by Mons. Pietro Sambi, Delegato Apostolico di Gerusalemme

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Early this morning about 40 Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles entered the Rafah refugee camp, near the Gaza Strip, killing 3 and leaving 20 persons wounded. The Israeli army specified that the raid is part of the military operation to search out and destroy the tunnel from Egypt to Gaza used to funnel in weapons. Yesterday,  during a clash in Gaza, a grenade exploded on a group of Israel soldiers, killing 2 of them. Meanwhile Egypt's minister of foreign affairs, Ahmed Maher, recently back in Cairo after being wounded in an attack at the Al Aqsa mosque, said the incident: "will have no impact on the essence of Egyptian policy … We are working to make sure Palestinians earn their rights back."  Upon exiting the mosque yesterday, Maher was attacked by demonstrators belonging to the radical Islamic group, Islamic Liberation Front.

News of these events pays testimony to the desire for peace that exists in the Holy Land. In a survey published in yesterday's Jerusalem Post, Palestinian support of violence used against soldiers and settlers in the occupied territory is 87%. But even if there is large support for violence, around 83% are in favor of a mutual cease to violence and 73% believe that continued violence only hinders a return to peace negotiations.  

Confusion abounds even in the Israeli camp. Yesterday Tsahal soldiers (the Israeli army) were condemned in Haifa for refusing to fight against Palestinians. Desertion and refusal to fight have become ever more commonplace among soldiers and military officers, despite being considered "patriots" and lovers of Israel.

 Given the entangled web of sentiments and choices and bitter stagnation enveloping the region, we asked Msgr. Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine, to offer some clues on how to build peace and hope in the Holy Land.

Christmas in the Holy Land is a continuously new experience: each year we are pushed to deepen our faith and put it into practice.

To kneel down at the site of the Nativity is always a new experience. Here, God came down to be near to man in an act of love, a saving kind of love.  

At Christmas God's love stimulates us toward love of our fellow men, just as God became man because he loves us.

Christmas brings out the contrast between divine reason and that of man, especially when man causes others like him to suffer, be humiliated, and lose their lives. Christmas, on the other hand, is a celebration of life.

But it is useless to lose ourselves in complaining about and reporting such contradictions. One must put into effect, with greater effort and conviction, the 4 pillars of peace, as suggested by John XXIII in Pacem in Terris:

-          truth: every war, every battle is prepared and based on lies ;

-          justice: the sacrosanct right to defend one's rights goes hand in hand with accepting and recognizing the rights of others;

-          love: love is a word absent in the language of diplomacy and politics; if every conflict is based on mutual hatred, love is a necessary path to restore peace;

-          liberty: an oppressed individual or nation is filled with such thirst for revenge that peace is made difficult for generations to come.

To become peacemakers is not as simple as stating the above words. You have to live, breathe and preach these 4 pillars.

Christmas also gives us a sense of certainty from on high: love is stronger that hatred, truth stronger than lies, justice stronger than violence and freedom more powerful than oppression.  All this must be lived out and deeply believed and lovingly communicated by our words and actions.

In seeking peace for Jerusalem, I would like to recall what John Paul II cried forth during his Holy Land pilgrimage to Bethlehem in 2000:

"Today, right from Manger Square, we loudly proclaim for all times, all places and all persons: "Fear not: may peace be with you!"

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