Threatened expropriation in the Cremisan Valley

Oliver Maskan AED international

Adapted by Amanda Bridget Griffin, ACN Canada

 

Montreal, Monday, 29 October 2012 – In view of the imminent threat of confiscation of Christian property by Israel in the Cremisan Valley near Bethlehem, Bishop William Shomali, the Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem, sees all aid on the part of foreign governments and churches towards finding a resolution of the affair, which is currently before the courts, as a step in the direction of peace and public order. This was stated by Bishop Shomali, the Roman Catholic Bishop responsible for the Palestinian territories in the Latin Patriarchate, in an interview with the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on Monday.

 

Last week, the Assembly of Bishops of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (AOCTS) voiced its opinion on this matter for the first time and called on Israel to stop the construction of what is, in its view, an illegal barrier in the Cremisan Valley. It also expressed the fear that the planned separation wall will further accelerate Christian emigration from the Holy Land.

 

Illegal under international law

 

The bishops emphatically reject the assertion that the Holy See and the local churches had implicitly or explicitly reached an agreement with Israel with regard to the barrier. This was alleged by the non-governmental organisation “The Israel Project” in a statement on 16 October, according to which the Holy See was said to have agreed to the barrier being partly built on Church land.

 

The more than 750-kilometre long barrier, which has been erected since 2003 and which the Israelis regard as serving the purpose of defence against terrorism, runs for about 80 percent of its length on the other side of the Green Line – the ceasefire line of 1948 which in international law represents the border between the State of Israel and the territory of West Jordan which was occupied in 1967. In a pronouncement in 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague therefore declared the building of the wall to be illegal under international law. Bishop Shomali told ACN: “If Israel were to build the wall along the course of the border that applied before the occupation of the West Bank, it would not be a problem. It would be Israel’s right, to which nobody could raise any objection. But the problem is that the section of the barrier at Cremisan runs on the other side of this border, on Palestinian land.”

 

Quite apart from the fact that it is breach of international law, the Bishop also believes that it would be possible to find a route for the barrier which would involve less expropriation of land. The confiscation would affect 58 families in the village of Beit Jala near Bethlehem, which is over eighty percent Christian, who would lose their olive groves and fruit gardens. Many families live off the farming of this land.

 

Taking action against the Israeli plans

 

They have been taking action against the Israeli plans before the responsible Israeli law court in Tel Aviv since 2006. In 2010 the action was joined by the Salesian Sisters, who have been running a school in the affected district since 1960. The school is currently attended by some 450 Muslim and Christian children. If the barrier is built as currently planned, their convent would be cut off from part of the land they own. Furthermore, the barrier will run directly beside the convent and the school, denying the sisters any possibility of building an extension to the school for which approval has already been granted. The Salesians, who run a monastery not far from the convent, would also be affected by the wall. At the beginning of this year they also made an application to join the legal action, but no decision has yet been taken on this.

 

A decision by the Israeli court is expected after February 2013, when the final pleas of the opposing parties will be heard. Bishop Shomali told ACN: “We want a decision that is just, not one that is designed to please the Church.” He still believes it possible that the court will deliver a fair judgement, because he regards the Israeli courts as politically independent. But in the event – which cannot be excluded – that the property of the Christian families is indeed confiscated, which would amount to an expropriation in fact if not in law, the Bishop is concerned about the material consequences for those affected: “We must then consider what we can do together with Caritas and other humanitarian organisations. But I fear that our resources will be inadequate.”

 

 

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Source: Robert Lalonde, Head of Information, ACN Canada
(514) 932-0552  1-800-585-6333  info@acn-aed-ca.org

Web site: www.acn-aed-ca.org

*ACN’s articles are given freely for partial or full publication, on the condition that the source, Aid to the Church in Need be mentioned.  If you wish to receive the original photo, please contact us at the coordinates above.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is an international Catholic association which has a mandate fraternal charity toward greatly suffering and needy local Churches.

Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried, she offers spiritual and material help to the Church in need in over 145 countries.