Today, October 23, 2002, three Palestinian Heads of Churches were harassed by Israeli security Personnel in Tel Aviv Airport.

Bishop Riah Abu El-Asal, Head of the Anglican Church, Bishop Munib Younan, Head of the Lutheran Church, and Bishop Boutros Mouallem and Abbouna Elias Chakour of the Greek Catholic Church were on their way to London, U.K., to attend follow-up meetings on the Alexandria Declaration, which constitutes one of the rare and successful initiatives for interfaith dialogue between Christians, Moslem, and Jews. Yet, it seems that the official Israeli establishment is not interested in interfaith dialogue, because it is an establishment consumed in its own fantasies about self-righteousness, and the paranoia that everybody is out to get them.

The three Heads of Churches found the harassment at the airport totally unacceptable, and inconsistent with their religious status and their record as champions of human rights and peace. So they decided to return to Jerusalem, and not to pursue their trip to London.

Unfortunately, the official Israeli establishment thwarted the opportunity for interfaith dialogue. The current Israeli Government, consumed in its own self-fulfilling prophecies about the world, is not interested in peace nor justice, because that would expose its true image as a government of occupation.

We call upon all church leaders worldwide, human rights organizations, diplomatic missions, and governments, to work on building peace in the Middle East, and that starts by allowing people to talk to each other, to agree and disagree, and to search for commonalities that will bind us together, despite the enemies of peace who do not want us to succeed.

LCHL

Laity Committee in the Holy Land ( LCHL ) is a group of young Palestinian Christian Laity from all denominations seeking to activate the Christian role in the general aspects of the Palestinian life.
Jerusalem - P O Box 19055, Ph. 050 545 179, Fax 6271574.