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Griswold's Pastoral Visit to Middle East Comes at Very Tense Time in Peace Process

Episcopal News Service. May 8, 1998 [98-2161]

(ENS) The blue-and-white flags with the Star of David were flying allover Israel as Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold arrived for his first pastoral visit to the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East. In a series of high level conversations with church and government leaders -- Israeli and Palestinian -- he and his party discovered that the celebration of the country's golden anniversary came at a time when the search for peace in the region had screeched to an abrupt halt and there was growing concern for the Christian presence.

"We hope that we will find a way -- but for now the peace process is frozen, some would say that it is dying," said Faisel Husseini, who represents the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem. Warning of the "high price" both sides would pay if the Americans didn't succeed in putting the process back on track, he offered a sober assessment of the very difficult struggle the Palestinians face in rebuilding their society. And he sounded a theme that would haunt the intense five-day visit in early May -- the diminishing presence of Christians in the land of Christ's birth. "As a Muslim I cannot see Jerusalem without Christians because they are important for our life."

"You might come back in 20 years and no one will be here to greet you," warned Bishop Coadjutor Riah EI Assal of the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East. "The church is under obligation to reverse the trend and urge Christians to return to Jerusalem," he said.

Riah tells about growing up in Nazareth at a time when 90 percent of the city was Christian. "Now it is only about 34 percent," he says. "And Bethlehem is already a Muslim city. I remember what President Jimmy Carter said to us years ago, that if we ever get our act together we would have a wonderful future."

Riah sees some hopeful sign that Christians are beginning to return and that the churches are entering a new era of cooperation.

Whose future?

While Vice President AI Gore congratulated Israel on its anniversary for being "one of the most vibrant democracies in history" and "a wellspring of productivity and prosperity, wisdom and humanity," Palestinians expressed deep anger that their struggle was ignored.

A glum President Yasser Arafat welcomed the presiding bishop and his party to Palestinian Authority offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah hours before he was scheduled to fly to London for American-sponsored talks on restoring the peace process.

Arafat expressed disappointment with Gore's speech and said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is implementing the threats he made during his political campaign to guarantee the security of the nation. "And we are paying the price. If it continues no one can imagine what will happen."

Griswold reminded Arafat that the Episcopal Church had expressed its consistent support for the "struggles of the Palestinian people and the search for a just peace." Arafat urged American Christians to pressure the Clinton Administration into using its leverage with the Israelis.

"Unless the Americans push, nothing is going to happen," said the Rev. Nairn Ateek, an Anglican who directs a peace institute in Jerusalem, in a conversation prior to the meeting with Arafat. "We are close to peace and yet very far from it. While vast majorities on both sides are in favor, they are held hostage by extremists."

Women pay a heavy price

Arafat was not the only one outraged by Gore's comments. In an intensely emotional conversation with a group of Palestinian Christian women, Phoebe Griswold heard a string of personal testimonies to the difficulties of everyday life.

"We have lost everything," said one woman from the West Bank "As women we are part of a nation that is not free," added another. "We are suffering from 50 years of dispossession and injustice where even our most basic human rights are denied."

The women said that Gore's praise for Israel ignored the fact that Israel was a nation "built on the ruins of another people, without any hint that Israel should face its moral obligations."

"Sometimes we are in danger of losing our faith," one woman admitted quietly. "But we are also builders of faith. We have kept faith alive because we can't afford to lose our faith."

"As we go through our daily struggles we often ask, Is God here, is God with us?" added another woman. "Yet we learn to see God in every person."

Mrs. Griswold told the group of her visit to the traditional burial place of Rachel, wife of the biblical patriarch Jacob. According to the account in Jeremiah, Rachel wept bitterly as she watched her children being driven into exile by the Babylonians. Matthew's Gospel uses the same image in describing the massacre of the Innocent Children of Bethlehem following the birth of Christ.

In the wake of some violent confrontations during which a young boy was killed by Israeli soldiers, the tomb is now behind walls and an Israeli guard tower. Mrs. Griswold said that the visit convinced her that the "women of the world should run this place" since it symbolizes their sorrow, "and men should get out of the way."

The women pointed out that the shrine is in the middle of Palestinian land but under Jewish control. "Yet we are leading such difficult lives, we have little time to think about Rachel," said a woman. "Our concern is who will protect our children." Another said that it was very difficult for Palestinians even to visit the more important tomb of Jesus at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre because of Israeli restrictions on travel.

"Then what is your hope?" Mrs. Griswold asked. In a chorus, the women said that they wanted a peaceful life, freedom for their children, no more soldiers beating Palestinians. "Without hope I would move away," said a young woman.

They urged Mrs. Griswold to share their hopes with Christians in America. "Tell them who we are and remind them that there are Christians here in the land where Jesus lived.... We want to live without war but we cannot do this by ourselves....Help us keep the church alive because we have a mission, a witness."

In response, Mrs. Griswold said that she was convinced that they could change the world with their stories. "And we will be back."

The road to peace is twisted

"I want a happy neighbor, not a hungry neighbor," said President Ezer Weizman in welcoming the group to his office in Jerusalem. When the presiding bishop observed that the visit came at "a very significant time, with the precariousness of the peace process," the president said that he was convinced that the Israelis and Palestinians could find a way of "sharing and living together."

Weizman admitted his concern with the stalled peace process, observing that "the road to peace is very twisted." Yet his cautious optimism was based on the fact that "everyone has so much at stake."

"It has taken 50 years to make a nation," the president said, but "for now the main task is to move to settle the problems with the Palestinians." The economic links may provide a way to draw both sides closer together, he suggested. "Charity begins at home. We must take care of the needs of the Arabs."

The president's comments echoed an earlier conversation with Jerusalem's ebullient mayor, Ehud Olmert, who said that the city was "the most inspiring and exciting place in the universe." Even though it was never "a city of peace, that is our dream." He outlined what he called a growing partnership in building the city.

The city's strength, however, is based on its unity. "Jerusalem won't be shared politically" because the Jews have "a political history going back 3000 years" while the Palestinians "have no political history in the city."

Living stones

In sermons at St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem, the presiding bishop reminded a diverse congregation that they were all "pilgrims in this holy place, this holy land." Yet he warned against becoming "fixed on echoes of the past" and urged them to remember that "Christ is here. Christ is the living presence," represented by the small Christian community, which he called "the living stones."

Griswold described Jerusalem as "a sacrament of division" since "every conflict is in some way represented in the life of this holy city." And yet the fractured humanity so apparent in the city cannot obscure "the vision of peace represented by Jerusalem. When that vision is made concrete in human relationships, when the conflicts are resolved, then the divisions will be resolved, and we will all be bound together in peace and justice."

"As a sign and symbol of the world's conflicts," he added, "when peace comes here it will come everywhere."

Issues in sharper relief

Even though it was his fourth visit to the Middle East, Bishop Griswold said that the issues were in "sharper relief' this time because of his wider contacts with political leaders and with the Palestinian community.

In an interview at the end of the visit, he said that he was struck by the "universal concern over the decline of the indigenous Christian population." Yet the situation seemed to be drawing the church leaders closer together. He based his conclusion on visits with the leaders of a half dozen churches. He cited the agreement, after many years of argument, by the churches with jurisdiction over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to fix the dome, "a good sign and symbol of their willingness to seek a common mind."

Yet the presiding bishop admitted that he was surprised and alarmed by the "hopelessness expressed over the stymied peace process -- and the growing fear that, if the process doesn't move in a positive direction, there will be violence and destructive rage, further polarizing the population."

Bishop Griswold is encouraged that there are Jewish leaders who are concerned about the plight of the Palestinians and strong supporters of the peace process, both in the United States and the Middle East. "There are some heroic efforts to bridge the gap and make Israel a place of justice." During a shabbat dinner with a rabbi who is very active in the political life of Israel, he found that they shared a deep concern for the Palestinians and the search for peace.

"Being here makes some of our domestic controversies pale in comparison because these people are dealing with survival issues," the presiding bishop said.

Depths of faith

Phoebe Griswold added that she had "never really heard this story before, that a people could face annihilation, that a political leader could say that the Palestinians have no history, that they could think that they are a people with no song to sing, no stories to tell....Yet through their suffering the Palestinians have found a depth of faith that few of us have experienced."

" At this point of transition in leadership it is important to remind them of our consistent concern as a church," the presiding bishop said. He expressed gratitude for the ministry of Ed and Patti Browning in the region, "the rock on which this visit was built." (The former presiding bishop will serve as a chaplain at St. George's College for three months this winter, according to Bishop Bob Jones, dean of the college.)

Both the presiding bishop and Phoebe agreed that their "enthusiastic reception had been strengthening, a clear sign of hope. Our visit reminds them that they have not been forgotten."

"It is clear in our conversation with political and religious leaders that they know who we are and our church's position on the issues and that they expect us to support efforts for peace," said the Rev. Brian Grieves, the church's peace and justice officer and staff support on the pastoral visit. "They know how committed we to push for the implementation the positions our church has taken over the years -- and how ready we are to support those who are seeking justice."