gesture of “hope” on the wounds of the Holy Land

The Custody, a Jewish group, and Tag Meir activists offered gifts to Muslims at the Damascus Gate every Thursday outside Al Aqsa. P. Pari: This initiative has been carried out for a long time, but this year, in a context of war, it acquires a special value. It will take years to rebuild relationships and trust, but the role of Christians will be fundamental, because they are the only ones who have forgiveness as an intrinsic element of faith.

Jerusalem () – A man of the Muslim religion received the dates and a glass of water and “continued on his way”, but then returned and “asked a friar why they did it, what that gesture meant.” The religious man responded that he “was trying to give a sign of hope. Because he helps us understand that we can live together.” Then the man “got excited.” It is a small example, a small detail that counts The p. Alberto Joan Pari, minor friar of the Custody of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, who shows the value of a gesture that is carried out every Thursday of Ramadan: the distribution of fruits and bottles of water outside the gate of Damascus to the Islamic faithful, when they finish prayer at the al-Aqsa mosque. “It is an initiative that has been carried out for a long time – the religious continues – but, especially this year, it wanted to be a sign of trust” in a context of war in Gaza and (also) confessional violence.

It was organized by the friars of the Custody, a synagogue with which Hebrew-speaking Christians have collaborated for a long time. Last Thursday, April 4, Father Alberto himself, Ilana Nelson, from the Kehilat Zion Community, and activists from Tag Meir were present. “This year – says the friar – we had many doubts about whether to do it or not, because it could seem like a provocative gesture, but we decided to go ahead. “Everyone seemed happy to receive this gesture of peace and reconciliation.”

Father Alberto Pari was born in Manerbio, northern Italy, in 1978 and has a degree in Sacred Scripture and Biblical Archeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. Member of the Custody of the Holy Land, the religious made his first profession on September 17, 2009 and his solemn profession on October 5, 2013. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 2015. He holds the position of custodial secretary and custodial chronicler , is a professor of Judaism and Biblical Hebrew at the Studium Theologicum Jerosolymitanum, editor of the Custody's minutes, general director of the Magnificat Institute and responsible for relations with the Jewish world, as well as ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.

After October 7, with the Hamas attack on the heart of Israel, there was a strong “fear that everything would be destroyed” in terms of dialogue, that “what had been built in years of closeness” would be lost, explains the religious. “And during the first month,” he recalls, “it was almost impossible to meet and address any topic; Then, little by little, we saw that what had been done was sustained, because it was founded on solid roots.” From the study of the Word once a month with the Jewish community to the store selling second-hand objects and household items organized by Christians and Muslims, whose profits were alternately donated to Jewish, Christian or Islamic communities to promote holidays or events. And also the donation centers for Arab families who could not enter the Jewish area to cover their needs, are “small examples of initiatives that can be carried out – affirms the Franciscan – although it will take years to rebuild them.” Because, he warns, “the damage is comparable to that caused by an earthquake.”

Remember that there were already “delicate situations” before October 7, but afterwards, the terrorist attack by Hamas and the Israeli military response, with the conflict in Gaza, generated a complex situation and “general fragility” that some “take advantage of” to take revenge or take advantage. An example is what is happening in the Armenian neighborhood with the dispute over the land known as “Cow Garden”, which the settlers want to appropriate. “In recent weeks – he adds – we had lived in a climate of apparent normality, but for days there has been a very high alert due to the end of Ramadan and threats from Iran. “Every day we live 24 hours a day waiting for everything to turn out well.”

He says that the days of Easter were “strange without pilgrims”, but they were “serene” celebrations and local Christians took the opportunity to “enjoy the holy places, which were not crowded” like other times. Today, doing something together Christians, Muslims and Jews “is almost impossible” because “trust in each other has been lost.” Among Israelis “there is still little awareness of what is happening in Gaza and the local media does not help”, while the population “remains locked in pain, without thinking about the reasons for what has happened.” Therefore, concludes Fr. Alberto: “Christians, certainly not now, because it is impossible, but in the future, will have a decisive role as intermediaries between the parties. And they will have it because the value of forgiveness is intrinsic to their faith, and is an element that both Jews and Islam lack. But in the future… Now it's very difficult.”