----- Original Message -----
From: "David Virtue" <DVirtue236@...>
To: <ORTHODOXANGLICAN@...>
Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 12:56 AM
Subject: [ORTHODOXANGLICAN] WAR WITH IRAQ COULD END CHRISTIAN PRESENCE IN
MIDDLE EAST


> WAR WITH IRAQ COULD END CHRISTIAN PRESENCE IN MIDDLE EAST
> An interview with Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal Anglican Bishop of the Middle
East
>
> SPECIAL REPORT
>
> By David W. Virtue
>
> HONG KONG-An Anglican Arab Bishop who resides in one of the world's
> most troubled hot spots believes peace is possible in the Middle East
> if the necessary compromises are made on all sides, but a war with Iraq
> could change the whole face of the Middle East and see the end of the
> Christian presence there. Bishop Riah lives in Jerusalem as head of the
> Anglican Communion in that region. His life is under close scrutiny by
> the Israeli authorities because of his close personal friendship with
> Yasir Arafat. He was recently humiliated crossing the border into
> Lebanon even though he carries a diplomatic passport and has a
> chauffeured driven car. I interviewed Bishop Riah while he attended the
> Anglican Consultative Council. In speaking with the bishop one is
> conscious of the fact that religion and politics are deeply entwined in
> the affairs of the Middle East. Religion lies at the heart of all
> questions and discussions. Jerusalem is more than just the spiritual
> center for three religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam - it is
> also the emotional center for all three. Anything can trigger a violent
> reaction. Anything. A badly timed visit by the Israeli Prime Minister;
> a wall that might fall down that could cause an uprising; American
> fundamentalists thinking they can usher in the Second Coming, or
> extremist orthodox Jews wanting to lay the stones for the Second
> Temple. Violence can erupt like fireworks on the 4th of July. I asked
> Bishop Riah what hope he saw not only for peace in that volatile region
> but for Christianity itself as the Christian Arab population grows
> smaller by the day.
>
> VIRTUOSITY:  Bishop Riah what is the current situation in Israel today
> and what hope do you see for any kind of peace?
>
> RIAH: As far as the situation in Israel and Palestine is concerned it
> is becoming very tense. People are not sure what may develop and are
> quite anxious about the way the American administration and President
> Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair keep threatening to go to
> war against Iraq. God forbid if it should happen. It will certainly
> affect the whole region perhaps many parts in our global village. But a
> real concern as an Arab Palestinian Christian is that waging war
> against Iraq may bring the end of Christian presence in the birthplace
> of our faith. The church being a minority in the Middle East but having
> its links with the Church in western countries may find itself again
> caught in between and maybe challenged or encouraged to escape the
> situation.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: Do you see any light at the end of the tunnel in the
> endless cycle of violence on both sides?
>
> RIAH: Yes certainly, provided Israel is made to comply with UN
> resolutions, the way Iraq is being made to comply with UN resolutions.
> The UN resolutions 2338 and 194 are the foundations and base for a
> peaceful settlement in the Middle East whereby Israel would withdraw
> from the occupied territories of 1967 and find a way with others to
> resolve the issue of the refugees by respecting their right of return
> even though I believe many will not return and enjoy security in secure
> borders. Israel would be recognized by their neighboring countries when
> the Palestinians  have their independent state on Palestinian soil side
> by side with Israel.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: What about Jerusalem?
>
> RIAH: Jerusalem is an issue but there is a way to find a solution - an
> arrangement that will satisfy both parties. Jerusalem becomes the
> capital of two states - east Jerusalem for Palestine and west Jerusalem
> for Israel, with open borders and the three religious communities be
> given jurisdiction over the three holy sites with a municipal council
> equally represented to run the day to day affairs. There can be no
> peace until there is justice for the Palestinians and the guarantee of
> security for Israel. The only way forward is to end the Israeli
> occupation of 1967. Once this is accepted as a principle then all of us
> will see the light while continuing our walk through the tunnel.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: What is the future for Palestinian Christians who seem to
> be increasingly marginalized by both Israel and militant Islamists?
>
> RIAH: The Arab Palestinian Christian community has lived side by side
> with the rest of the Arab world for 1400 years and though there came a
> time under Ottoman rule when we had it as difficult as the rest of the
> Arabs had it, under Arab rule we flourished and our service have been
> and continues to be recognized and greatly appreciated. In pre-1914 we
> made up 23 - 24 % of the population of Palestine. Today as a result of
> the ongoing conflict and the war of 1948 when the majority of our
> people were expelled from their homeland, among them many of our church
> people. We have dwindled to 1.5 percent today throughout Israel and
> Palestine.
>
> To illustrate how serious this issue is in East Jerusalem we had 28,000
> Christians until 1967. Today after 35 years under Israeli occupation we
> should have become 65, 000 to 70,000 people. The total number of
> Christians of different denominations is close to 8,000. If the church
> in the world keeps being indifferent or allowing the leaders of the
> world to play a double standard, or continue to misinterpret biblical
> "prophecy" in the manner of some evangelical fundamentalists are doing
> I fear that the Christian presence will cease to be in the very
> birthplace of our faith.
>
> Of interest to note is that out of the one million Arab Palestinian
> Christians in the world, only 165,000 continue to live in Palestine and
> Israel.
>
> I am told there are 250,000 Arab Palestinian Christians living in Chile
> alone. Arab Christians can be found in Australia, Canada, NZ and around
> the world.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: Do you see that reversing of this trend at any time in the
> future?
>
> RIAH: Only if peace comes to the area. The moment we witness the
> signing of the Oslo Agreement of 1993 the number of families can return
> home, especially emigrants to Australia and the like who kept their
> Israeli passports and had the right of return. Believing that lasting
> peace is on the way, and that the opportunities for life in the Middle
> East beginning with the homeland could be as good as opportunities
> anywhere else in the world.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: Is a Palestinian state likely given Ariel Sharon's less
> than lukewarm support for it and while the cycles of violence
> continues?
>
> RIAD: The Palestinian State is now a de facto state. They have a
> parliament, passports, and Palestinian stamps. They are responsible for
> education, medical services, and they have their own police. De facto
> it is there. There will be a bigger number of nations who will
> recognize Palestine than the number of nations recognizing Israel.
>
> The UN as early as 1947 resolved with resolution 181 that there would
> be two states within geographic Palestine - a Palestinian and an
> Israeli. The Palestinians have waited so long for the international
> community to see to it that a peaceful settlement on the basis of UN
> resolutions be brought about for the sake of both peoples, especially
> the two peoples who have been predestined to live side by side. Today
> there are 4.5 million Arab Palestinians living in Israel and Palestine
> over against 5.5 Jews. In no time the demography of the land may also
> have its impact. Why wait when the way is open now for peace and
> reconciliation not only between Palestinians and Israelis but between
> Israel and all the Arab countries. I was present at the Arab summit in
> Beirut last April when it was resolved unanimously that they were ready
> to normalize relations with Israelis provided Israel complies with the
> UN resolutions and end its occupation and sign the peace treaty with
> Palestine. However when I meet with Israelis I tell them often how
> impressed by their intelligence only I am saddened about how unwise
> they are. "You lack the wisdom of Solomon," I tell them. I explain this
> telling them that they cannot establish peace and demolish homes over
> dead bodies in camps and expect the Arab world to stand back while they
> continue to occupy Arab land be it in Palestine, Syria or Lebanon. And
> I tell them "you have lived among Arabs for close to 2,000 years since
> the time when you were expelled in 70 AD, and at the time no one had
> heard of Brooklyn or Auckland, NZ. You lived among our people. You
> lived with us, we welcome having equal rights like other minorities and
> all of sudden you started to talk of Arabs as the enemy. I challenge
> them to show me where they were persecuted by the Arabs. I don't mean
> to forget that there were tribal conflicts. But the Jews had it better
> with the Arabs than when they were living in western countries.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: What about Israeli fears of being pushed into the sea?
>
> RIAH: It is not a real fear and Arabs are not interested in pushing
> anybody. There are some voices, insignificant and individual voices but
> this fear is not justified. Israel can hope to survive in peace more
> than in war, irrespective of its military strength.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: Do you think the average Israeli wants to live in peace
> with Arabs?
>
> RIAH: The majority on both sides want to put an end to this pain and
> suffering. They want to live at peace, they want to live at peace and
> they want to heal the wounds of the past and build up mutual trust and
> mutual respect, and recognition. In the words of Desmond Tutu when
> asked about the fact that both peoples live side by side, he said you
> remind me of scrambled eggs that no one can unscramble. We have one
> alternative to this ongoing conflict, peace with justice and ending the
> Israeli occupation and having the two-state solution as I describe. In
> years [it is possible] to allow for a joint team to examine the
> possibility and the potential in moving from a federation to a
> confederation while being encouraged or encouraging each other that we
> can become not only as good as the Swiss but even better. We have so
> much in common, and I don't see that another round of hostilities would
> resolve the issue. Wars never make peace.
>
> QUESTION: Is the Anglican Church growing?
>
> RIAH: The Anglican Church is stable. Less people are emigrating. We
> have our difficulties as a result of the present
> situation...difficulties in movement, in finding the means to subsidize
> our institutions, but thanks to many Christian people in the world in
> particular the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Presiding Bishop of the
> United States, the ACC and the like who rushed to help us in our time
> of need.
>
> As Anglicans in spite of the seriousness of the situation we continue
> to keep 34 Institutions of education, medical and the like in service.
> We provide close to 1500 employees with their means for daily living,
> and our services reach hundreds of thousands. So we are concerned that
> should there be war in the Middle East that the situation would become
> more difficult, perhaps to some unbearable but we continue to pray and
> hope that God in His grace and mercy will enlighten the minds of the
> rulers to come to terms with what would bring an end to enmity and
> hostility in the Middle East.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: What is the future of Christianity itself in Israel?
>
> RIAH: Today there are 16 million Arab Christians in the Middle East
> most of whom live in Egypt and the Sudan. The wars and conflicts may
> cause the greatest harm to the Christian presence in the Middle East.
> The fact that we are members of one church in the world, with a
> majority living in Western countries, many do not only think West but
> head west, while at the same time some from among our own people view
> the Christians as part of the west forget that Christianity was born in
> Palestine in a Middle Eastern city.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: What is the future of the Anglican Church in Israel? Are
> you growing by evangelism or simply by ethnic birth?
>
> RIAH: We have our outreach program through our institutions. We share
> our faith. We don't impose it. When peace comes to Jerusalem a just and
> lasting peace, peace will come to the whole world and in a peaceful
> world and a peaceful Middle East and in a peaceful land of the Holy One
> there is greater hope for the church to flourish. Certainly this
> requires that the church become more involved, better informed and more
> committed to the cause of peace and justice in our part of the world.
>
> VIRTUOSITY: Do you have real hope that change is possible and the
> church will be free to grow and proclaim the gospel in Israel
> unfettered by political concerns?
>
> RIAH: Only when peace comes in the land. Today people are anxious,
> worried and their minds are busy pondering what the future there might
> bring. That is why we pray that a peaceful settlement is reached there
> and that the children of Abraham learn how to live together and also
> that together we become a great possibility for peace in the world.
> There must be a transformation in the Middle East from a place of
> conflict into a peaceful paradise.
>
> END