Unholy Hell in the Holy Land
10 October 2023
Dear and Gentle Reader,
No doubt you've heard of the escalating war between Israel and Hamas. It is shocking, saddening, and brutal. Many shake their heads and think, "Why can't they sit down and work it out?". The answer to that is not so simple. It is not just a battle for territory. It is not just a battle for political self-determination. It is not just a battle for human rights and security. It is not just a battle between religions, ethnicities, or races. It is all of those things combined into our modern world of global politics, which had made it even more complex and inscrutable.
To make it clear, Gentle Reader, firstly, I am not anti-Semitic, nor anti-Arab. I believe that Israel has a right to self-protection, as do the Palestinian peoples. In opposing some of the acts of the state of Israel, I do not oppose the Jewish religion. In opposing some of the acts of the Palestinians, I do not oppose the Islamic religion. Whatever religious aspects there are in the current war, they exist as extremist perversions of Judaism and Islam, co-opted for political ends.
I am a Catholic, as you well know. Why then should I be so concerned over a conflict which does not directly effect me, you may wonder. Well, it does effect me. Israel/Palestine is where my faith was born. In that Holy Land my faith has it roots, going back to the time of the Patriarch Abraham. He is claimed as the father of the three great monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three of these religions lay claim to the land which plays such a major role in those faiths.
As a Catholic, I see the Holy Land as the land in which Our Lord was conceived miraculously by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where Our Lord was born, ministered, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. It is that same land which saw the birth of His working body, the Church on Pentecost after His ascension. It is that same land which witnessed the first martyrdom in the Church, that of St. Stephen the Protomartyr and deacon. It was from that land that the Apostles went out to other nations to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom. And, it was in that land that Our Lady breathed her last in this life and was assumed into heavenly glory by the grace of her Divine Son. All of those events are marked by churches and shrines, still cared for and operated by the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
In addition, as a Catholic, I revere the sites sacred to Judaism, since Christianity sprang from it. Sites such as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and other ancient sites, many of which are archeological digs, show me the roots of my faith, and God as active throughout human history. While I do not believe the Islamic tradition of Muhammad being taken up into heaven from the Foundation Stone, now enshrined under the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, I nonetheless understand and respect the fact that Muslims see that site as the third holiest in their faith.
As a member of the chivalric and Papal order of knighthood, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, it is my duty, and that of all the knights and dames of the Order, to pray for the peace of the Holy Land. Not only do we pray for the peace of all living there - Christians, Jews, and Muslims, we actively work to maintain the Christian presence in that land, as living stones of faith. We actively fund and support works of charity which are open to all peoples, regardless of faith - schools, daycare centres, hospitals & clinics, old-age homes, and other works which defend and serve the basic human rights of all. Yes, we also assist the Franciscan Custody in helping to maintain the shrines and parishes for what few Christians remain in the Land of Christ. Sadly the Christian percentage of the general population of the Holy Land was shrunk to just two percent.
Today's violence finds its roots in old controversies - the beginnings of Zionism and Arab nationalism, the duplicity of the British and French empires during World War I in promising Arab independence and a homeland for Jews in the self-same territory after the defeat of the Central Powers, and of course, the ongoing wars and violence after the founding of the nation state of Israel.
I thoroughly condemn the terrorism and violence employed by Hamas and any other Islamic/Arabic group. I thoroughly condemn the violence employed by Israel against innocent Palestinian civilians. In the last decades, despite the continual tit for tat violence between the two, there were small signs of hope and peace. One has only to look back at the Camp David Accord, and the proposed two-state solution. Sadly it seems, these have been consigned to the ash heap of history. Both sides now seem to have embraced extremism of political and religious types.
The leadership on both sides is dead set against any kind of negotiation. Under Netanyahu in the last several years, a blind eye has been turned to settler incursions into Palestinian land, as well as in the Christian, Armenian, and Muslim Quarters in the Old City of Jerusalem. Extremists have been emboldened by his violent rhetoric and feel empowered to carry out acts of vandalism and disrespect to Christian sites and persons; they have increased their take-overs of property of Palestinians, often through illegal and underhanded purchases. Netanyahu has tried to hijack the Israeli judicial system as well. Hundreds of thousands of moderate, decent Israeli citizens have gathered to peacefully protest these things, yet are met with silence and indifference from the current government.
The Palestinian Authority, which in name governs the West Bank, has been rendered toothless through Israeli political manoeuvers, and is left basically without any kind of real power to govern their people. Hamas, which governs Gaza, openly embraces terrorist tactics against Israel. Daily, Palestinians have to go through openings in the borders of the West Bank, which often take hours, simply to visit family, get to work or school, or do shopping. They are directly made to feel like an underclass, and their rights are nowhere equal to that of a citizen of Israel. Their basic, daily needs for work, education, and health care are often not met, and their local economies are in shambles.
I would not hesitate, Gentle Reader, to classify both nations as failed democracies. With Netanyahu at the helm Israel has become authoritarian, almost a dictatorship. The Palestinian Authority is nothing but a shell of what is should be, and Hamas is simply a terrorist organisation. The nations of the West, especially the United States gives billions of dollars each year to Israel (which has stolen military information through espionage from the USA) with the excuse that it is the only stable democracy in the region. America turns a blind eye to the extremism taking place under Netanyahu. America, and the nations of the European Union, and the United Kingdom sit by placidly as the Palestinian territories devolve into criminal poverty and anarchy. Contrast this to their reaction against Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Odd, isn't it?
Add to this foggy situation that a minority of extremist Jews want to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, supported by some right-wing American Evangelical Protestants, and you have a right mess! I doubt the Muslims would willingly surrender their custody of the Dome of the Rock, the site on which the first Temple and second Temple once stood. God forbid if it were attempted to be demolished by the extremists! It would definitely set every Islamic nation in the world against Israel and its western allies. But, that is what they want. They want Armageddon. They want it, because they believe it is necessary for the Messiah to return; as if God's hand can be forced by human agency!
Now, Gentle Reader, take a look at those photos. One is an Arab mother and child, the other, an Israeli mother and child. Is there really any difference? They are victims of the same mindless hatred and violence that has polluted the Holy Land for far too long. One cannot favour one pair over the other. They are innocent. They are victims. They are the pawns used by corrupt leaders to justify further hatred and violence. They and their families, friends, neighbours, co-workers, co-religionists are seen simply as "collateral damage" in order to achieve some kind of fleeting superiority. Yes, Israel must defend herself, but so must Palestine. It is not either/or, but both/and.
That is what so many there and here are unwilling to admit. So we keep funding the violence, and not the humanitarian assistance. We give our support to politicians who support the violence so that they can score approval points with their political base. In the meantime, innocent people suffer and die. We nod and muttter, "What a shame. Why can't they just work it out?". And yet, we do nothing to help resolve the matter.
May Christ, a son of the Holy Land, and Mary, Queen of Palestine, Patroness of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre obtain a true, just, and lasting peace for our brothers and sisters there, and may they both urge us to action to assist them.
- Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure.
- May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels."
- For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, "Peace be within you."
- For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity.
- Psalm 122
- God have mercy on the Holy Land, and upon us.
- Father P.
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