CHRISTIAN leaders in the Holy Land, together with the World Council of Churches, have appealed to the United States for “active intervention” to “protect the Christian heritage and presence” in the face of growing hostility — in Jerusalem in particular.
They conveyed their message to President Biden during his visit to the Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, at the end of last week. The Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, said that Christians in the city were witnessing “unprecedented attacks by Israeli radical groups”, targeting churches, clergy, and individual Christians.
Church leaders expressed “grave concerns that those perpetrating the attacks are not held accountable, which in turn creates an environment that repels Christians from their own city”. Maintaining the Christian presence was “an important message to humanity”, and maintaining the status quo was a priority for all Churches.
President Biden’s schedule included a 55-minute slot for a meeting with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas — too short for a detailed discussion of peace efforts.
The US President said that he hoped his presence would mark “the start of a new and reinvigorated dialogue between the Palestinian Authority and the US” after a period of frozen relations during the Trump presidency. Repeating the US’s commitment to a two-state solution, President Biden said that he recognised that “Palestinian people are hurting now. We can just feel it, your grief and frustration. . . Even if the ground is not ripe at this moment to start negotiations”, his administration, he said, would not give up trying to bring the Palestinians closer together.
President Abbas assured President Biden of the Palestinians’ “readiness to work with you, hand in hand, in order to achieve a comprehensive and just peace based on international legitimacy”.
The US President’s brief encounter with the Palestinian leader was in contrast to his extensive talks the previous day with Israeli leaders. President Biden expressed both continuing US political and military support, and his own personal affection for Israel. Palestinians could not fail to notice the contrast.
“It will be hard for the US to be an honest broker for peace when it sides with Israel,” president of Christ Episcopal School, in Nazareth, the Ven. Samuel Barhoum, said on Tuesday. “Biden has stated that he doesn’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist. . . Therefore, his visit to the Palestinians was short and a mere formality. He tried to appease the Palestinians with economic incentives, but what we really need is an end to occupation and discrimination.”
Even if a peace plan had been on the table, it is hard to imagine how two elderly leaders, with dwindling support in their own communities, would have had the dynamism to carry it forward in the face of fiercely opposing groups on both sides.