PALESTINE Parish priest of Nablus: days of ‘great tension’, ‘fear’ generates new violence

The city market is empty, people avoid going out and moving around, the real fear that “the situation could get worse” and “pessimism” predominate. With the current “political landscape”, the hope of a just peace is “minimum”. Christians “are part of a community” that suffers. For Father Jiménez, Israel and Palestine have “two different visions of the world.”

Nablus () – The West Bank is experiencing days of “great tension”, in Nablus the peak of violence was recorded last week with “very heavy” clashes between the parties that also affected Christians, although the Rafidia neighborhood it is “far from the center, but the whole city was excited.” This told Don Miguel Pérez Jiménez, parish priest of Rafidia, in Nablús since August 15, 2021, commenting on the recent attacks between Israelis and Palestinians, whose death toll has now reached 75 since the beginning of the year, and most of them are Palestinians.

“People are afraid to move – continued the priest – and those who suffer the most are those who work outside the city and are forced to move. Even the Nablus market is almost empty, when it is normally crowded with people and the stalls loaded with merchandise. On the other hand, the volume has decreased these days and they are looking, with effort and slowly, to return to normality’.

The fear that “the situation will worsen is real” and among the population “pessimism predominates” for the near future, continued this 31-year-old priest, of Spanish origin, who has studies in Philosophy behind him and was ordained a priest. on June 16, 2018 in the Redemptoris Mater of Galilee. Most people “expect even worse days” and an escalation “of tension” and this is even more evident when looking at “the political landscape: there is very little hope that they can reach a peace [justa]”, he pointed.

Both in Nablus and in Huwara, a series of events is taking place that feeds “fear”, which is “even worse than hate, because with the latter it is possible to mediate using reason and reaching a common solution”. But when fear prevails “it is much more difficult” because it is “completely irrational and leads to harm.” The events of the last few days in the West Bank “are crimes” that fuel the spiral of violence and the danger of “continuous escalation.” However, “I see that there are people on both sides who would like peace, who are willing to meet, who are tired” of the status quo.

Nablus is located in the central part of the West Bank, about 63 km north of Jerusalem and, after Hebron, it is the largest city in Palestine and the second in terms of population, with its 250,000 inhabitants. The area is divided into three religious communities: Samaritans, Muslims and Christians, widespread since the time of Jesus. The Latin church of Rafidia dates from 1885 and bears the name of Saint Justin, who was born in Nablus in 110 and was martyred in 165. In the Latin convent there is a building for prayer, a room for meetings and cultural activities, a courtyard for practice sports, a convent for nuns and the parish priest’s house. Also in the area is the San José school, founded in 1904 and taken over by the Latin Patriarchate in 1998, appreciated for its high level of education. Today it has 46 teachers and classes ranging from kindergarten to high school, all marked by respect for dialogue and the fight against religious and social discrimination, as the enrollment figures attest: only 10% of the total number of students are Christians, while the majority are Muslims (and Samaritans).

“The Christians of Nablus,” he said, “are not targeted by Jews or Muslims, but are part of a community, citizens in the full sense of the term, and as such suffer this situation.” Like the others, the cleric continued, “they are used” to tensions, they live “knowing that they have to move on, continue with work and life even in the midst of conflict” and they respond with the weapon “of prayer.” The adoration [al Santísimo Sacramento] it becomes an occasion to pray, then there are pastoral activities, with young people and adults”, although there is a “great feeling of pain” for the violence and a growing desire “for peace, security and harmony”.

For Fr. Jiménez, the conflict between Israel and Palestine continues to be “too complicated on a political and social level.” It involves “not just two nations, but two different worldviews” that are difficult to reconcile today, especially due to “injustices” and “political agendas” on both sides, which do not go in the direction of peace. In conclusion, the priest stressed that these events “tell us that the true Holy Land is the communion between brothers, not the one crushed by armies. The love between brothers is stronger and this emerges in daily life, even in the life of the Church itself. This is our hope and allows us to endure a critical situation”.