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In a conversation with a peace delegation from the United States, the Vatican's representative in Jerusalem warned that there could be starvation within a month in Palestinian villages isolated by the fresh outbreak of violence.

While most attention focuses on the political struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, Father Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Delegate for the Vatican in the Holy Land, said that the economic battle has become very serious. Unemployment is rampant and "five people depend on each salary," he said. The destruction of crops means that "starvation will begin soon."

Like many church leaders who met with the delegation, Sambi is worried about the future of the Christian presence in and around Jerusalem. "As Christians we have some common problems," he said, many of them related to issues of identity. "We are here to keep alive the faith."

"There is also a sense of solitude and loneliness for Christians, without a strong sense of solidarity." It was clear to him that Christians would either survive together-or disappear together.

While Muslims in the Middle East have the support of Muslims all over the world, that is not really true of Christians in the Holy Land, he contended. "The lack of solidarity, however, is felt more at the level of church leaders than at the grassroots," he added. Christians need "the support of disciples of Jesus around the world for survival."

As a minority, Christians "lack strength and courage" unless they have a clear and strong identity. "What is the motivation for Christian children to remain?" he asked. "What's the identity of a Christian living in a Muslin culture, or in a Jewish culture?"

Changing images
When asked about the collapse of the peace process and the outbreak of violence, "We were expecting peace every day-until the new intifada erupted on September 28," Sambi said. Until then, Palestinians were doing quite well in their image before the world. "At the beginning Palestinians gave a better image of themselves and they got world sympathy," he said, pointing to the shooting of the young boy in Gaza while his father tried to protect him.

Then the crowd of young Palestinians murdered the Israeli soldiers and tossed their bodies out of the window of a police station in Ramallah and the pendulum was suddenly swinging the other direction. The big difference between the present intifada and the first intifada, which began in 1987, was that the previous uprising was fought with stones but now the clashes include the use of guns.

While Israel's military superiority is absolute, according to Sambi, Israelis believe that certain Muslim Palestinian fighters intentionally provoke an Israeli military response against Christian villages in order to gain international support for the Palestinian cause.

Addressing the allegation that the Palestinians are using their children to fuel the violence, Sambi said "there is no place for children other than the streets." And they often use their older brothers as models. "This is a war of children and boys and it doesn't stop," he said. "It will be a war of and for the future."

When asked about the status of Jerusalem, Sambi said that "internationalization" of the city is not the Vatican position but rather the position of the United Nations, which says the city shouldn't belong to either side.

The Vatican, according to Sambi, has said that it is "incompetent" on the political issues of the city's status, stating that those aspects must be solved by politicians. Whoever exercises jurisdiction over Jerusalem should guarantee open access to the religious sites. "History shows us that whoever exercises jurisdiction favors their own," he said. No one should have absolute power but observe "an equality of rights."

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December (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44