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Franciscans will tell all the story of the Palestinian Holocaust
by Labib Kobti
In Bethlehem over 30 Franciscans of the Order of Friars Minor with four
Franciscan old sisters have refused to leave the Church of the Nativity
so as
to stand united with the Palestinians and prevent anymore suffering upon
them
by the Israeli Occupation Forces.
Israelis have besieged the compound which is the very place where our
Lord
Jesus Christ was born and where the Angels chanted "Glory to God ... and
Peace to Earth."
The Franciscans who refuse to leave the church are of the same order of
those
Franciscans who helped Jews in Assisi, Rome and many other European
cities
against Nazis who were trying to exterminate them.
Now, these same Franciscans are trying to save the Palestinians from
Zionism.
The Franciscans have chosen to be INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE AND JUSTICE,
their
founder St. Francis of Assisi have always called his followers to be:
"INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE AND LOVE".
The Friars courageously dared to expose the lies of the Israeli and
American
Media which stated that they were taken as hostages by the Palestinians.
They have openly declared that: We share with them everything, we love
them,
they love us, we stand with them. We shared food, water, electricity and
medical aid. In fact the Franciscans have been friends with Muslims and
Arab-Christians for centuries. They have parishes at the service of the
Arab-Christians in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerischo, Cana and
have
been the custodians of the Holy Places for centuries.
To the dismay of the entire international community, the Israelis refuse
to
allow the Palestinians to properly bury two people--one
Christian-Palestinian, the Bell ringer and another Muslim-Palestinian
who
came to extinguish the fire that Israeli bombs created in one of the
Franciscan sections of the Church. The deceased have been placed in the
coolest parts of the Cathedral, yet they are rotting away and the smell
is
overwhelming.
Colin Powell was unable and quite frankly to persuade Sharon to allow
the
Palestinians to bury the dead killed by the Israeli Occupation Army, or
to
permit them to get water, food, medical assistance or electricity. This
makes
the visit of Powell a real FAILURE. Powell's failure showed the true
face of
American policy in the region. It is now clear to everyone that the
United
States is unable or unwilling to do anything about justice in the Holy
Land.
Instead America will every once and while make statements claiming to be
"worried" about the atrocities being inflicted upon the Palestinians,
only to
placate moderate Arab leaders to further advance America's interests in
the
region. We know that America is not as weak as Powell and Bush would
have us
believe. We know that America alone can reign in Sharon and put an end
to
the brutal assault on the Palestinian people.
This is the first time in the history of the Church of the Nativity that
it
has been under assault by an occupation army. Romans, Persians,
Byzantine,
Muslims, Ottomans have maintained power in the region prior to the
Israelis,
yet all of the above groups have always respected the holiness of the
place.
Arab-Christians have celebrated Christmas for 2000 years at this holiest
of
places, now that is no longer true. One can no longer claim that this
is a
religious conflict between Israelis and Muslims, for Palestinian Muslims
and
Christians alike are more united than ever to fight for the liberation
of
their land, and to end the humiliation that they have endured together
by
Israel with the support of the USA.
The Franciscans will stay in the Church of the Nativity, they will
continue
their work as instruments of peace. And as they once told the world of
their
experiences saving Jews in the Second World War from the Nazis
Holocaust, may
they live to one day tell the world about their experiences in trying to
save
the Palestinians from Zionist Palocaust (Palestinian Holocaust).
Father Labib Kobti is affiliated with
Arab-American Christians for Peace (AACP), San Francisco, USA.
Source:
by the same author:
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