[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 25 (Tuesday, March 2, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E273-E274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  BISHOP MUNIB YOUNAN ADDRESSES CONGRESS ON THE PROSPECTS FOR ISRAELI-
                           PALESTINIAN PEACE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LOIS CAPPS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 2, 2004

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I recently traveled to Israel and the West 
Bank on a trip sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 
It was one of the busiest, most exciting, and thought-provoking weeks 
of my life, and it added immeasurably to my understanding of the 
complexities and challenges of Israeli and Palestinian life.
  During this trip, I had the good fortune to spend a great deal of 
time with Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, the Lutheran Bishop in Jerusalem. 
I was not only blessed by Bishop Younan's extraordinary hospitality, 
but benefited so much from his intimate knowledge of the region, the 
issues, and the key players on both sides.
  Mr. Speaker, 2 weeks ago, Bishop Younan came to Capitol Hill for a 
discussion with several Members and staffers. It was indeed a 
compelling conversation. Since not all of my colleagues were able to 
meet the Bishop personally, I would like to publish in the 
Congressional Record a copy of his remarks. I look forward to 
continuing to work with all of my colleagues on the critical imperative 
to bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end.

       Dear Friends: Good afternoon. It is an honor and a 
     privilege for me to be here. I am going to talk about peace 
     building and reconciliation in the Israeli-Palestinian 
     conflict. I will do so from a Palestinian Christian 
     perspective.
       I am a Palestinian and a Christian, and I happen to be a 
     Lutheran. My home is in Jerusalem. We Palestinian Christians 
     have lived in the Holy Land since the very beginning of 
     Christianity.
       Today we Christians are not as many as we used to be, due 
     to emigration. But nevertheless we Christians are an integral 
     segment of the Palestinian people. My family became refugees 
     in the 1948 war. I still carry a United Nations-issued 
     refugee card. I wonder if I had grown up in the difficult 
     circumstances of a refugee camp in Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus 
     or Ramallah and if the Lutheran Church had not embraced me 
     and my family in Jerusalem, if I ever would have had the 
     opportunity to serve the church as a pastor or a bishop.
       Sometimes, I am asked what is the role of the Church in the 
     midst of such an unjust and destructive situation? I believe 
     the Church is called to be prophetic. That means the Church 
     is to stand for justice, condemning every kind of injustice, 
     spiral violence or oppression whoever the perpetrator may be. 
     But at the same time, the Palestinian Church has a vision for 
     justice and peace. This prophetic role emanates from Prophet 
     Micah who taught us: ``God has told you, O mortal, what is 
     good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do 
     justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your 
     God.'' (Micah 6:8)
       I wish to mention three particular circumstances of 
     injustice:
       (1) The Separation Wall being built by Israel.
       The Separation Wall is intended to separate lsraelis from 
     Palestinians and is said to be a ``security wall'' for 
     Israelis. I would submit to you that this wall is bound to 
     create more hatred, more anger and more outrage because of 
     the enormous losses and suffering it is creating among the 
     Palestinian people. In my own Lutheran synod we are finding 
     our people, pastors and churches being torn apart, separated 
     by the Wall. The members of the Lutheran Church of the 
     Redeemer in the Old City of Jerusalem and other Christians 
     will find half of their congregations on one side and half 
     on the other if the wall is built through a northern area 
     of Jerusalem as is proposed. In Beit Sahour, 110 
     Palestinian Christian families are threatened to lose 
     their houses because they happen to be near the separation 
     wall that will be built. The Catholic bishops from the 
     U.S.A. and Europe issued a statement on the 16th of 
     January 2004 after their visit to Jerusalem by saying: 
     ``We have seen the devastating effect of the wall 
     currently being built through the land and homes of 
     Palestinian communities. This appears to be a permanent 
     structure dividing families, isolating them from their 
     farmland and their livelihoods, and cutting off religious 
     institutions.'' His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, has said 
     that ``the Holy Land does not need walls, but bridges.'' 
     We long in the Holy Land for bridges rather than walls!
       The separation wall diminishes the hope held by 
     Palestinians and Israelis that a negotiated solution 
     resulting in two states, side by side, living in peace, is 
     possible. The wall undermines the viability of a two state 
     solution.
       (2) A rapidly declining Palestinian economy.
       The World Bank notes that 70 percent of Palestinians living 
     under the military occupation are unemployed. And 65 percent 
     of the population is living under the poverty line of $2.00 
     USD per day. Another statistic recently released shows that 
     the average per capita income of Palestinians is under 
     $1500.00, while the average per capita income of Israelis is 
     more than $18,000.00, again according to the World Bank. As 
     you can imagine, this impoverishment has created major health 
     and nutrition crises, as well as shattering the dignity of 
     people and severely damaging the family unit and the whole 
     society. The poverty has a devastating impact on our daily 
     lives, but also undermines our hope for the future and 
     reconciliation.
       (3) Increasing isolation of Palestinian people in their 
     towns and cities.
       Most of our Palestinian cities and villages have become 
     under siege. People are forced to remain within their town, 
     hemmed in by checkpoints, roadblocks, tanks, armaments and 
     Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers and now, increasingly, 
     by the Separation Wall. Recently we have begun hearing that 
     any foreign visitors or workers in Israel must apply for a 
     permit to enter the West Bank, something that has been done 
     in regard to the Gaza Strip for sometime. Such permits, even 
     if issued, will severely limit the people who come into the 
     Palestinian towns and villages to help people and churches. I 
     would

[[Page E274]]

     like again to quote the report of the Catholic bishops: ``We 
     have had an experience of the frustration and humiliation 
     undergone everyday by Palestinians at checkpoints, which 
     impede them from providing for their families, reaching 
     hospital, getting to work, attending their studies and 
     visiting their relatives.''
       I am here carrying in my body the pains and suffering of my 
     Palestinian people. But I am here with an olive branch in my 
     hand, saying, ``Enough for hatred, enough for occupation, 
     enough for spiral violence, enough for revenge and counter-
     revenge; enough for stigmatization, demonization and 
     dehumanization of the other. I say, enough for war! It is 
     time for truth, justice and peace for all the people of 
     our land.''
       Our prophetic task is to address the root cause of the 
     Middle East problem: The occupation has to end. It is a sin 
     against God and against humanity because it is depriving 
     people of their rights and their dignity. Occupation is as 
     destructive to the occupier, as it is to the occupied. As the 
     Heads of Churches in Jerusalem stated in March 2002: ``We 
     believe that the Israeli security is dependent on the 
     Palestinian freedom and justice. For this reason, we join our 
     voices with every Israeli and Palestinian seeking for a just 
     peace. We ask everyone to take the appropriate measures to 
     stop further massacres or tragedies for our two peoples.''
       We want security for the Israelis, and freedom and justice 
     for the Palestinians. But the security of Israel is dependent 
     on the freedom of the Palestinians, and the justice of the 
     Palestinians is dependent on the security of Israel. Once we 
     recognize the symbiotic relationship between the two peoples, 
     a just peace and reconciliation will become reality.
       The prophetic voice of the Palestinian Church that seeks a 
     just peace is a voice that believes in the future. We support 
     a two state solution which means having the state of Israel 
     and the Palestinian state within the 67 borders living side 
     by side in peace, justice, equality and reconciliation with a 
     shared Jerusalem. Here I would like to affirm the statement 
     made by President George W. Bush on June 24, 2002, calling 
     for a two-state solution with people living side by side. I 
     also admire the president's call for a viable, contiguous 
     Palestinian state. It is also our call that a just solution 
     will be found to the problems of the Israeli settlements in 
     the West Bank and Gaza, and the right of return for 
     Palestinian refugees in accordance with the rule of law and 
     international legitimacy.
       No forms of peaceful settlement of the conflict will ever 
     be realized unless the grassroots will be reconciled with one 
     another. In this task the three monotheistic religions are 
     called to be the forerunners--preparing the way for 
     reconciliation. At the moment both nations are polarized with 
     both political and religious extremists from the three 
     religions forcing the two peoples apart from each other. But 
     those extremists must never kidnap the Middle East nor kidnap 
     justice, peace and reconciliation. I believe that religion 
     should be an instrument of peace and broker for justice. 
     Religion is to call Palestinians and Israelis--Jews, 
     Christians and Muslims--not to see God only in ourselves and 
     our own religion, but also in the other's, in the people who 
     are different from us. When we learn to see God in the other, 
     then we can accept the humanity of the other. Once we accept 
     the humanity of the other, then we accept the otherness of 
     the other, and then mutually recognize each other's human, 
     civil, religious, national and political rights. Only then 
     the Holy Land will become the promised land of milk and honey 
     for both Palestinians and Israelis.
       The Palestinian Church also has a vision for the 
     Palestinian society. The church leaders are also calling for 
     justice within our society based on respect of human and 
     religious rights. We envision a modern democratic just civil 
     society. This is the reason that we have been vocal in our 
     joint ecumenical work to call for equality, freedom of 
     religion, opinion and expression for every human being. But 
     the Palestinian Church does not only talk, but walks the talk 
     and reflects that either in the immerging basic constitution, 
     or practices it in our educational, health and social 
     institutions. If we take the Evangelical Lutheran Church as 
     an example, we serve the needy regardless of gender, 
     religion, confessional or political affiliation. Our schools 
     raise up a new generation that is capable of building a 
     Palestinian democratic modern civil society. We are 
     teaching 3000 children in 5 schools. 37 percent of our 
     students are Muslims. It is our aim to teach coexistence 
     among Jews, Christians and Muslims, and we offer peace 
     education and non-violent ways of dealing with the 
     conflict. As it is written in our school in Bethlehem, 
     ``Violence is the tool of the incompetent.'' We also serve 
     in hospitals. Our Augusta Victoria Hospital has been 
     serving the Palestinian refugees for the last 55 years. 
     Statistics show that 22,000 patients were treated in the 
     last year. However, we are facing a problem of the 
     employer's tax with the ministry of finance of the state 
     of Israel. The Lutheran World Federation hopes that a 
     solution will be found and that the agreement of tax 
     exemption will continue for the sake of the services we 
     render. Although we Christians are less than 2 percent of 
     the total population, we serve 20 to 25 percent of the 
     Palestinian people. And we urge you to see the significant 
     role that the Christian Church is playing to create hope 
     in a situation that often seems hopeless and to build a 
     future with justice, peace and reconciliation in our 
     country.
       When God gave freedom and power to the United States of 
     America through the struggles of many women and men such as 
     Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and others, He 
     did not give you liberation to keep it in the United States, 
     but to help smaller nations, who are living in fear and 
     injustice, to enjoy what God allowed you to enjoy. Our 
     concern is the future of the Palestinian and Israeli 
     children; they are entitled to live their lives in security, 
     justice, freedom, respect for human rights and in peace as 
     American children do.
       As Representative Lois Capps made plans to visit us, I told 
     her, ``Come and see for yourself--see the whole story on the 
     ground. Then judge for yourself.'' This is what I want to 
     tell each of you today: ``Come and see! You are very welcome. 
     See and hear the whole story--the fears and hopes of both 
     sides--and then make up your mind for yourself.''
       As I come to address you, I am not asking you to be pro-
     Palestinian nor to be pro-Israeli. I am asking you to be pro-
     humanity, pro-truth, pro-peace and pro-reconciliation. 
     Because it is only then you help both peoples to find a 
     dignified solution.
       It is time to commit ourselves to move from statements to 
     action and to change our warrior swords into peaceful 
     ploughshares. We all can say, as a graffiti said in Ramallah: 
     ``Better the pains of peace, than the agonies of war and 
     occupation.''
       Let us sing with King David: ``Justice and peace must kiss 
     each other'' (Psalm 85: 10).
       May the peace of the Lord fill our hearts and direct our 
     ways.

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