Cafod is among the Catholic agencies and groups speaking out in concern at the escalating crisis in Israel.
Fresh air strikes took place today as Israel sent reinforcements to the border with Gaza. Boris Johnson joined calls for de-escalation as concerns grew at the possibility of all-out war in the region. There is also escalating mob violence inside Israel itself as people who until recently lived peacefully side-by-side turned on each other.
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Nothing can justify a lynching of Jews by Arabs and nothing can justify a lynching of Arabs by Jews.”
In a statement, Cafod said the violence was “deeply disturbing and must be brought to a halt before it spirals out of control and more lives are lost”.
Cafod warned that continued escalation would harm the most vulnerable and said there is an urgent need for responsible leadership ready to work for justice and peace for Palestinians and Israelis creating an alternative to this cycle of violence that divides and kills.
Cafod explained that the latest violence was triggered by weeks of tension and clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians regarding a renewed spate of threatened evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem to make way for Israeli settlers.
There were also protests at restricted access to Temple Mount during Ramadan.
Hamas, which has never recognised Israel’s right to exist, retaliated by sending rockets from Gaza into Israel and Isrsael responded with airstrikes. Many people, including children, have been killed on both sides.
Palestinians had also been protesting the imminent eviction of eight Palestinian families – around 87 people including 28 children – from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Israeli police responded to the protests with violence. Cafod said: “The right to a home is a fundamental human right and it is a question of justice for inhabitants of the city to live, pray and work there with dignity.”
Pope Francis has joined calls for an end to the cycle of violence, saying: “I pray that the city might be a place of encounter and not of violent clashes, a place of prayer and peace… I invite everyone to seek shared solutions, so that the multi-religious and multi-cultural identity of the Holy City might be respected, and that fraternity might prevail.”
In a statement, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said: “The historic position of the Churches in Jerusalem is clear with regard to our denouncement of any attempt which makes Jerusalem an exclusive city for anyone. This is a city sacred to the three monotheistic religions and, based on international law and relevant UN resolutions, also a city where the Palestinian people, Christians, and Muslims, have the same right to build a future based on freedom, equality and peace.”
In nn open letter to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Paul Southgate chair of the National Justice and Peace Network and Ann Farr chair of Pax Christi, said: “Palestinian worshippers have been denied access to the Al Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan and this, along with the police and military incursions into this holy place, the use of stun grenades, rubber coated steel bullets and water cannons on those at worship, all contravene international law.
“All of this is made worse by that fact that this is one of the most important times of the Muslim Year. Saturday’s attacks took place at Laylat-al-Qadr, the most holy day in the Muslim month of Ramadan, a time when Palestinians from all over the West Bank would attempt to pray in their most Holy Place. It followed the aggressive violence of armed Israeli settlers invading the communal Iftar meal of families in Sheikh Jarrah, upturning their tables, invading their homes and attacking women, men and children.
“This excessive violence has continued since then and several Palestinian children are among the hundreds wounded. The violence has been described by some of the worst seen in Jerusalem for many years.
“Palestinians are suffering the daily loss of their fundamental human rights, are constantly under threat of forced removal from their homes as in the Sheikh Jarrah district of occupied East Jerusalem.”
They called on the cardinal and bishops to answer the call of the heads of churches in the region, who said: “We call upon the international community, the churches and all people of goodwill to intervene in order to put an end to these provocative actions, and to continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We join in prayer with the intention of the Holy Father Pope Francis, that the multi-religious and multi-cultural identity of the Holy City might be respected and that fraternity might prevail.”
They also asked that Saturday 15 May be designated a day of prayer for peace and justice, in particular in Jerusalem.
The patriarchs and heads of churches said they were “profoundly disheartened” and concerned by the events.
“The special character of Jerusalem, the Holy City, with the existing status quo, compels all parties to preserve the already sensitive situation in the Holy City of Jerusalem. We call upon the international community and all people of good will to intervene in order to put an end to these provocative actions, as well as to continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
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