Robaird O’Cearbhaill
Hong Kong Correspondent
World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary, Rev Prof Dr Ioan Sauca, called for just action by the Palestinian Authority (PA) after attacks against Christians, the Nablus and Bethlehem areas in the West Bank, separated from Gaza the other autonomous PA area.
Sauca explained the circumstances of the attacks. WCC reported that “Father Justinus, of Jacob’s Well Monastery, Nablus, was beaten on 24 January by unknown assailants. Fortunately, suspects were arrested, and the Palestinian Authority stationed security personnel as guards in front of the monastery,” said Sauca. Unfortunately nobody yet has any clue about why this happened. “No explanation has been given for the attack.”
WCC added that the recent violent attack on the monastery priest was another of a long series of assaults against him. Father Justinus has survived no fewer than 32 life-threatening attacks over the years, including one on 26 August 2021.
The other violent attack was to pressure the Nassar family to leave their officially, legally owned land through several generations. WCC said that: “We are also concerned about the 28 January 2022 attack on the Nassar family, near Nahaleen village, Bethlehem,” said Sauca.
“Daoud and Daher Nassar, from a Bethlehem Christian family, had to be hospitalized following the attack related to a dispute over a plot of land, of which the Nassar family is acknowledged by the Palestinian Authority as the rightful owners.” The attackers wielded sticks and iron bars.
WCC also reported that they were known as peace lovers opposed to violence. “The Nassar family promotes nonviolence from their Nahaleen (Tent of Nations) farm in the West Bank, and is a living example of peaceful resistance after they became surrounded by Israeli settlements,” said Sauca. “This latest violent attack further threatens their existence on land that the family has owned for 98 years.”
Sauca “called on the Palestinian Authority to uphold the law, prosecute the perpetrators, and take steps to ensure that no such attacks occur in the future,” WCC said. “WCC takes note of the statement by the Palestinian Authority’s Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs in Palestine, condemning the attacks and promising legal and protective action,” Sauca stated.
He added that he was “sending prayers for a speedy recovery to those who were injured in the attacks, continues to monitor the situation, and looks for implementation of the commitment by the Presidential Committee that legal measures will be taken to guarantee the rights of all.”
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