From Jerusalem:

The road from the Mount of Olives to the Old City of Jerusalem begins up a steep incline and turns left across a ridge, then suddenly swoops down and angles up another large hill before reaching St. Stephen's Gate. I walked this route with thousands of others in the traditional Palm Sunday procession, perhaps the most joyous occasion I have ever witnessed as a Catholic.

The day was unseasonably hot, and when I saw the Latin Patriarch, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, I looked at him closely to see how he was faring under the hot sun. His look did not betray any discomfort from the heat, but his countenance was starkly different from the happiness shown on the faces of all those around him. He had a sad, even grim look of determination on his face, as if he was intent upon showing, by walking into Jerusalem, that Christians still have their place in the Holy Land.

Two days later at his office in the Christian Quarter, I met with His Beatitude. I told him what I saw on his face during the procession and asked if something had been troubling him. "Everything," he said. "I was thinking about all the problems of the Christians and the problems of the Palestinians; that they are one and the same."

Together with columnist Robert Novak, his wife, my daughter, and several others, I had come to ask the Latin Patriarch about the difficulties facing Christians on the West Bank. Sabbah has a reputation for bluntness, and he did not disappoint us: "We have always been a small minority here, among the Palestinians, among everyone," Sabbah explained, "and we're growing smaller and smaller as the other population grows larger." But," he emphasized, "you cannot help Christians in the Holy Land without helping the Palestinians as well. We are Palestinians!"

On the morning of Palm Sunday, before the procession, Novak and I had been invited to visit the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet Ambassador Yoram Ben-Zeev, Deputy Director General of the North American Division. Ben-Zeev, in other words, is in charge of relations with the United States government. We asked if his government was concerned about the struggles of Christians in Israel. "Of course," he replied. "it is in our interest for Christians to be here; they are very welcome here." He added that the problems Christians experience in Israel are caused by Muslim hostility rather than any Israeli policy.

On the question of the Palestinians, Ben-Zeev described the rationale behind the current policy of unilateral separation. "We were married" he said, "but it didn't work, so now we are divorced." This policy had already been underway with the construction of the separation barrier through and around the West Bank, as well as the creation of a dual road system, one for Israelis and the other for Palestinians. But with the election of Hamas to head the Palestinian government, and the refusal of Israel to communicate with them or hand over tax revenues, the separation is much closer to being complete.

As I left his office, I wondered how Israel's relationship with Christians would be affected by the separation policy. Christians in Israel are Palestinians, and if Israel is separating itself from the Palestinians then they are also separating themselves from the remaining Christians in Israel.

Ambassador Ben-Zeev had answered a similar question during our conversation when he was asked about Christian communities that are being divided and decimated by the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians. He said it was "unfortunate" that Christian communities were affected by the conflict, but that Israel was going to do whatever necessary to insure its own security.

On Monday, we visited for an hour with the president of Palestine, Maumoud Abbas, at the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Ramallah. Although the meeting was held off the record, I can report that much of the discussion was about the approaching financial collapse of the Palestinian Authority. If no new monies are received, the Authority will be broke by the end of April. This means that teachers, nurses, doctors, police, social service workers, justices, all who work for the Palestinian Authority will be out of work. This amounts to 25 percent of the 3.7 million people on the West Bank and Gaza.

A major Catholic institution will be directly affected by this financial collapse. The only Catholic university in the Holy Land, Bethlehem University, receives 7 percent of its operating budget ($600,000) from the Palestinians. Of its 2,400 students, 65 percent are Palestinian, the remainder Christian. To make matters worse, the Vice President of Development, Brother Jack Curran, FSC, told me that he has been receiving e-mails from financial supporters who are saying they are going to stop their donations for the election of Hamas. "Don't they realize we need their support now more than ever?" he asked.

Shireen Awad, a Christian senior studying mathematics and computer science at the university, told me in perfect English that her way of strengthening the Palestinian people is by getting a first-class education. By giving "hope and faith to young people," she said, Bethlehem University is giving them an alternative to violence. When asked why she condemns terrorism, she replied, "If I can't hurt myself, how can I hurt others?" It sounds to me like the Christian Brothers are doing a great job.

We met with extremes of hope and despair in Jerusalem and on the West Bank. Yet those who express hope realize that with the election of Hamas the geopolitical situation is growing rapidly worse. There is no doubt that the Christian communities, including those which take care of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Holy Nativity, are in the midst of a titanic struggle. But Sabbah would say, since Christians are Palestinians they are not "collateral damage" of the Israeli and Palestinians conflict.

Israel no doubt values its Christian supporters, both Catholic and Evangelical, and wants them to be supportive of its policies. As the situation deteriorates, however, Christians in the United States will undoubtedly be hearing more about the Christian struggle, which up to now has been overshadowed by the Palestinian issue in general.

If the Palestinian Authority runs completely out of money, and if Hamas fails to succumb to the pressure being applied by Israel, the United States and the European Union, there will be a humanitarian disaster. This disaster will surely bring the issue of Christians in the Holy Land out of the shadows and into the pulpits of American churches.

***

On April 28th, at the Union League Club in New York City, the Morley Institute for Church & Culture will be honoring Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) and his wife Marie Smith. If you would like to join us for the evening, which starts at 6 pm, please call Elizabeth McGuirk at 202-775-1150 for ticket information and details.

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