Gaza is currently experiencing a fragile peace, but a visiting delegation from ACN found that the situation in the West Bank has not improved for Christians, who must struggle to find reasons to hope in the future.
Aid to the Church in need (ACN) has posted an informative article on the sad state of affairs of the beleaguered Palestinians on the West Bank. About 45,000 of the 2.7 million Palestinian population in the West Bank are Christian (source). These include our Catholic brothers and sisters, members of the Latin Church, the Greek Melkite Catholic Church, and the Maronite Church (source).
(Aid to the Church in Need) — It takes around 20 minutes to drive from Ain ‘Arik to Ben Gurion Airport. Or it could, if not for the roadblocks and the fact that Palestinians have been forbidden from using Ben Gurion since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
The consequences of these obstacles are very real for the 85 young Palestinian Christians who are planning to travel to Rome for the Jubilee of the Youth in July and August. Instead of the 20-minute drive to the airport, they face an overnight bus drive to Jordan and a major increase in costs.
This is the new normal in the Palestinian territories in the Holy Land, Father Louis Salman, who is in charge of the pastoral chaplaincy for the youth in all of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem, told a delegation from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that visited the Holy Land. Travel restrictions leave people feeling isolated and trapped; lack of job opportunities sap their prospects; and constant exposure to violence leaves them traumatized.
Read more at Aid to the Church in Need…
