European presences

The Palestinian elections in January and the Israeli elections in March, contrary to every hope, have not, at least so far, changed anything in the situation in the Holy Land, reports Caritas in Jerusalem in the last number of its newsletter “Staying in Touch”. Presenting its initiative of solidarity “Special operations appeal” (SOA) in favour of the Holy Land (see www.caritas.org), Caritas, the Catholic Church’s aid organization, says that “Palestine is experiencing a disastrous situation today”, also due to “the decision of the international community not to entertain relations with the Hamas government, though democratically elected. This means that the 165,000 employees of the Palestinian Authority have not received their wages since 1st March and are hence unable to provide for the needs of their families, some 1,250,000 people in all. Long lines of people queuing up for food and medicines are reported in Gaza”. Caritas also points its finger at the constant decrease in work permits issued by Israel to Palestinian, which have dropped “from 20,968 in 2000 to 3,698 in 2006”, and the completion of the “wall” to the north of Jerusalem which “will have further negative consequences on the Palestinian economy”. The Churches and NGOs are also trying to come to grips with the situation; in various ways they are trying to contribute to the peaceful solution of the crisis. DRUGS. The spread and consumption of drugs in Jerusalem are increasing. The difficulty in finding a peace deal between Palestinians and Israelis, which is also having serious repercussions on the social, economic and family life of many, is also causing an increase in the number of drug users. According to data furnished by Caritas in Jerusalem, there are some 30,000 drug users in East Jerusalem alone, and almost a third of them use hard drugs. This is a field in which Caritas GermanY is involved with a series of projects for the rehabilitation of victims of drugs. Its staff are present on a daily basis in the support centre in the Old City. The project is being funded jointly with the German government until 2008. HOUSING EMERGENCY. Not very far from Jerusalem, at Bethlehem, the diocese of Linz (Austria), after a pilgrimage of 230 faithful (February 2006), has made a commitment to support the reconstruction of 12 houses, creating at the same time 350 jobs for young unemployed workers. The financial contribution was handed over by the bishop of the Austrian city, the Most Rev. Ludwig Schwarz, together with Father Hans Hollerwerger, of the diocesan committee for the oriental churches, and Plaudette Habesch of Caritas Jerusalem. The building programme insists that all the materials used during the work be locally purchased to help revive the flagging local economy. The beneficiaries of the new homes include E.A., a 73-year-old widow from Bejt Jala near Bethlehem. She is living in a ‘home’ of some 40 square metres hewn into some natural caves. She earns just over 100 euros per month (130 US dollars). She has no kitchen, bathroom or running water. Last year she introduced some wild cats into her home to drive out some poisonous snakes with which she was plagued. EDUCATION AND micro-finanCE are the main means used by Caritas SpaIN to support the cause of Palestinian women. Seventy women were helped in their studies and in activities of micro-credit in 2005. The programme has now been renewed to permit other women, some 175, to get out of the poverty trap. They will be given the opportunity to continue their studies, also at university; loans to help them start up a commercial activity will be allocated to a further ten of them. PEACE NOW. “Peace must come soon or it may not come to either people for a long time”: that’s the warning of the world council of churchEs (WCC) at the end of a meeting held at Bossey, near Geneva, from 16 to 19 May, during which both Israelis and Palestinians were asked to hold “to one and the same standard for ending violence, meeting the existing agreements and recognizing each other’s existence”. In the final statement of the meeting, with the title “The time is ripe to do what is right”, the WCC encourages the Palestinian Authority to maintain “the existing one-party cease-fire toward Israel”. It also urges Israel to “end the punitive measures imposed on the Palestinian people in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention”. Lastly, the WCC appeals to the Churches to “share solidarity with people on both sides of the conflict and to use legitimate forms of pressure to promote a just peace” and urges measures to combat anti-Semitism. A DREAM IN COMMON. One of the dreams of young Palestinians and Israelis is that of being able to move freely, without limits. This is a typical aspiration of many other youngsters throughout the world. Yet, says Franck Biancheri, director of Studies and Strategies for Europe 2020 ( www.europe2020.org http://www.europe2020.org ), “in an area almost as large as Belgium, Israelis and Palestinians don’t have freedom of movement. At the start of the third millennium the EU must be able to play a greater role. Europeans are the symbol of the cultural and geographic mobility of which Palestinian and Israeli youth can only dream”.