"The Salesian community strongly opposes to the unilateral separation policy; it repeats that it has nothing to do with the planning of the course of the Wall, and at the same time it makes an appeal to all the authorities concerned for the reinstatement of international legality". This was written by Father Giovanni Laconi, from the Salesian inspectorate of the Middle East, in a message about the start of the work for the building of the Israeli partition wall in the Palestinian land of Beit Jala, to which the House of Cremisan, run by the Salesians, belongs. "Vis-à-vis the building of the Wall explains Father Laconi the Salesian community has by no means contributed to aggravating the difficult condition of the Palestinian village, nor has it in any way either direct or indirect furthered the requisition of the lands that belong to such village". On the contrary, during some long periods of the first and second Intifada, the Salesians "let the Palestinian vehicles drive along their inland roads, because there were no alternative options for connections between the north and the south of the Territories". The Salesians renew their "sympathy" with the Palestinian population, "still suffering from the hardships of the occupation", and wish "may every Wall between peoples fall down for a future of peace".
