THE Archbishop in Jerusalem, the Most Revd Hosam Naoum, has praised the resilience of Palestinians and has entreated Christians to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem”, in a discussion following a service at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, in New York City, on Sunday.
Resilience, or samud in Arabic, was “a quiet, active and strong will to stay to the last”, he said. “It teaches us how to hold on and to hope. Justice and life and love have the last word, and not oppression and death and darkness.”
It was not “a naïve concept of trying to romanticise the situation. At the end of the day, we have to face these challenges and confront them face to face. It’s being able to stand up again and to recover and to rebuild, reshape and reimagine. You need all of these tools and skills to deal with a very complex situation.”
He suggested that there were many narratives about the situation in the Holy Land and the world was divided between them. “So people would like to be pro-Israelis or pro-Palestinians . . . there are people who are not sure and don’t know what to do . . . It’s complex, it’s a hot pie that they don’t want to deal with.
“But the one safe way in which we can always engage ourselves is by promoting peace through promoting reconciliation and bringing people together. No one can challenge you for that.”
He reflected: “How do you do mission in a place where you have lived for thousands of years, hundreds of centuries, with your Muslim and Jewish neighbours? The answer is faith in action, presenting our faith through healthcare and education and reaching out to the poor and needy. And people will say, ‘That is the Church. That is Jesus among us.’ That is God’s presence in the midst of God’s people, whether they are Christians, Muslims, Jews, or people of no affiliation.”
Help was urgently needed for institutions such as St Luke’s Hospital, Nablus, in the West Bank, he said, as it was “serving the very dire situation in a very, very challenging place surrounded by checkpoints, surrounded by gates that people cannot cross over from neighbouring villages.
“That’s weighing really heavily on my heart. We will do whatever we can in order to enhance and rebuild and heal the wounds of the innocent people there.”
He said that Jerusalem had an important role to play not only in global politics but also in the global Anglican Communion. “Jerusalem presents a sign of unity. Despite all the things that are happening within our Communion, Jerusalem is there to be that sign that unites everybody because of its hospitality. It welcomes everyone. It is God’s city.”
