No land in the world seems to have been so often dug and excavated (for archeological purposes), or has drunk so much human blood (to prove who is the more powerful,) or prides itself of so many churches and mosques -- in search of true God of peace -- as Jerusalem.

THE WALL

Jerusalem is a city of contradictions.  Though it bears the name of peace, very rarely it seems to have enjoyed lasting peace.  Archaeologists find so many walls raised in the course of history.  Today no one can miss the gigantic walls rising daily around the Jewish enclaves protected by military posts and checkpoints at every possible juncture.

It is indeed sad that the Jewish people who have succeeded in making the deserts and rocky mountains bloom with fruit trees must depend on this stony walls for their well being.  Each block of the wall costs Euro 5000 and sadly enough they are made by the cheap labour of poor Palestinians to keep them away from the main city and all the facilities like hospital, school, church, and recreation.

In order to protect the Jewish citizens from guerilla attacks of Hamaz terrorists the Israeli government came up with a solution to build huge walls depriving the Palestinians and non Jews of all entries into their areas.  They just took away the land to build this ignominious wall without compensation to those who lost their lands.  It has become the wailing wall of the Palestinians.

          Today the poor Palestinians have to wait for hours to get into Jewish territory for work.  Families are divided living on both sides.  The toothless UN raised a faint protest against it and fell silent.  One has just to walk near the wall to see the unimaginable sufferings inflicted on helpless people who have to climb endless rounds of steps  to  reach   their  destination because of the walls, and people clandestiningly jumping over small fences of houses on the border lines and escaping from the vigilance of the army patrol.

Many of the old Palestinians do not have the documents of identity and cannot move about freely.  They cannot visit their dear ones on the other side of the walls because of the lack of documents.  We can see all sorts of graffiti against Bush, Sharon, Tony Blair on these walls.  It is pathetic to see people walk exhausted with perspiration to the hospital making an hour walk which could have been made in 10 minutes if there were no wall. 

SYMBOLIC STATUS OF THE WALL

The walls are the visible signs of the invisible hatred, suspicion and superiority.  I think the foundation of every wall is dug deep in the heart.  Jews by nature seem to be a very stubborn race.  They are very conscious of their self sufficiency and their fighting spirit.  Hence they do not feel the need of human relationship with other races.  It is very difficult to cut a friendly conversation with an orthodox Jew who always moves at high speed towards somewhere.  They seem to be highly conscious of their blood relationship with Yahweh that they do not like to have anything to do with others except money transactions.  (See Shylock's speech in the "Merchant of Venice").

JEWISH LAW

According to Jewish Law only a person born of a Jewish woman is a pure Jew.  The Israeli government has added to it a restriction saying any Jew from any country can immigrate to Israel and be received except those who have adhered to another religion.  So it is difficult for a religious to get visa for more than three months unless they come to replace a religious who has died in Israel or left.

All along history the small Jewish nation had been oppressed by various external powers and had to struggle for its existence.  Naturally they developed an extraordinary fidelity to their God Yahweh and his promise of a permanent land.

Jerusalem was their dream.  That dream was realized with the establishment of the Jewish state.  Today that hope having been fulfilled they are struggling to find their identity -- coming back from different countries and cultures.  Rabbi Alain Michel, a French Immigrant and historian at the Hebrew University defines a Jew by saying "To be a Jew in the 21st century is to be an Israeli Jew who becomes again a Hebrew.  Thus the modern Jew builds a huge mental wall of religious and cultural fidelity.

EXASPERATIONS

On the other hand we must try to understand the exasperations of these Jews.  They foresee an explosion of Palestinian population drowning the Jewish growth in their home land.  They often think of the story of the camel requesting the Bedouin to give a little bit of space in the tent to shelter its head from the heat and soon finding itself completely in the tent, pushing out the Bedouin.  They are unable to trust the Palestinians who time and again broke their promises and attacked the Jewish settlements.

The financial and moral support of the Arab countries for the Palestinians is another preoccupation for the Jews.  When the Jews see their most holy place, "the ruins of the temple" occupied by the Palestinians, it is a great humiliation to them.

HOPE

If walls are symbols of hatred and fear and suspicion, there are some positive signs rising -- new roads of hope built by some who dream of connecting human hearts through their efforts.  There are today some 75 international and national organizations in and around Jerusalem trying to promote harmony and understanding between the Jews and Palestinians.

One such endeavor is Wahat-as-Salaam (oasis of peace) a small village on the hillock bordering the valley Aq Ayalona -- a place of many battles since ancient times.  It was a dream child of a French Jew turned Catholic monk Bruno Kassar with two other visionaries Rina and Anne.  Wahat As Salam is 30 Kilometres from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ramallah.  It was a no man's land belonging to the trappist monks who have leased it for a paltry sum.

In 1977 after three years of pioneering effort three families of Arab and Jewish origin decided to experiment living alongside in harmony and friendship overcoming their differences.  It was founded on the mutual acceptance, respect and cooperation in daily life.  Each family lives according to its cultural and religious beliefs.

The experiment started with three families, today it counts 50 families.  It has the second generation.  The daily life is organized on democratic basis with a secretary and executive committee which is elected every year.  This village is independent of all exterior authority, with no political affiliation and has achieved international recognition and many prizes from different countries.

Education of future citizens being its main motive, they started with kindergarten school in two languages in 1990.  A primary school up to sixth standard started in 2003 and hopes to start a junior school soon.  This year there are 300 children of which 237 come in primary school and more than 90% coming from villages nearby.

After long delays, in 2000 the government has given its official recognition as official extra regional school though no subsidy is granted.  The school for peace organizes various programmes, Jewish-Arab meetings to promote a knowledge and understanding of each other's culture.

Since 1979 more than 30,000 youths have participated and a good number of them have since engaged themselves in other peace organizations.  Since the beginning they have organized workshops, seminars, formation, courses, etc., for adults, teachers, educators, social workers, lawyers, journalists, university students, development programmes for Palestinians,etc.  Since the second Intifada-rising the youth get-together are becoming rare as it is more difficult to organize.

Because of the predominance of Judeo Arabic conflict, Neve Shalom, has become a non-religious undertaking bringing together believers and non-believers in search of peace in the heart of silence of the desert.  Families who are willing to live here must undertake to abide by the common vision for peace.  They have a hall of peace for silent prayer and reflection.

At Neve Shalom, the residents do not think of walls but of new horizon where people with different religion and culture will live in harmony.  It is symbolic that the residents of Nev Shalom have put up a nice road levelling the rocks towards the Nev Shalom village welcoming the outsiders.

CONCLUSION

Jerusalem has always been a land of prophets.  I guess God has not stopped inspiring and challenging people to become prophets.  When the prophets are willing to suffer any hardship they are able to build long roads to peace.  When one walks the solid stone roads winding along the old Jerusalem and see the wonderfully planned and executed highways, one prays and hopes that similar invisible roads could be paved by people of good will.

Joe Dorairaj S.J
Jesuit Community
Chikuni