Factor of Peace

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem under siege. The Holy See’s statement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Christian minority in the territories under the Palestinian authority. And in Israel. We talked about these things with Fr David Maria Jaeger, a convert from Judaism, spokesman for the Custody of the Holy Land

EDITED BY LUCIO BRUNELLI

He was the voice of the Franciscans in Bethlehem during the long siege of the Nativity. A clear, strong voice, and not only in a symbolic sense, a voice that in the weeks just past entered homes around the world through the TV. But few know that behind his habit, as large and voluminous as his build, lies the secret of a truly unique history. Born in Tel Aviv 47 years ago, a Jew and a citizen of Israel, he received Christian Baptism at the age of 18. Therefore, he is a Jew and a Christian.

How did you come to the Catholic faith?
It was the conclusion of a long existential journey. Like all young people my age, I was searching for a truth that would give meaning to life. This search took me, from the intellectual point of view, also through the path of Marxism. I reached the point of discovering that the truest words are those said by Peter in the Gospel: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of true life.” This evidence seemed to me to be confirmed also by history, in the sense that whatever of the good and beautiful our civilization has expressed would be unthinkable without the influence of the Christian faith.

As spokesman for the Custody of the Holy Land, your life in recent weeks has been turned upside down and completely absorbed by the drama lived by your brothers in Bethlehem. What were your feelings as you lived these events?
First of all, concern for the lives of the friars and nuns blocked inside the church. I know them all individually… And then, great sadness at the unprecedented violation of a place that is so sacred and so dear to all Christians. The place where Jesus, the prince of peace, was born. The sanctuary of Christmas, in other words of joy and simplicity, transformed into a theater of war. My sadness is even greater when I think that the first violation came from people who live right in Bethlehem, who forced their way into the church. But sadness also because of the fury of the Israeli attack. This was a harsh siege, which for long days blocked any supply of food to the friars and cut off their water and electricity. If people had tried just a bit harder, a bloodless solution could have been rapidly found. One that was honorable for everyone and respectful of the holy place.

The drama lived in Bethlehem is inseparable from the unending drama that the Middle East is living. Last April 3, the Vatican issued a press statement in which it clearly expressed its position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It categorically condemned terrorism “from whatever side it may come.” But also “disapproval of the conditions of injustice and humiliation imposed on the Palestinian people,” and respect for the UN resolutions calling for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories…
Certainly. It is a complex conflict, and all the factors in play must always be kept in mind. Without obscuring one or the other. But, compared to 50 years ago, it is no longer an inevitable conflict.

Why?
Because the Arab world, as the Saudi peace plan confirms, is ready to recognize collectively the existence of the State of Israel, on the condition that Israel withdraw from the territories occupied in 1967. The Palestinian leadership, as well, officially recognizes the State of Israel since 1993, and only claims the occupied territories. These territories constitute 22% of Palestine at the time of the British mandate. It is an important premise, which does not close off every gleam of hope.

But today, the situation is once again dramatically blocked. Whose fault is this?
On one hand, the fault lies with extremist groups like Hamas. Groups that aim at setting up an Islamic theocracy in the entire territory of the old mandated Palestine. The “secular” Palestinian leadership could have prevailed over the “Islamists”, but it was placed in crisis both by the policy of colonial settlements (which continued even after the historic Oslo agreement) and by the Israeli military raids in the territories.

If you could meet Sharon personally, what would you say to him?
It is a highly improbable meeting, because I have never felt myself to be on his side politically. As an Israeli citizen, I feel encouraged, conversely, by that part of the public opinion of my country which does not share the intransigent line of the Sharon government, and is ready to welcome a peace agreement with the Palestinians. This is the part that put its hopes in the Rabin and the first Barak governments. A part, it should be said, that often is silenced by horrendous terrorist attacks. These are acts that weaken its voice and strengthen precisely those who do not want any agreement with the Palestinians.

The Popes have entrusted the custody of the holy places to you Franciscans for seven centuries. In the territories formally under Arafat’s authority, how is the Christian minority treated?
On the part of the Palestinian national authority, there has never been ill will in the relationships with the Christian community. Quite the contrary… To be sure, progress can still be made, by passing from a slightly paternalistic mentality of protection of minorities from above to a culture that recognizes full rights to religious freedom for all the communities.

The Christians in the Holy Land are almost all Arabs, Palestinians. Those like you, Catholics with Israeli nationality, are rare…
We are few, but more than you imagine. The non-Arab Catholics, which includes converted Jews, but also permanent immigrants (many are Filipinos), number around 20,000. Perhaps it is time that also this part of the Church that lives in Israel find its own physiognomy and juridical structures, such as a diocese or an apostolic administration. It is right and wonderful for the Arab Christians to have their Bishops. But it is useful for the Church to breathe with two lungs here, too. So that in the eyes of Israeli society, Christianity may no longer appear as a “foreign” religion, incapable of communicating in its own language and of expressing its own leaders. And perhaps, in this way, the number will grow of those who discover the message of Him who destroyed with His sacrifice the wall of enmity between different peoples and races.