Political leaders are failing the young people of the Holy Land, say bishops

 

Bishops from across Europe, North America and South Africa have condemned the political leadership in both Israel and the Palestinian territories who they say have betrayed the young people of the Holy Land in pursuit of their own political agendas.

 

Speaking after their annual visit to Israel, the bishops, who make up the Holy Land Co-ordination mandated by the Holy See, were unequivocal in their criticism of Israel's blockade of Gaza, because they say it makes economic development in the Strip impossible, with disastrous consequences for young people.

 

But the bishops also point to the fact that young Israelis and Palestinians have all been "failed by their political leaders", in a condemnation that must include Fatah, in power in the West Bank, and Hamas, in charge in Gaza, even though they do not name the Palestinian political leadership ion these territories. Hamas and Fatah have long been and still are bitter rivals. 

 

As well as condemning Israel's "50 years of occupation" of the territories, and the "recent affront to the internationally recognised status of Jerusalem" – that is, the decision by the US to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – the bishops bemoan the continuing failure of the "international community" to exert its influence to the benefit of the young Israelis and Palestinians. 

 

 

They say that political leaders are failing the youth of the Holy Land through their inability to promote dialogue in the search for a solution to the conflict and by presiding over an economy that is not offering job opportunities and has led to a housing shortage.

 

And yet, the young people continue to hope and dream of a better future, the bishops say.

"Across the West Bank young people suffer violations of their dignity on a daily basis, which have become unacceptably normalised by occupation," said the Catholic bishops conference of England and Wales in a statement after the visit. "Meanwhile, many of the young Israelis met by the bishops also recognised the distorting effect on their lives of a conflict they did not create and do not want. And yet both young Palestinians and Israelis are the ones who have to deal with the consequences of the failure of older generations. The bishops heard young people from all sides who share the same aspirations for peaceful coexistence, yet are facing completely different realities."

After visiting Gaza, where the Christian population has fallen to 1,000, of whom 150 are Catholics, the bishops met with schoolchildren in the West Bank and in Israel, along with students at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and those attending courses run by Bethlehem University. They also visited l'Arche in Bethlehem and the home for the elderly in Beit Emmaus.

"Young people in Gaza continue to be robbed of their life chances by the enduring blockade, which indiscriminately denies them the opportunity to flourish. Young people in the West Bank continue to suffer violations of their dignity on a daily basis, which have become unacceptably normalised by occupation," the bishops say in their communique. "Many of the young Israelis we met in schools and universities recognise they are living in the shadow of a conflict that they did not create and do not want. We listened to young people from all sides who share the same aspirations for peaceful coexistence, yet are facing completely different realities, with few opportunities to ever meet or understand each other’s hopes and fears."

The group was chaired by Bishop of Clifton Declan Lang, and included Bishop Udo Bentz of Germany, Archbishop Stephen Brislin of South Africa, Bishop Peter Burcher or Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland, Bishop Oscar Cantú of the US, Bishop Christopher Chessun from the Church of England. Archbishop Riccardo Fontana of Italy, Bishop Lionel Gendron of Canada, Bishop Nicholas Hudson from the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community, Bishop William Kenney from the Birmingham archdiocese,  Bishop Donal McKeown or Ireland, Bishop William Nolan of Scotland, Archbishop Joan-Enric Vives of Spain and Andorra and Mgr Duarte da Cunha of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. 

 

(Pic: Bishops from Holy Land Coordination head to Sunday Mass with the parishioners of Holy Family parish in Gaza © Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk)