Bishops and
the Wall in Bethlehem
A message from Brother Jack Curran
14 January 2004
Dear Friends of Bethlehem University,
The various Bishops' Conferences from Europe
and the States are meeting here at the University these past couple days -- leave us
today, Wednesday. They have been staying at St Vincent's Hostel (next to the University
which was constructed 3 years ago but never used due to the lack of pilgrim groups) and
using Millennium Hall on campus (with our simultaneous translation facilities) for their
meetings as the University classes are on holiday -- registration for Spring starts this
Thursday. It has been good to see these Bishops meeting -- I've sat in on some meetings
and it seems to be going well. Fr Drew Christiansen, SJ (Associate Editor of AMERICA
and good friend of BU) was with us in the De La Salle Brothers Community this evening for
Mass and Dinner. Well, you might have heard about the new construction going on - No, not
at the University but down the road a bit ... there is a lot of heavy work going on at the
Bethlehem-Jerusalem military checkpoint. Just as you pass the checkpoint, from Jerusalem
into Bethlehem, on the left there used to be a field, some trees, etc- just after the
little Millennium Taxi Building. Well, on Christmas Day the Israelis started to bulldoze
the hill and according to the Mayor of Bethlehem, they are building a NEW checkpoint about
300 meters into Bethlehem from the current checkpoint (confiscating more of the
Palestinian land into the Israeli state right before our eyes). They are also extending
Caritas Road so that the Caritas Road and this new Checkpoint will now be the way into and
out of Bethlehem (for everyone except the Israelis, who will have their own second
checkpoint!). The Hebron Road and the old checkpoint will be only for the Israelis
going into Rachel's Tomb. Additionally, the separation fence that is being constructed in
parts all around and in Palestine is also being worked on as we speak. Yes, the
construction that started on Christmas day also includes a continuation of the
"separation" wall. Up until now, it has come into Bethlehem right up to
the Monastery of Immanuel. Now they are beginning to add onto it and go straight
ahead into Bethlehem, to surround Rachels Tomb and then to go up to Beit Jala. The Mayor
of Bethlehem tells us that 10% of the current land of Bethleem will end up being annexed
by Israel with this new wall - 177 families will lose their property! And there
seems that there is nothing that can be done to stop this international law violation that
we sometimes hear about on the news -- but which is also happening right here in Bethlehem
to real people -- some of whom are, of course, our graduates and families of our students.
As you might imagine, it is VERY disheartening to see this right infront of our eyes. Pray
for the evil to stop! Here is a link to the message of the Bishops from this past Monday
at the opening of their meetings here: http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=47315
Brother Jack
Brother Jack Curran, FSC, PhD is Vice President
for Development at Bethlehem University in the Holy Land. He is responsible for
public relations, fundraising, alumni and international relations. He is a De La
Salle Christian Brother since 1979, originating from Troy, NY. Brother Jack
has a bachelors from Manhattan College, Bronx, NY and masters and PhD from State
University of NY at Albany. He has been involved in education as a teacher and
administrator since 1979 in elementary and high schools as well as colleges and
universities -- on the east coast of the US as well as on the west coast -- and now in the
West Bank.
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