Why was he offered as a hostage to Hamas in exchange for a kidnapped Jewish child?
I made this offer in the context of a conversation in which I was asked last November if I was willing to be exchanged for a child kidnapped by Hamas.
Are you still up for it?
I would do anything to stop this conflict and stop the absurdity we live in and I think this is part of the mission as a pastor.
What happened after your offer?
That the situation has deteriorated, despite the windows of opportunity of the ceasefire. I’m afraid we’re going to get worse.
Because?
What we experience is unpredictable, but our mission is always the same: Israelis feel threatened in their existence and some see now an opportunity to expel the Palestinians. And that is unfeasible.
Are we getting a little lost here in the way we report on war?
I think that focusing on Gaza is disguising the fact that many Jewish settlers are now doing what they want and are aggressively advancing on the West Bank.
Could the Vatican act as a mediator?
We are in permanent contact with Pope Francis and with all parties in conflict following the situation day by day. And we also have our own Catholic Arab community in Gaza that we must and do help. It’s a daily mission.
how many are How do they help them?
There are nearly a thousand Gazan Catholic Arabs subjected to Israeli invasion and fire on a daily basis in the Gaza Strip.
Have they been offered help to get out?
We talk to them every day. And we offered them this possibility at the beginning of the invasion. We were told that if the Israelis had named their invasion of Gaza “The flood”, they would be “Noah’s Ark”.
And how do they survive now?
They are gathered in a church without water, electricity or food, so they depend on what we can get them with difficulty and sometimes there is no choice but to pay fortunes on the black market to help them.
Can’t they evacuate?
The Vatican cannot order them to leave their land…
How many casualties have they had?
We have lost 25 Catholics in Gaza to the bombings and shootings, with dozens injured; but besides the catholics…
Tell them we are with them.
We are with all the victims: the Jews, too.
We also stand with the Jewish victims.
It is important that we do not surrender to any of the conflicting narratives.
What means?
That in this war we do not accept that there are only victims on one side. We are with everyone: no one has a monopoly on suffering, but we Catholics are together helping all victims even if our attitude is rejected by others.
Do you participate in diplomatic efforts to stop the escalation?
We are certainly very active there, but if I revealed them they would cease to be effective. I can only tell you now that all parties are listening to us, but also that they are increasingly distant.
How did you get to Jerusalem?
By Franciscan obedience 35 years ago, during the Gulf War and the first intifada.
Did you ever glimpse peace?
The Oslo agreements were an opportunity, but conceived from the standpoint of power: they lacked territorial implementation and leadership among the Arabs and the Jews to make it possible. Then it always got worse.
Because?
Because the agreements did not consider the religious, identity dimension of the conflict and its link to the territory: they did not defend themselves in the schools, the temples, the street, the houses…
Were there no secular Israelis and Arabs?
Here even atheist Jews or Muslims, if there are any, are, before atheists, Jews or Muslims. The identity dimension is prior to geopolitics and we must work on it. This is the great task at hand.
And now the increasingly radical religiosity appropriates politics against peace?
On both sides, the religious parties impose their intransigence on the State and make coexistence impossible.
Has your ministry there been difficult for you?
I lived in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem while studying at the Hebrew University and sometimes I felt schizophrenic, but I learned Hebrew, Arabic and to live in contradiction after being brought up in the faith of one truth. Jews do not believe, but interpret their faith. And understanding others helps you improve yours.
