing that he and other Palestinian Christians come from indigenous stock that can trace its roots to Jesus’ time. “We were there when he was born and we’ll be there when he comes back, insh’allah,” said al-Siryani. “But some help is required from churches abroad for our survival,” he added.

As for the peace process, Al-Siryani declared, “Only justice can bring a durable peace. This conflict today is not a religious conflict, it’s a political and economic conflict. We are fighting over the same land and the resources on that land. Jerusalem is the national symbol for two peoples and three religions.” He concluded, “When Palestinians enjoy their rights, their access to their holy places, Israel will enjoy security.”

American University professor Clovis Maksoud moderated a panel discussion on “Policies that Drive Christians out of the Holy Land.” Israel’s discriminatory policies don’t distinguish between Christians and Muslims, Maksoud said. He also described a peculiar “mutual absolution” between Israel and the West. There seems to be an agreement, he said, that if Israel doesn’t talk about what Christians did to Jews, the West won’t talk about what Jews are doing to Palestinians. “But one holocaust does not justify another,” Maksoud said. “The victims of the holocaust are inflicting another holocaust on the Palestinian people.”

Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding director Rev. Donald E. Wagner talked about the “museumification” of the church in the Holy Land, saying that soon there will be just a few caretakers left with no living body. He declared that the U.S. had a partnership in creating this crisis and should share responsibility for ending it. “People will keep rising up if they feel there is an unjust peace,” he added.

World Vision’s Jerusalem office director, Thomas Getman, asked participants to pray for the Israeli soldiers with Palestinian children’s blood on their hands, for, he said “they will suffer forever for what they have done.” He also described a conversation with a CNN executive producer who told him that, as a Jew, he couldn’t stand what Israel had become, and asked for World Vision’s help to translate to the American public what really is happening in Israel.

Palestinian National Authority Representative to the UK Afif Safieh talked about the endless peace process and the asymmetry between the two negotiating partners. The Palestinians need international help, he said and, in his view, the peace process has taken much too long. “After 33 endless years of occupation,” he said, “all the territory Israel occupied in seven days can be unoccupied in less than seven days, so we can rest on the last.”

Luncheon speaker Robert Seiple, who recently retired from his position as the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, talked about the tremendous lack of truth-telling in the Middle East. He told the story of a 14-year-old Palestinian boy World Vision once sponsored who was caught writing graffiti on a wall by Israeli soldiers several years ago. They beat him and shot him in the face. The soldiers made the boy use his own blood to wash away the graffiti. When Seiple wrote in America about this horror, both Israelis and Americans angrily denied that it had happened. There was a suppression of the facts. In 1993, Seiple went back and interviewed the boy, his family and his lawyer. He saw photographs taken right after the attack. It was indeed true, but the media still wouldn’t report the real story. “When things happen that shouldn’t happen they should be owned up to. It is hard to forgive what isn’t repented,” Seiple said. “Truth is the first casualty of war.”

Jordanian Ambassador to the United States Dr. Marwan Muasher talked about the vital contributions of Christians in Arab societies. As a Jordanian Christian, he said, “I don’t think of myself as a minority. I am an Arab, as Jordanian as anyone else.” He said that as long as Christians in the West can go to Jerusalem to worship they think there is freedom of worship. But Arab Christians do not have access to the holy city.

He said the recent troubles were not just a wave of violence that will pass, and then the negotiations can resume. “The threshold was crossed,” he said. “Once religion is invoked emotions run deeper and conflict is much more difficult to resolve.” Muasher also warned that Palestinians can’t keep enduring Israel’s occupation with their eyes trained on the light at the end of the tunnel. They see that the peace process did not result in a solution, and Palestinian hope has faded away. “They need a fresh approach that will give people hope that they will one day live free of the occupation,” the ambassador concluded.

Fr. Emil Salayta of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and Sir Rateb Rabie planned to meet with and update churches in Texas, Detroit, Michigan and San Francisco from Oct. 26 to Nov. 16, 2000 to report on the recent developments in the Holy Land. The HCEF seeks to provide speakers for many churches across the country and gather new supporters to join the Holy Land Christian Support Network.

For more information contact Luma Haj at luma@hcef.org, call (301) 871-9222, or visit their Web Site at <http://www.hcef.org>.

—Delinda C. Hanley

John Sugg and Mike Monseur Win M.T. Mehdi Award

John Sugg, whose writings have exposed Stephen Emerson’s alleged “anti-terrorism” expertise as a fraud, and Mike Monseur, who was fired from his Chicago television anchor job because of his Arab-American heritage, were both winners of the Second Annual M.T. Mehdi Courage in Writing Award presented on Oct. 5. The award was presented at the annual meeting of the Arab American Media Association (AAMA) held in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, from Oct. 6 to 8. AAMA President Samir Tahhan, broadcast journalist Anisa Mehdi, the late Dr. Mehdi’s daughter, and Palestinian-American journalist and author Ray Hanania presented the awards.

Sugg received the M.T. Mehdi Courage in Writing Award for his refusal to bow to legal threats and lawsuits filed by Emerson to silence him. He is currently engaged in litigation with Emerson, who filed suit against Sugg.

Monseur was fired by the Chicago Tribune- owned cable TV all-news station CLTV on Sept. 2, 2000 when the station discovered he was an Arab American, and not French, as the editors believed. Monseur was prominent in the Arab-American community, emceeing community town meetings and suggesting coverage of important events. He was fired after his participation became visible.

Dr. Mohammad T. Mehdi, an immigrant from Iraq who earned his Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley, was a pioneer in the fight for justice for Palestinians as well as for Arab- and Muslim-American rights in the U.S. The award was launched in October 1999 to recognize journalists who display courage in the pursuit of professionalism, accuracy and justice in the American media. Calls for entries for the M.T. Mehdi Courage in Writing Award 2001 will become available in March 2001.

—Ray Hanania

Ninth Annual U.S. Mideast Policymakers Conference

For the ninth consecutive year, the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) at Lexington was the site of the U.S. Mideast Policymakers Conference, sponsored jointly by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) and the U.S.-GCC Corporate Cooperation Committee, as well as corporate sponsors Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Bryan Cave, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Parsons, and SAIC. The 100 or so participants from about a dozen countries included government, academic, and business officials and representatives. This year the theme of the conference, held Sept. 9 to 11, was “Globalization and Regional Realities in the Middle East: Issues, Interests, and Implications.”

Once again, VMI, located in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, spared no effort to assure the success of the conference. Several VMI faculty members and cadets participated in many of the functions and substantive sessions. At the conference’s conclusion, the entire 1,200-strong Corps of Cadets, including the VMI band and bagpipers, performed a full-dress parade and retreat in honor of the conference attendees.

Keynote speakers at the opening dinner were Omani Minister of Information H.E. Abdulaziz bin Mohammad Al-Rowas, and U.S. Ambassador-nominee to Bahrain H.E. Ronald E. Neumann. The closing luncheon keynote speaker was Gen. Tommy Franks, the recently appointed commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command.

Minister Al-Rowas said that globalization implies the need for greater cooperation, and he emphasized that the Qur’an calls for cooperation, mutual recognition, and tolerance. Both Neumann and Franks made the point that, even as some of the current problems and issues in the Middle East become resolved over time, some will remain and other, new issues and problems will arise. Neumann expressed his concern, however, about how Washington’s attention and resources will be affected when the Middle East peace process finally succeeds, Iraq begins to change once Saddam Hussain leaves the scene, and Iran continues its process of reform.

Clearly, the most eagerly anticipated address was that of Franks, who had been in charge of Central Command only for about two months, and who was unknown to nearly all of the conference participants. Franks’ résumé includes nearly the entire range of army experience, including combat duty in Vietnam, combat command experience with the First Cavalry Division during Desert Storm, and commander of the Second Infantry Division in Korea. His address met the hopes of the conference participants. He demonstrated toughness, but also an ability to think and see globally, and an awareness of the requirements for mutual cooperation, understanding, and respect for the governments and forces of the Middle East that are uniquely inherent in the responsibilities of Central Command.

Turning to the theme of the conference, most speakers and participants were pessimistic about the Middle East’s current realities and future prospects and the ability of the region successfully to meet the challenges posed by the rapid advances in communications and transportation. One speaker said, “The mood is not one of light-heartedness and optimism; it is one of seriousness and pessimism.”

Many speakers emphasized the demographic, economic, and social problems facing the countries of the region, pointing out that the Middle East economies were struggling to keep up with their explosive population growth, allowing the rest of the world’s economies to surge even further ahead.

—Shirl McArthur

Iowa State Presents “Palestinian Holocaust Gallery”

A little more than two weeks into what is being called “the Al-Aqsa Intifada,” members of the Iowa State University (ISU) Muslim Students Association (MSA) organized and presented an exhibit at their university in Ames, Iowa. The day-long event, titled “The Palestinian Holocaust Gallery” and featuring a wide variety of books, papers, posters, maps, and photographs relevant to the history of the 52-year-long occupation of Palestine, was held in the university’s Memorial Union Gallery Room on Monday, Oct. 16.

At quarter-hour intervals throughout the day, the room lights were dimmed for a computer-based slide show presentation of photographs of the current popular uprising against Israeli occupation forces. Many examples of cultural items, including craftwork, embroidery, and clothing from Palestine, were also on display.

“The ISU MSA has members from all over the Islamic world,” said Mohammad Khalifeh, a Jordanian doctoral student in ISU’s immunology program, “and there is wide support in the Islamic community for the Palestinian cause.” Khalifeh said the ISU MSA has members from India, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Sudan, Morocco, Lebanon, and Iran.

“We have to get our message out,” said Bassam Shehadeh, a Jordanian doctoral student in physics. “After more than eight years of working and waiting for progress, Palestinians were shocked when the government of Israel allowed the war criminal Sharon to ‘visit’ a holy shrine in the company of hundreds of armed troops,” said Shehadeh. “The people must express their outrage, and we need to convey to the world what is going on in Palestine,” he said.

“The United States of America is the superpower,” said Muhamad Al-Saqer, an Iraqi doctoral student in physics. “If the USA really wants to be seen as an honest broker, it cannot ask everything of Arafat and nothing of Barak,” said Al-Saqer.

“The so-called ‘peace process’ is a series of too many massacres and unfulfilled agreements to remember,” said Samah Al-Shahabi, a Jordanian doctoral student in industrial engineering. “The ‘peace process’ has not led to peace because Israel is above the law,” said Shahabi.

Betsy Mayfield, a publicist, fund-raiser, and writer with extensive experience assisting institutions of higher education in the Arab world, asked members of the ISU MSA to allow her to present the Palestinian Holocaust Gallery exhibit at the United Church of Christ-Congregational in Ames.

“These are gentle, caring young people,” said Mayfield. “They insisted that I display the Palestinian cultural items and not just the photographs representing the violence and abuse visited upon the Palestinians. It is very important to them that Americans understand their ancient, rich, and vibrant culture, that is by no means defined by Israel’s occupation of Palestine.”

Suleiman said the consensus was that the Palestinian Holocaust Gallery presentation was a success. Additional events and media outreach efforts are in the planning stage.

—Michael Gillespie

SIDEBAR ONE

Christians and the Mother Church

Reverend Dr. Craig Barnes, senior pastor of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, gave one of the more moving talks at the HCEF conference. In “Our Christian Roots in Jerusalem” (excerpted below) he compared the troubles his aging mother faced to those faced by the mother church in the Holy Land:

“My mother is a wonderful woman. She gave birth to me, cared for me through all of my years of childhood, and prays for me every day of her life. If you visited her small home and looked at all of the photographs of me on her wall, you would think that it is possible for a Presbyterian to be the pope,” Rev. Barnes said. “But this is not a good time for mother. She is not well, and has suffered through a great many losses in her life. To put it frankly, mother is in great need of my attention, my care, and my money. But she would be the first to say that what she needs the most is my love. She lives far away from me, and most of all wants to hear that I have not forgotten her with all of my success and busyness. I am tempted to tell mother that she should just forget her home, and emigrate to where I live. But that would kill mother. She doesn’t want to move. She just wants me to remember her. And care for her.

“I speak to this conference as a child of the great dispersed family of the mother church,” Rev. Barnes said. “She lives in Jerusalem, where she has always lived. It is her home, and she cannot give it up. For centuries she has cared for me by giving birth to my faith, struggling to keep the faith alive through a succession of heresies, persecutions, crusades, and occupying armies. But as a testimony to the hope that is within her, she has persevered. And she has persevered not for herself, but for her children who have traveled to the four corners of the world. We are her joy and her pride, the children who have done well only because of the love and great sacrifices of the mother church.

“But now, the mother church is in great need. And just as I cannot abandon my earthly mother who brought me into this world and still call myself a man, neither can we in the Western churches abandon Jerusalem. Not if we want to really be the church. It will not be helpful to invite mother church to come to Washington, DC, where there is so much opportunity. For that, again, would kill her. Our calling, our privilege is rather to demonstrate our gratitude with generous offerings, and to demonstrate our family identity through loving communion with mother, who lives far away, in a place where her life is very hard.

“It has sometimes been argued that for the Christians, geography is not important. Wherever two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, He is present, making us holy by His presence. Of course this is true, but that only makes our obligation to the church in Jerusalem all the more important. If we do not share in the efforts to stem the tide of emigration, soon there will in fact be only two or three gathered in Jesus’ name in Jerusalem. So we will do all we can to keep the living stones of the mother church from disappearing.

“So let us be clear. The perils of the church in Jerusalem today, is not just one more mission project that the Western churches may or may not choose to support. Every thing that we hold dear about Christianity is on the line. Without the mother church, we lose our name, our identity, and the orthodoxy of our faith.

“As an adult child who has been humbled more than once in learning how to approach the care for my biological mother, the younger churches in the West have repeated mistakes in our care for the mother church. We have tried to take over for mother, to tell her that her problems are not so bad, and we have tried to tell her how to run her affairs. My biological mother hates when I rush into her home for a one-week work camp, assess her situation, and make bold pronouncements about what she ought to do. It is neither loving nor helpful. What she wants is my love and understanding. She wants me to sit and listen to her stories, to remember who I am, and to embrace my family identity again. Our concern for the mother church in Jerusalem can never be limited to quick visits or hastily written checks. Instead, what we must give is our humility, our identity, and our profound love.

“We come not as rich kids who have done well in another place, and not as arbitrators for the current conflict with the Israeli government, but as children who know our place. Our place is with the church.”

SIDEBAR 2

HCEF Child Sponsorship Program

The HCEF Child Sponsorship Program, established in late 1999, allows American individuals to help with the education of a child in the Holy Land for $300 a year. The sponsor will receive detailed information about the child and family from HCEF and cards and letters from the child throughout the year. The cost to send one child to school each year is $700—a hefty sum for a family whose average annual income is only $1,100. By becoming a child’s sponsor, not only is a huge financial burden lifted from a Christian family, but the child’s parents will know that their child has someone who cares about him or her in America.