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MESSAGE FROM WCC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO THE CHURCHES IN SYRIA

We, the members of the executive committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting from 14 to 17 February 2012 in Bossey, Switzerland, greet you in the name of the Triune God who dwells among the people to inspire us with hope for peace with justice.

As we are participating in the meeting of the executive committee of the WCC, we take this opportunity to assure the churches, Christians in Syria and the entire Syrian people of our prayers that peace and reconciliation may soon prevail in your country. While we pray, we are reminded that Syria is the land from whence St. Paul spread the Good News of love, peace and justice to the world.

The members of the executive committee who represent WCC constituencies from various parts of the world have discussed the current situation of turmoil in Syria. The report of the WCC general secretary to the executive committee shared information about the “ecumenical conversation on emerging trends in Syria” that was held in Geneva on 9-10 December 2011. We were also informed that about twenty church leaders from all confessional traditions in Syria came together to address their challenges and concerns and to envision their goals and expectations for the future of the Christian presence and witness in the region. We trust that the Christians in Syria are determined to find ways to be messengers of love and to convey the peace of God in Jesus Christ even amidst hostility and violence.

At the last central committee meeting in February 2011, the WCC reiterated its principles that guide the council’s policy in the whole Middle East region. These principles include: “God’s justice and love for all of creation, the fundamental rights of all people, respect for human dignity, solidarity with the needy, and dialogue with people of other faiths”. (Minute on the Presence and Witness of Christians in the Middle East, WCC Central Committee, February 2011)

On behalf of the WCC, the general secretary sent a letter addressed to the Church leaders in Syria, in May 2011, which expressed the Council’s deep concern over the widespread violence and the indiscriminate use of force since early March 2011. The general secretary expressed the hope that the cycle of violence will end immediately. Unfortunately, military action and repression have increased and violence has spread over many parts of the country, resulting in the loss of several thousand lives and tens of thousands wounded, internally displaced or forced to find refuge in neighbouring countries and in the whole region. In August 2011, a short statement was also issued condemning the violence.

We are aware of the fact that this is indeed a difficult and crucial moment in the history of your nation and people. Many Christians in Syria also feel uncertain about their future. We strongly support the important message by three heads of churches in Syria, His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV, His Holiness Patriarch Zakka I, and His Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III, that was issued on 15 December 2011 to their communities and all citizens in Syria, in which they clearly condemned “the use of any type of violence” and called for the “respect of the principles of justice, freedom, human dignity, social justice and citizenship rights”. The heads of the churches encouraged the people not to fear and not to lose their hope.

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We are confident that the churches in Syria, which are deeply rooted in the land, and have developed a long historic experience of engagement in the life of the society, will have an important role in a national dialogue especially in this critical and difficult moment. We are hopeful that such a dialogue will lead to a new reality: a society built on peace with justice, human rights and human dignity, the bases for living together in diversity and mutual respect.

We pray and hope that the ongoing situation of military repression and violence will end soon, and the movements seeking democracy and freedom will achieve their goals through peaceful and nonviolent means. Our prayer and hope is that the current unrest will not undermine the historical and human ties between Christians and Muslims in Syria, as well as in the entire region. We learn from your courage and steadfastness when you remain rooted in your faith and promote Christian ethical values in such critical moments.

In response to the ongoing conflict in your country, we are calling upon WCC member churches to engage in concrete actions of solidarity with you during this time of difficulties. As a fellowship of churches, we are “to express the common concern of the churches in the service of human need, the breaking down of barriers between people and the promotion of one human family in justice and peace” (WCC Constitution).

Recognizing your difficulties at this critical juncture of your history, we are also reminded that we are called to be instruments of peace and agents of reconciliation and unity among all people in Syria. Be assured that the entire ecumenical family holds you constantly in prayer. This is an imperative of costly solidarity within the one body of Christ.

“The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 7).

World Council of Churches – February 28, 2012

HOLY LAND CUSTOS MAKES APPEAL FOR SYRIA JERUSALEM – Here is the text of an appeal made by the Custos of the Holy Land, Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, regarding the situation in Syria.

After the great changes that have taken place in Egypt, the situation in which Syria now finds itself shows in an unequivocal manner how the Middle Eastern panorama is being rapidly transformed. A year ago such scenarios would have been impossible to envisage.

Photo by: N. Klimas OFM

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In these months of great tension, when Syria is being torn apart by internal clashes, and where the conflict seems to be assuming more and more the form of a civil war, the Franciscans, together with the few other members of the Latin Church, are committed to supporting the local Christian population.

The Custody is present in various areas within the country: Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia, Orontes.

The medical dispensaries in the Franciscan monasteries, following the tradition of the Custody, have become places of refuge and hospitality for everyone, regardless of whether they are Alawite, Sunni, Christian, rebels or government-supporters.

At a time of total confusion and dismay, many businesses, especially exporters and importers, have closed their doors. Only bare traces remain of the thousands of tourists who until recently were the lifeblood of a modern and flourishing industry which had created hundreds of jobs in the transport, lodging and service sectors.

Agricultural production is also facing grave difficulties. The international embargo prevents any possibility of exporting and prices have collapsed. The weakest elements of the population have inevitably been the hardest hit, and are suffering in particular from energy and water shortages. In the major cities there are power outages at various times during the day, if not for the entire day, and gasoline is rationed. All of this has created enormous difficulties for the population, who are forced to face the harsh winter temperatures with no means of heating their homes.

To be with the people, to welcome and assist those in need, without regard for race, religion and nationality. To guarantee, through its confident presence, religious services to the faithful because they understand the importance of remaining in one’s own country. This remains the sense of the Franciscan mission. In times not dissimilar from those in which Francis addressed the friars, exhorting them to maintain firm the values of the Gospel. In his simple exhortations Francis reflected the grace received from the Lord, and through his daily life testified to the acceptance of faith as the most dear and precious thing to be cultivated and strengthened. We friars, who find ourselves enriched by his extraordinary example, inherited without any merit on our part, have the task of emulating and transmitting the teaching of our master to future generations, so that they will be able to continue along the path traced out by him with such immense love and humble dedication.

We ask all friends of ATS pro Terra Sancta to support, through a concrete gesture, the numerous Syrian Christians and the charitable works of the Custody of the Holy Land. The funds collected will be delivered rapidly to the resident friars in Syria, who will ensure they are used wisely and carefully.

We would be grateful if you could transmit this appeal widely, and we send our best wishes for Peace and Goodwill!

Zenit – February 27, 2012

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MESSAGE FROM CONFERENCE ON “VIOLENCE IN THE NAME OF GOD? JOSHUA IN CHANGING CONTEXTS”

"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24) The world is filled with violence. Too often, the violent narratives contained in the Bible are

used to perpetuate rather than limit worldly violence. We are called, therefore, to confront the violence in the biblical texts and work through them toward a world of peace. As Christians, we respond to pain with empathy, looking to love and respect even those who would be our enemies.

Christians and Jews from around the world gathered in Hofgeismar, Germany, on February 23-27, 2012, in a conference organized by the Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in cooperation with the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck. Framed by daily experiences of liturgy and prayer that opened the spiritual dimensions of the texts, the conference aimed to intensify ecumenical reflection on theological aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Following three previous conferences organized in Amman, Bern, and Balamand, the Hofgeismar gathering was intended to promote ecumenical awareness of the various contexts influencing biblical interpretations and theologies along with the challenges inherent to contextual approaches. The Book of Joshua was deliberately chosen as the foundation of the gathering because of its obvious references to land claims, its linkage of religion and violence, and its frequent use by certain Jewish and Christian movements to justify the occupation and settlement policies of the modern State of Israel.

In Bern, we affirmed that “the Bible must not be utilized to justify oppression or supply simplistic commentary on contemporary events, thus sacralizing the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict and ignoring its socio-political, economic and historical dimensions.” The Book of Joshua, with its mythic descriptions of intended genocide, mass slaughter, ethnic cleansing, forced servitude and ethnic separation, is an extremely provocative text. Certain readings of the book—especially those taking the text as prescriptive—can lead to dangerous conclusions. With this awareness, the conference structure was grounded in intentional Bible study in plenary and in working groups, as well as in lectures addressing exegetical, historical, and contemporary aspects of the Book of Joshua, as well as violence in other biblical narratives.

Our gathering was blessed with global participation and perspective. Previous conferences in this series have benefited from robust engagement between the contextual perspectives of Palestinian Christians and western Christian practitioners of western forms of Jewish-Christian dialogue. The gathering in Hofgeismar broadened the conversation by inviting Jewish participation and welcoming global perspective. Expanding beyond the Middle East and the Global North, the conference included presentations from Latin America, Africa, and eastern Asia. Our time together showed that open discussions between people with very different contexts are possible and fruitful, especially when listening to scriptures held in common. Beyond the shared concern for biblical interpretation, this broad participation demonstrated that what happens in the Middle East affects not only the people in that region, but peoples throughout the world.

The broad diversity of participation in Hofgeismar resulted in a variety of perspectives being shared. Throughout the conference, it was clear that many valid interpretations of biblical texts are

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possible and that each of us approaches the Bible from our own context. Within Christian communities, for instance, it is helpful to provide both Christological readings of the Old Testament and readings in which the Old Testament interprets itself. In both approaches, the Old Testament is affirmed as an essential part of our living Christian Bible.

There are many problematic ways of approaching the biblical witness. In the mainline western churches we can find many examples where scholars and pastors produce good exegesis but ignore the consequences of their interpretation for people living today. On the other hand, literalistic, flat readings are disrespectful to the text itself and can lead to even more harmful implications for human dignity and life.

The Book of Joshua continues to inspire and sanction violence by some Christians and Jews. Given the variety of available hermeneutical approaches and the possibility of multiple cogent interpretations, there are several ways to approach the text. We have agreed, therefore, on the hermeneutical key of justice. Justice includes a variety of other topics, including ethics, human rights, and socio-economic realities, including greed. Justice itself is a contested category, making the concept a fruitful area for intra-Christian and interreligious engagement. Central to a justice-oriented interpretation of the Bible will be the nature of responsibility. Before God and our communities, we are responsible to Jews for the historical and ongoing realities of anti-Semitism, to Palestinians since the Nakba, to Muslim neighbors in light of Islamophobia, to persons who are vulnerable, and to victims of colonial conquest, among others.

It was suggested several times during the conference that the Book of Joshua and similar biblical texts are potentially extremely harmful when used to sanction political and military power. Palestinian Christians present at the conference shared how such uses of Joshua have implications politically as well as for their lives of faith. Several narratives in the Old Testament, especially the Book of Joshua, have been used by powerful groups to justify the continuing occupation of Palestinian territories and the settlement policies of the State of Israel. One result of these political realities is that Palestinian Christians have been alienated not only from their land but from the bulk of their Christian scriptural canon. We heard how Palestinian Christians are seeking to reclaim readings of the Old Testament in ways that affirm the whole of the canon while not sanctioning the historical and political processes that have supported their suffering.

The text of the Book of Joshua is filled with violence, which is found throughout the Bible. In the Bible and in our world today, killing is not the only form of violence. Subjugation and exclusion, including unequal systems of rights and privileges, are forms of systemic violence. Gender analysis is an insightful tool for interpreting both biblical texts and political realities. At the same time, we recognize that creative peaceful means of resistance to violence and oppression should be supported and encouraged. We were reminded of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s hard-won insight of reading the Bible “from below.” The biblical narratives empower those who are oppressed to become active agents of their own emancipation.

The Book of Joshua is about creating meaning. It is a project of national memory-making. We recognize that it can be an act of violence to deny the memories of other communities; such intentional amnesia can be a prelude to denying the right of communities to exist.

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The Book of Joshua has been a source that has justified the colonization of Africa, Latin America, North America, Australia and the Middle East itself. This history has left a heritage of violence throughout formerly colonized territories. Where those ideologies are informed by religious commitment, the church has work to do. When religiously-motivated violence is condemned by the church, we must not forget that this sensitivity has developed only in a time when the church’s own power is declining, even as we recognize prophetic voices in all ages of the church. Until relatively recently, religious violence was a feature of European life. One lesson from the confessional wars is the desirability of political frameworks for society that allow for religious difference and in which all are treated equally under civil law. Self-critical perspectives from western/northern contexts can be very helpful as we consider the current ideologies, structures and systems of power at work in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other contexts.

Our call is clear: no more violence in the name of God! "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5)

Adopted by conference participants in Hofgeismar: World Council of Churches – February 27, 2012

STATE APPEALS ACQUITTAL OF PRIEST CLEARED OF PUNCHING YESHIVA STUDENT

The case of an Armenian Orthodox priest, who allegedly punched an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva student who had spat at him, was heard in Jerusalem District Court yesterday after the state appealed an earlier court decision to drop charges against the priest.

Jerusalem Magistrate's Court Judge Dov Pollock justified the dismissal of the charges in October as being in the interest of justice after being told that priests and other senior church officials in Jerusalem had been spat upon regularly, generally by ultra-Orthodox Jews.

However, the state prosecutor's office, which filed the appeal, argues that allowing the priest's action to go unpunished would encourage other citizens to respond in a similar manner. The

Photo by: J. Kraj OFM

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prosecutors have also said the yeshiva student had spit because he was suffering from a medical condition and the act was not directed at Johannes Martasian, who at the time of the incident, was a student priest. The spitting phenomenon has been of particular concern to members of the Armenian Orthodox church because of the proximity of the Armenian Quarter to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and the regular contact between the two groups.

The priest has since left the country, but the prosecutors are seeking to reinstate the case on the chance that he will return. The lawyer for the church told the court yesterday that he was unable to contact Martasian.

Police have been largely unsuccessful in apprehending those doing the spitting. In quashing the indictment in October, the judge noted that Martasian had been subject to the phenomenon for years and that the authorities had not addressed the problem. Under the circumstances, it would be unfair to charge him for responding, Judge Pollack wrote in his opinion.

By Nir Hasson Haaretz – February 23, 2012

ANTI-‐CHRISTIAN GRAFFITI SPRAYED AGAINST MONASTERY’S FENCE IN JERUSALEM

Two cars, a stone fence vandalized near Jerusalem’s Valley of the Cross Monastery in suspected ’price tag’ attack.

Two cars and a stone fence near the Valley of the Cross Monastery in Jerusalem were vandalized overnight Monday in a suspected ‘price tag’ attack.

The cars and fence, discovered Tuesday morning, were covered with anti-Jesus graffiti. The words "Migron", "Death to Christians" and Jewish Stars of David were spray-painted on them, and the car’s tires were slashed.

"I am a priest and I forgive," Father Claudio of the monastery, which is administered by the Greek Orthodox church, told Reuters. The monastery is also believed to be built on the spot where the tree from which Jesus’s cross was made stood.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the words "price tag" were also painted by the vandals in the rare attack on a Christian shrine in Jerusalem.

He added that police have launched an investigation into the incident. Similar slogans have previously been used in so-called ’price tag’ attacks carried out by right-

wing extremists in protest of demolitions of illegal outposts. The incident follows an anti-Arab ’price tag’ attack that occurred overnight Saturday in the

West Bank village of Al- Jeniya near Ramallah. Police have also launched an investigation into that incident, in which unknown individuals vandalized a taxi cab owned by a Palestinian man and a building in an Arab area. Spray-painted on the taxi and the building were the words “Death to Arabs,” “revenge” and “closed military zone.”

By Melanie Lidman Jerusalem Post – February 7, 2012

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JERUSALEM CHRISTIANS ARE LATEST TARGETS IN RECENT SPATE OF 'PRICE TAG' ATTACKS

Attack on Baptist Congregation marks the latest in series of attacks targeting Muslim, Christian and leftist institutions in Jerusalem over last two months.

"Price tag" graffiti was spray-painted in Jerusalem again Sunday night, with vandals this time targeting a downtown church.

The attack on the Narkis Street Baptist Congregation marks the latest in a series of price tag attacks that have targeted Muslim, Christian and leftist institutions in the capital over the last two months. But police believe most of the vandalism is not the work of an organized group; rather, they say, the spray-painted slogans are largely copycat actions carried out by lone individuals.

The original price tag attacks, in contrast, were thought to be the work of a group of settlers seeking to set a "price tag" on house demolitions in the settlements via retaliatory attacks on Palestinians and/or Israeli soldiers.

The attacks during the past two months have included the torching of cars belonging to Arab residents of Jerusalem's Kiryat Moshe neighborhood; spray-painting slogans on a Christian cemetery on Mount Zion; spray-painting slogans on Peace Now's office in the capital, as well as the house of Peace Now activist Hagit Ofran; threats against Peace Now secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer; and an arson attack on an ancient mosque in the city's Geula neighborhood. Over the last week alone, a bilingual school and two churches have been vandalized, including the Baptist church vandalized Sunday.

In both church attacks, the vandals spray-painted slogans denouncing Christianity, Jesus and Mary, such as "Jesus is dead," "Death to Christianity" and "Mary was a prostitute." They also included the by-now customary "price tag" slogan.

The Jerusalem police said they have arrested several suspects in this spate of attacks, including one for the attacks on Peace Now and one for the vandalism of the bilingual school. The latter suspect, arrested last week, said he vandalized the school to avenge the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team's loss to two Arab teams two weeks ago, according to police. Police believe that many of the other attacks are similarly motivated by ordinary hooliganism, rather than ideology.

"It's intolerably easy," one senior Jerusalem police officer said. "Any child can take a spray can and spray it, and people know it will be broadcast. Not every case is really nationalistic."

But to victims, the motive is irrelevant. Jerusalem's Christian community increasingly feels under assault, and that is especially true for Christians living in Jewish neighborhoods. Priests in the Old City, especially Armenian priests who must often transit the Jewish Quarter, say they are spat on almost daily.

"It's almost impossible to pass through Jaffa Gate without this happening," said a senior priest at one Jerusalem church.

The spitting has become so prevalent that some priests have simply stopped going to certain parts of the Old City.

The Baptist church has been attacked twice before: It was torched in 1982 and again in 2007. "We mainly feel sad" about the attacks, said the church's pastor, Charles Kopp. "It hurts us that

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anyone could even think we deserve such treatment. They don't know us, but they apparently oppose anyone who doesn't identity with them. I wish them well; I have no desire for revenge."

Baptist priests don't normally walk around in priestly garb, but Kopp said he would be afraid to walk through the Old City if he did.

Jacob Avrahami, the mayor's advisor on the Christian community, visited the Baptist church on Monday to condemn the attacks. "They feel besieged; you can see it on them," he said.

Dr. Gadi Gevaryahu, whose Banish the Darkness organization works to combat racism, said his big fear is that "one day, they'll attack a mosque or a church with people inside and there will be a terrible conflagration here."

"Over the last two years, 10 mosques have been torched here, and today it's clear that it's not just aimed at Palestinians or Muslims, but at foreigners in general," he said.

Gevaryahu also offered a practical suggestion: Security cameras, he said, should be installed on every sensitive building in the city.


VATICAN ASKS PERES TO HELP FIND 'PRICE TAG' CULPRITS Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land and head of the Franciscan Order in Israel responds to attacks on Narkis Street Baptist Congregation.

A senior official in the Catholic Church has called on President Shimon Peres to use the power of his office to apprehend those responsible for a number of incidents in the past few weeks in which Christian sites in Jerusalem were vandalized.

Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land and head of the Franciscan Order in Israel, was responding to incidents that included painting slogans on the Narkis Street Baptist Congregation, on a Christian cemetery on Mount Zion and on the Greek Orthodox monastery in the Valley of the Cross. The slogans included "Jesus is dead," "Death to Christianity," "Mary is a whore" and "price tag."

"Price tag" is the name of an often violent campaign by militant Jewish settlers and nationalists, aimed mostly at Palestinians and Israeli peace activists. But police believe most of the vandalism against Christian targets, which has


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also included damage to cars parked near churches, was carried out by lone perpetrators in "copycat" attacks and not by an organized group.

Pizzaballa, who is thought to be close to Pope Benedict XVI, wrote to Peres despite the fact that the targeted sites were not associated with the Catholic Church.

"These actions," Pizzaballa wrote, "which as far as I know haven't led to any arrests, are but one painful example in a series of similar actions being carried out recently without hardly any hindrance. As you know, it is not my practice to write letters such as this. The various Christian communities live quietly and peacefully in Israel, with respect, appreciation and good relations with Jews and Moslems... Unfortunately, throughout the years we have learned to ignore provocations and continue our daily life. Still, is seems that this time red lines have been crossed and we cannot remain silent. These shocking slogans sprayed on Christian sites of prayer, especially in Jerusalem, hurt the feelings of all the Christians in Israel, regardless of their creed, as well as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visiting Jerusalem and the holy land, and millions more worldwide. "I would be grateful," he continued, "if you would use all your power and influence with the authorities so that this dangerous pattern of action will be eradicated and these actions stopped, before they become an habitual part of Christian life in Israel."

By Nir Hasson Haaretz – March 03, 2012

HOLY SEE MEETS WITH PALESTINIAN, ISRAELI REPRESENTATIVES

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican is continuing its diplomatic efforts with representatives both of Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

On Friday, a Vatican communiqué reported on a meeting between Holy See and Israeli representatives. And today, a communiqué noted a meeting with Vatican officials and representatives of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

The Friday note reported that the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel held its plenary session at the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs last Thursday, to carry on negotiations related to the Fundamental Agreement, article 10 paragraph 2, dealing with economic and fiscal matters.

Present at the meeting was Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, under-secretary for Relations with States, and Daniel Ayalon, Israeli deputy minister for foreign affairs. The statement said that "the negotiations took place in an open, friendly and constructive atmosphere. Substantive progress was made on issues of significance."

The parties agreed on the next steps toward the conclusion of the Agreement, and to hold their next plenary meeting June 11 in the Vatican.

PLO Then, today, a joint communiqué following a bilateral meeting between the Holy See and the

Palestine Liberation Organization was released. The Saturday encounter was co-chaired by

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Monsignor Balestrero and Minister Ziad Al-Bandak, the Palestinian President's advisor for Christian relations.

"The Palestinian side handed to the Holy See delegation the response to the draft agreement proposed by the Holy See in the previous meeting, and the talks took place in a positive atmosphere to strengthen further the special relations between the two sides," the statement said.

They also agreed to set up technical teams to follow up on the draft, in preparation of the plenary session in the Vatican in the near future.

The Holy See delegation was composed of Archbishop Antonio Franco, apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine; Monsignor Maurizio Malvestiti, under-secretary of the Congregation for Eastern Churches; Monsignor Alberto Ortega, official of the Vatican's Secretariat of the State, and Monsignor Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, counsellor of the apostolic delegation in Jerusalem.

For the Palestinians those present at the meeting were: Dr. Nabil Shaath, member of the Fatah Central Committee; Dr. Bernard Sabella, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council; Mr. Issa Kassissieh, deputy head of the PLO's Negotiations Affairs Department, and Mr. Wassim Khazmo, policy advisor at the PLO's Negotiations Support Unit.

In 2000 a "Basic Agreement" was formulated between the Holy See and the PLO. It covered matters such as freedom of religion, human rights, freedom of Church institutions and their legal, economic and fiscal status in Palestinian-ruled areas. The Agreement soon ran into difficulty because of the Intifada that followed soon after.

Zenit – January 30, 2012

DOCUMENTS: PIUS XII FAVORED A JEWISH HOMELAND IN PALESTINE Foundation Continues to Unearth Testimony That Pius Was in No Way 'Hitler's Pope'

NEW YORK, - An organization researching the history of Pius XII's relationship with the Jews says that a series of documents recently uncovered show a pattern of direct actions by Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope) that culminated in the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

The New York-based Pave the Way Foundation explained that in 1917, Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli met with Nahum Sokolow, president of the World Zionist organization and arranged for Sokolow to meet with Pope Benedict XV to discuss a Jewish Homeland. In a passionate report, Sokolow wrote of his audience on May 12, 1917:

“I was first of all received by Msgr. Eugenio Pacelli, Secretary for Extraordinary Affairs, and had a few days later a long conference with Cardinal Secretary of State Gasparri. Both meetings were extraordinarily friendly and positive. I don’t tend towards credulity or exaggerations and still I can’t avoid to stress that this revealed an extraordinary amount of friendship: to grant a Jew and representative of Zionism with such a promptness a private audience which took so long and was of such a warmth and took place with all assurance of sympathy, both for the Jews in general and for Zionism in special, proves that we don’t need to expect any obstacles which can’t be overcome

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from the side of the Vatican. The Pope asked me, ‘Pacelli told me about your mission; do you want to tell me any more details?’" (File A 18/25 in the Main Archive of Yad Vashem)

A statement from Pave the Way further noted: On November 15, 1917, Nuncio Pacelli acted on a urgent request for his intervention from the Jewish community of Switzerland from what was feared would be an Ottoman Massacre of Jews of Palestine. Pacelli asked the German government, who was allied with the Ottoman Turks, for protection for the Jews of Palestine. Pacelli was successful in gaining promised protection of the Jews from the German government “even with the use of arms.”

Pacelli met with Sokolow again on Feb. 15, 1925, and arranged another meeting with Cardinal Pietro Gasparri on the subject of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1926, Pacelli urged all Catholics to join the pro-Palestine movement in Germany with such notable members as Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, Konrad Adenauer, and Fr. Ludwig Kaas.

PTWF learned of the existence of one very interesting document, still unpublished, which may show Pius XII’s attitude about a Jewish homeland. In 1944, Pius XII opposed the general feeling of his Secretary of State, when he responded to Monsignor Domenico Tardini’s written warning against helping the Jews establish a homeland. Pius XII wrote by hand, “The Jews need a land of their own.” This document is in the closed section of the Vatican Library and will not be available until the archives are fully open.

The foundation explained that researchers have also uncovered the 1946 speech Pius XII delivered to a delegation of Arabs who came to Rome to dissuade the Pope from endorsing a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Pius XII ended the meeting leaving the Arab delegation greatly disappointed by clearly stating, “As we also condemn several times in the past, the persecution that fanatical anti-Semitism unleashed against the Jewish people.”

According to research by the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, it was Pius XII who “paved the way” for the Catholic Countries members of the United Nations to positively vote in favor of the partitioning of Palestine in November 1947. We have uncovered news articles about the Vatican encouraging Spain to recognize the Jewish state in 1955.

Elliot Hershberg, Director of the Pave the Way Foundation, said “our research has shown that Pope Pius XII’s positive relationship with the Jewish people began in Pacelli’s youth with his close childhood friend, an Orthodox Jewish boy named Guido Mendes. Pacelli would share in Shabbat meals, he learned to read Hebrew and borrow the books of the great rabbinic scholars. The documents we have uncovered reveal Pacelli’s numerous interventions to save Jewish lives and protect Jewish traditions. This evidence repudiates the allegations that Pacelli was in any way anti-Semitic, which has been stated as fact by some historians.”

Gary Krupp, President of Pave the Way stated, “it has been the goal of Pave the Way Foundation to use our international relationships to identify and make available, every document we can locate to post on-line and make this information available to scholars worldwide, whether the message is positive or negative. To date we have posted online over 46,000 pages of research material, along with multiple eyewitness video interviews. In accordance with our mission, we are trying to resolve this 47-year-old obstacle between Jews and Catholics.”

Zenit – February 8, 2012

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THE CHRISTIAN POPULATION IN ISRAEL IN 2011: HIGHEST RATE IN EDUCATION

Israel Central Bureau of Statistics: On Christmas Eve 2011 there were 154,500 Christians living in Israel, who constitute 2% of the population of the State of Israel.[1]

• 80.4% of the Christians in Israel are Christian Arabs; the remainder are mainly Christians who immigrated to Israel with Jewish members of their families under the Law of Return (including their children who were born in Israel). Most of them arrived in the wave of immigration in the 1990s from the former Soviet Union.

• The towns with the largest Christian Arab populations are Nazareth (about 22,200), Haifa (13,800), Jerusalem (11,600) and Shfaram (9,300), as of the end of 2010.

• The average number of children up to age 17 in Christian families with children up to that age is 2.2, similar to the Jewish families (2.3) and lower than the Muslims (3.1).

• The percentage of participation in the civilian workforce among Christians age 15 and over was 58.0% (64.2% among the men and 52.0% among the women).

• The percentage of unemployment among Christians age 15 and over was 4.9% (4.8% among the men and 5.1% among the women).

• The number of Christian students in primary and post-primary education is 28,400, constituting 1.9% of all active students. The vast majority (88.3%) of the Christian students are Arabs.

• Over the years, the Christian Arabs have had the highest rates of success in the matriculation examinations, both in comparison to the Muslims and the Druze and in comparison to all students in the Jewish education system. In the 2010 school year, 63% of the Christian 12th grade students earned a matriculation certificate compared with 46% of the Muslims, 55% of the Druze and 58% of the students in the Jewish education system.

• In the 2010 school year, 5,300 Christian students learned in Nazareth, constituting 1.8% of the total number of students in all the institutions of higher education in Israel.

• Among Christians Arab students studying toward a bachelor’s degree, the main subject was law (11.4%) and after that were studies toward a bachelor’s degree in the social sciences (9.3%).

• Most of the Christian Arabs live in the north of the country - 71.4% live in the northern district and 12.7% live in the Haifa district. 9.5% live in the Jerusalem district.

• The non-Arab Christians are spread throughout the various districts: 39% in the Tel Aviv district and the central district, about 34% in the northern district and in the Haifa district, another 14% in the southern district and 11.6% in the Jerusalem district.

• The largest communities of non-Arab Christians are concentrated in the three large cities - Haifa (3,300), Jerusalem (3,000) and Tel Aviv (2,800).

• The composition of ages in the Christian population differs from that of the Muslim population, and is more similar to the composition of ages in the Jewish population. The percentage of young persons ages 0-19 is 30.4%, similar to that of the Jewish population (33.2%) and is lower than that of the Muslim population (49.7%). The percentage of persons 65 and older among all the

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Christians is 9.8% as of the end of 2010 (in comparison, the percentages are 11.6% among the Jews and 3.5% among the Muslims).

• The rate of growth of the entire Christian population is 0.9% (Christian Arabs -1% and other Christians - 0.7%) compared with 1.7% in the Jewish population and 2.7% in the Muslim population.

Marriage and fertility • 758 Christian couples were married in Israel in 2009, most of them Christian Arabs. • The median age[2] of Christian bridegrooms in the first marriage in 2009 was 29.1, about a

year and a half older than the Jewish bridegrooms, about two years older than the Druze bridegrooms and about three and a half years older than the Muslim bridegrooms.

• The median age for Christian brides marrying for the first time was 24.5 about a year younger than the age of Jewish brides, about three years older than the Druze brides and four years older than the Muslim brides.

• In 2010, 2,511 children[3] were born to Christian women, of whom 79% were Christian Arab women (1,985 children).

• This year, the number of children expected to be born to a Christian woman during her lifetime was 2.1 children per woman, which is now the lowest among the religious groups in the country. In comparison, a Muslim woman is expected to bear 3.8 children during her lifetime, a Jewish woman 3.0 children and a Druze woman 2.5 children.

• Among the 526 babies born to non-Arab Christian women, 10% were born to women who were born in Israel, about 40% were born to women who were born in the former Soviet Union, about 15% were born to women who were born in Ethiopia, about 8% were born to women who were born in the Philippines, 7% were born to women who were born in Romania, and the remainder were born to women from other countries.

Households and families[4] • In 2010, there were about 60,000 households in Israel headed by a Christian (of which

48,000 were households of Christian Arabs), which constituted about 3% of all households in Israel. • The size of the average household was estimated at 3.5 persons, slightly higher than the

Jewish household (3.1), but a great deal smaller than the households in the Muslim population of 5.0 persons.

• Since 1992, the size of the average Christian household has decreased from 4.2 to 3.5 persons. One of the causes contributing to this change is the addition of Christians who immigrated


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in the waves of immigration from the former Soviet Union, which began in the 1990s. This population is characterized by relatively small households.

• In 68% of the households headed by a Christian, the head of the household was a Christian Arab. The average size of these households is 3.7 persons.

• 85% (about 52,000) of the Christian households are "family" households, which encompass at least one family, compared with 95% among the Muslims and about 78% among the Jews.

• The non-family households, in which one person lives alone or in which a number of unrelated persons live, constitute about 15% of the Christian households. Among the Jewish households, the percentage of non-family households is 1.5 times higher at about 22%, while among the Muslim households, the percentage is only 5%.

• In Israel, about 53,000 Christian families, half of all the Christian families, are families of a couple with at least one child up to the age 17, a rate that is similar to the Jewish families (45%) and compared with 71% of the Muslim families.

• About 18% of the Christian families are composed of a couple without children and about 9% of the families are single parent families with children, the eldest of which is up to age 17.

• The average number of children up to age 17 in Christian families with children up to that age is 2.2, similar to the Jewish families (2.3) and lower than the Muslims (3.1).

Employment • The percentage of participation in the civilian workforce among Christians age 15 and over

was 58.0% (64.2% among the men and 52.0% among the women). This percentage among Christian Arabs was 52.4% (62.1% among the men and 42.7% among the women). In comparison, The percentage of participation in the civilian workforce among Jews age 15 and over in 2010 was 60.6% (62.4% among the Jewish men and 58.8% among the Jewish women).

• The rate of employment (The rate of employed persons out of all those age 15 and over) among Christians age 15 and over was 55.1% (61.2% among the men and 49.4% among the women). The rate of employment among Christian Arabs was 50.1% (59.3% among the men and 41.0% among the women).

• The percentage of unemployment among Christians age 15 and over was 4.9% (4.8% among the men and 5.1% among the women). This percentage among Christian Arabs was 4.3% (4.5% among the men and 4.0% among the women). In comparison, the rate of unemployment among Jews age 15 over was 6.5% (6.6% among the men and 6.3% among the women).

• The housing density in Christian households was 1.09 persons per room (1.16 persons per room in Christian Arab households). In comparison, the housing density in Jewish households was 0.83 persons per room.

• In 48,300 Christian households, there was at least one employed person (in 19,400 households there was only one employed person and in 28,900 households there were two or more employed persons). In 31,500 Christian Arab households, there was at least one employed person (in 12,800 households there was only one employed person and in 18,700 households there were two or more employed persons).

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Education - Christian students Elementary and post-elementary students - 2010-2011 • The number of Christian students in primary and post primary education is 28,400,

constituting 1.9% of all active students. The vast majority (88.3%) of Christian students are Arabs. • About 2,300 Christian students began first grade in the 2011 school year, constituting 1.6%

of all first grade students. • Among the Christian high school students, 59.8% are studying in the theoretical track, a

similar rate to that of the Muslim high school students (58.1%) and lower than that of the Jewish high school students (68%).

Achievements in the matriculation examinations • Over the years, the Christian Arabs have had the highest rates of success in the matriculation

examinations, both in comparison to the Muslims and the Druze and in comparison to all students in the Jewish education system. In the 2010 school year, 63% of the Christian 12th grade students earned a matriculation certificate compared with 46% of the Muslims, 55% of the Druze and 58% of the students in the Jewish education system.

• The Christian Arabs also had higher rates of accessibility to higher education than the other groups: in 2010, 56% of the Christian Arabs compared with 49% of students in the Jewish education system, 39% of the Druze and 33% of the Muslims earned matriculation certificates that meet the admission requirements for the universities and were potential candidates for continuing their studies in institutions of higher education.

Higher education and science Christian students - 2009-2010 • In the 2010 school year, there were 5,300 Christian students, constituting 1.8% of all

students in the institutions of higher education in Israel. • Among the Christian students, 92.3% were Arabs (4,900 students) and 7.7% were new

immigrants who arrived under the Law of Return (400 students). • Among all the Christian students, 82.7% were studying toward a bachelor’s degree, 14.9%

were studying toward a master’s degree and 2.4% were studying toward a doctorate. • The Christian students constituted 2.0% of all the students studying toward a bachelor’s

degree, 1.6% of all the students studying toward a master’s degree and 1.2% of all students studying toward a doctorate.

• 54.5% of all the Christian students were studying in universities, 11% were studying in the Open University, 21.8% were studying in academic colleges, and 12.7% were studying in academic colleges of education.

• The Christian students constituted 2.4% of all the students in the universities, and also in the academic colleges of education. The relative percentage of the Christian students among all students studying in the Open University and in the academic colleges was 1.3%.

• 6.4% of the students studying at the University of Haifa were Christians (of whom 6.2% are Arabs). At the Technion, the rate of Christian students was 5.0% (of whom 4.7% are Arabs). In comparison, 0.4% of the students studying at Ben Gurion University were Christians.

• Among the academic colleges, it was found that 12.7% of the students studying at the Carmel Academic Center were Christians. At the Safed Academic Center, 7.6% were Christians. In

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three other academic colleges, it was found that the relative percentage of Christian students ranged between 4% and 6%. In comparison, in 10 academic colleges, the rate of Christian students was less than half a percent.

• The Christian students constituted 14.7% of the students studying at the Academic Arab College of Education. At the Sakhnin College for Teacher Education the relative rate of Christians was 9.4%. Additionally, in three academic colleges of education, it was found that the relative percentage of Christian students ranges between 5.0% and 6.0%. In comparison, in 11 academic colleges of education, the rate of Christian students was less than 0.2%.

• 4.4% of the entire student population studying toward a bachelors degree in Israel are studying in the field of paramedical professions, compared with 10.1% among the Christian Arab students studying in that field. The rate of students studying in the field of medicine was also higher among the Christian Arab students, compared with all the students (2.5% compared with 0.8% respectively). In contrast, 17.1% of the student population studying toward a bachelor’s degree in Israel are studying in the field of engineering and architecture, while 12.8% of the Christian Arab students are studying that field. Two other fields with similar disparities are business and management (11.3% of all the students compared with 6.5% of the Christian Arab students) and particularly agriculture (0.4% compared with 0.1% respectively).

• Among Christians Arab students studying toward a bachelor’s degree, the main subject was law (11.4%) and after that were studies toward a bachelor’s degree in the social sciences (9.3%), nursing (4.8%), economics (4.5%), business administration (3.7%), computer science (3.7%), general studies in the humanities (3.5%), electrical engineering (2.7%) and English language and literature (2.5%).

• The median age of Christian Arab students studying toward a bachelor’s degree is 22.3, compared with 25.3 among all the students studying toward a bachelor’s degree. Among the Christian Arab students studying toward a master’s degree, the median age was 27.9, compared with the median age of all the students studying toward the same degree, which was 30.4. Among all the students studying toward a doctorate, the median age was 33.4, compared with 32.8 among Christian Arab students studying toward the same degree.

• Among the Christian Arab students studying toward a bachelor’s degree, the women constituted 63.0% compared with 55.9% among all the students studying toward a bachelor’s degree. 67.9% of the Christian Arab students studying toward a master’s degree were women compared with 57.9% among all the students studying toward that degree. Among the Christian Arab students studying toward a doctorate, the relative percentage of women was 53.8% compared with 52.7% among all the students studying toward that degree.

[1] The estimate is temporary and does not include the Christians among the foreign workers living in Israel. [2] The median age is the age below which are half of those who marry and above which are the other half. [3] Living children. [4] Household - Defined as one person or a group of persons who live together in one apartment on a

permanent basis on most days of the week, who have a joint budget for food expenses. A household can include persons who are not related. A family household is a household that has at least one family. The data on households

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and families are based on a personnel survey for 2010. The data do not include those living in institutions, on kibbutzim, in student dormitories and those living outside the towns (Bedouin in the South and others). Family - Defined as a nuclear family of two or more persons who share one household and are connected to one another as a husband and wife, as an unmarried couple, or as a parent and child. The main types of family are only a couple, a couple with children (in various age groups according to the youngest child) a single parent (single parent family) with children.

The Jerusalem Post – January 3, 2012

ISRAELI CITY'S CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY FIGHTS FOR EQUAL BURIAL RIGHTS

Be'er Sheva reversed a 2001 decision to construct a cemetery for its Christian population, with the municipality saying that there are 'sufficient burial alternatives.

Be'er Sheva, the largest city in Israel's south, does not provide burial accommodations for its Christian population, Zikaron, a non-profit representing Christian burial rights in Israel, is claiming.

The NGO's struggle against city policy began after current mayor Rubik Danilovich reversed a 2001 decision by then mayor Yaakov Terner to allocate land to serve as the future site of a Christian cemetery in the city.

Speaking to Haaretz, Terner said that he "approved the land, near Tel Sheva, within the municipal jurisdiction of Be'er Sheva." Shortly after, however, "an Interior Ministry panel decided to move that tract of land to Omer."

"Following that ruling, I allocated the NGO another tract of land, near the alternative burial site Menucha Nechona and passed the decision in the Be'er Sheva council," the former mayor said.

However, Danilovich refuses to go ahead with that decision, with a city spokesperson saying that "the issue was discussed several times. In every one of those times the city claimed that there was no need to build another cemetery."

"Be'er Sheva currently provides a sufficient number of burial alternatives," the statement said. However, it seems that Zikaron's fight for Christian burial rights in the southern city starts

even earlier, with city officials and the NGO debating the size of Be'er Sheva's Christian community.

According to data culled by Zikaron, at least 20,000 Christians reside within the city's limits, while the municipality cites its own information, gathered during a 2008 census, according to which only 1,300 Christians live in Be'er Sheva.

Interior Ministry data, on the other hand, indicates that the city hosts a population of approximately 60,000 immigrants from the former USSR, an undetermined number of which are identified as having no religion.

However, according to Zikaron, a sizable portion of those immigrants are Christian, adding that over half of the city's former-Soviet population would be interested in a Christian burial if that option were to be made available.

In addition to the city's immigrant population, Be'er Sheva is home to 300 Christian Arab Israelis.

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Stanislav Mishen, a Christian of Soviet extraction who immigrated to Israel 13 years ago, says that "there's a serious problem, there's nowhere to bury the Russian Christians," indicating that members of the city's Christian community are forced to use the services of the alternative burial site.

Speaking of the current use of Menucha Nechona, a burial site constructed for Jews who do not wish to follow religious burial rights, Zikaron's legal adviser Amnon Cohen said that "until 2004 there was a Christian cemetery in Be'er Sheva."

"But when that was filled, the alternative cemetery began accepting Christian and Muslim burials. We contacted Religious Services Minister Yaakov Margi, and he responded that it was forbidden to bury Christians in the alternative site, but that the city continued to object" to the establishment of a Christian cemetery, Cohen added.

By Yanir Yagna Haaretz – February 19, 2012

SURVEY: RECORD NUMBER OF ISRAELI JEWS BELIEVE IN GOD First comprehensive study in a decade also shows that 70 percent of Israelis believe the Jews are the 'Chosen People.'

Fully 80 percent of Israeli Jews believe that God exists - the highest figure found by the Guttman-Avi Chai survey since this review of Israeli-Jewish beliefs began two decades ago.

The latest survey of the "Beliefs, Observance and Values among Israeli Jews" was conducted in 2009 but the results were released only on Thursday, after a detailed analysis had been completed. The two previous surveys were in 1999 and 1991.

The study also found that 70 percent of respondents believe the Jews are the "Chosen People," 65 percent believe the Torah and mitzvot (religious commandments ) are God-given, and 56 percent believe in life after death.

Overall, the survey found an increase in attachment to Jewish religion and tradition from 1999 to 2009, following a decrease from 1991 to 1999, which was the decade of mass immigration from the former Soviet Union. Among other things, it found that less than half of Israeli Jews think that, in a clash between Jewish law and democracy, democratic values should always prevail.

The study, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute's Guttman Center for Surveys and the Avi Chai Foundation, is based on interviews with 2,803 Israeli Jews.

It found that only 46 percent of Israeli Jews now define themselves as secular, down from 52 percent in 1999, while 22 percent define themselves as either Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox, up from 16 percent in 1999. The remaining 32 percent term themselves traditional, virtually unchanged from 1999.

This change in self-identification was also reflected in the proportion of those subscribing to traditional Jewish beliefs. For instance, 55 percent said they believe in the coming of the Messiah, up from 45 percent in 1999 but similar to 53 percent in 1991, while 37 percent said that "a Jew who does not observe the religious precepts endangers the entire Jewish people," up from 30 percent in 1999 but again similar to the 1991 figure of 35 percent.

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The study's authors cited two reasons for the rise in religiosity. One is that immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who contributed to the drop in religiosity from 1991 to 1999, have now assimilated into Israeli society. Various studies have found that this process of assimilation has resulted in Soviet immigrants becoming more traditional. The second reason is the demographic change caused by the higher Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox birthrates.

The survey found that, even when individuals were asked about how their own attitudes had changed over the previous decade, the number of those that said they felt more religious and were more careful about observing the Sabbath and kashrut was higher than the number of those who said they had become more secular.

The rise in religiosity was also reflected in attitudes toward other issues.

For instance, only 44 percent said that if Jewish law and democratic values clashed, the latter should always be preferred, while 20 percent said Jewish law should always be preferred and 36 percent said "sometimes one and sometimes the other."

The study also found an upswing in religious practice. For instance, 85 percent of respondents said that "celebrating the Jewish holidays as prescribed by religious tradition" was "important" or "very important," up from 63 percent in 1999, while 70 percent said they "always" or "frequently" refrained from eating hametz (leavened bread ) on Passover, up from 67 percent in 1999.

Fully 61 percent of respondents said the state should "ensure that public life is conducted according to Jewish religious tradition," up dramatically from 44 percent in 1991. But respondents also insisted on preserving their freedom of choice. For instance, between 58 and 68 percent said that shopping centers, public transportation, sporting events, cafes, restaurants and movie theaters should be allowed to operate on Shabbat (exact figures ranged from 58 percent for shopping centers to 68 percent for cafes, restaurants and movie theaters ).

Moreover, 51 percent responded "yes," "absolutely yes" or "perhaps yes" when asked if they favored the introduction of civil marriage in Israel. Those in the first two categories, at 48 percent, were down from 54 percent in 1999 but up from 39 percent in 1991.

By Nir Hasson The Jerusalem Post – January 27, 2012

Photo by: M. Mezzera

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RETRACING THE JOURNEY OF RUSSIAN JEWISH CONVERTS TO ISRAEL Descendants of a group of Russian Christians who converted to Judaism and immigrated to Israel 110 years ago remember their ancestors' path.

At the entrance to the residential area of the Shmueli family in the moshava (agricultural community ) Ilaniya, the daughter of the family Esther Stepman-Shmueli put a wooden cask on which she wrote the family name "Shmueli," but made sure to add the name "Protopopov" as well. Over a century after her great-grandfather Hebraized his name and that of his family, she decided to note his original name, which incidentally signified a low rank of clergy in the church.

Stepman-Shmueli's symbolic gesture came in the midst of a journey to the past that she and others are conducting; a journey to the fascinating story of a community of converts - or "Subbotniks" (Sabbath observers ) as they were called - who came from Russia to the moshavot of the Galilee over a century ago.

In September Stepman-Shmueli organized a meeting of about 100 descendants of Subbotniks from the Russian village of Solodniki. Since then they have begun to plan a journey to the village from which the "Kurakin convoy" set out for Israel, leaving behind its Christian past, devoutly adopting Judaism and moving to a new country. Now, after many years "which were characterized mainly by silence about the past," according to Stepman-Shmueli and her partner in the project Eitan Kurakin, "a strong longing has awakened to return to the village and to see where it all began."

The journey in the wake of the "Karakin convoy" that she and others are organizing is planned to follow the history of the families that left the village around 1876. According to the legend that was told in their place of residence in Israel, the Sejera farm in the Lower Galilee, the father of the Kurakin family, Abraham, used to ring the church bell in the Russian village. His descendants say that when he went up on Christmas eve to ring the bell, he suddenly became upset and sat down on the steps.

The priest, who meanwhile was waiting for the signal for prayer, sent people to find out what had happened in the church, where Kurakin explained to them that he had received a divine message telling him to adopt the Jewish faith. Over time, more and more families from the village gathered around him and the authorities began to persecute them, until one day 37 families, numbering 163 people, left their icons and crosses at the entrance and decided to convert and immigrate to the Land of Israel.

Four of those families arrived in Sejera in 1902 and, like other families who came to the Lower Galilee, made their mark there and became a model for the other farmers. They say that the Madveyev family, for example, were the best farmers in Sejera. They had the fattest and strongest mules; their harnesses were rubbed with fish oil and a special woven net protected their eyes from the flies in the summer. At the end of the summer, when the farmers took the wheat to Haifa, the Madveyev's wagon that led the convoy was the best - the wheels were painted gray, the driver's seat was made of genuine thick wood and the whip was held in a special device.

Harmona Simon, the daughter of the man who was in charge of the moshavot in the Lower Galilee, Haim Kalvarisky, is quoted as saying that "the most successful farmers were the converts.

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On their farms everything grew beautifully, the hens laid load of eggs, the ducks were fat, even the horses gleamed. On the farms of the Jewish farmers, on the other hand, the animals would sometimes die, the cows didn't give milk and the vegetables were pathetic."

Many myths and quite a bit of mystery surround the concept "Subbotniks." According to Yoav Regev, author of the Hebrew book "Subbotniks in the Galilee," the expression is "a popular nickname for the Russian converts who immigrated to the Land of Israel out of a profound religious feeling, and with the enthusiastic support of the Hovevei Zion ('Lovers of Zion' ) they took root on the Israeli frontier."

According to Regev, "The Russian converts originated from several Christian sects that were annexed to the Jewish people of their own free will. During the course of the 19th century they adopted Jewish principles and in the end they converted," wrote Regev.

With the encouragement of Zionist activists, mainly Meir Dizengoff, Hillel Yaffe, Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi and Haim Margaliot-Kalvarisky, most of the "Subotniks" came to the eastern Galilee. Korkin says that "Kalvarisky believed in the quality of this group and supported bringing them to Palestine. The idea at the time was that if they came from villages they were probably good farmers."

Walls of silence Stepman-Shmueli says, "They didn't change the map of Zionism, but their role in settling the

eastern part of the Lower Galilee was tremendous. The attitude toward them was complex: On the one hand the leadership of the Yishuv (the pre-state Jewish community ) saw in them the new Jew - they were tall, strong and farmers. On the other hand, they were considered different, were envied and were called derogatory names."

Their transition from Christianity to Judaism, of which no official documentation remains, their external difference, their excellence at manual labor and their courage did in fact cause the Subbotniks to be treated differently. But for their part, they decided to erase the past and seal it behind walls of silence.

Kurakin says that in his childhood his uncle went through his grandfather's desk and found a collection of documents. When he asked his grandfather about their meaning, he saw his grandfather get angry for the first time in his life, and his grandfather even slapped him, after which he went out to the yard, dug a pit and burned the papers inside it. Kurakin believes that "this story illustrates the desire to burn the past. It was embedded in their DNA."

Stepman-Shmueli says that "they were totally silent. It's a trait that they adopted and apparently there was a reason for it."

Her great-grandfather, Eliyahu Protopopov, is described as "a tall and erect man. Although he hadn't been raised as a Jew he was fluent in Yiddish and also knew Arabic. But his favorite language was silence. His wife and son were also silent and mysterious types."

Even now, over 100 years since they arrived in Israel, some of them think they should continue to remain silent. Stepman-Shmueli says that a relative asked her to wait with the journey project. "He said to me: 'You're opening it up too soon, wait another two or three generations.' There's a fear that people will start looking into their conversion again."

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For her part, she has been talking about her heritage for a long time, and at the farm in Sejera, where her family arrived 110 years ago, she hung pictures from the past and conducts tours in the wake of her family and the other Subbotnik families.

But now, after many years, the walls of silence are crumbling and the journey to the small village, Solodniki, is becoming a reality.

"It's become real," says Stepman-Shmueli. "We're curious to see whether the dramatic departure of 163 of the villagers was etched in the memory of the small village, or if everything has already been erased."

Kurakin says that "the parents deliberately wanted to cut off the past. There are no family stories and there is no sequence of generations. We're trying to find the past and our roots. I want to sail on the Volga, to ring the bells that Kurakin rang, to eat Astrakhan watermelon."

Says Stepman-Shmuel: "If the situation offers us more than that, if we discover things we didn't know or find distant relatives and the graves of forgotten families, that will be a bonus."

By Eli Ashkenazi Haaretz – January 1, 2012

THE SOLE WAY

4 Swiss Catholics on 7-month pilgrimage arrived at year's end with message that people can overcome differences.

This year, more than 3.1 million tourists visited Israel. Included in those numbers were thousands of Jewish, Christian and Muslim pilgrims who traveled to the Holy Land in search of a religious or spiritual experience. Coming to Israel from abroad usually involves some form of air or sea transportation. But for four devout Catholics from Switzerland, a true pilgrimage to Israel could only be done the old-fashioned way – on foot.

Arriving in time for Christmas, these pilgrims – two men and two women – trekked for seven months, covering 2,672 miles through 11 countries in a dangerous, life-altering journey to spread their message of peace and coexistence among the diverse peoples they encountered along the way.

Setting off from Switzerland on June 2, the travelers walked an average of 18.6 miles a day through Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria before arriving in Turkey, where they spent two months.

Despite serious concerns over the unraveling political situation, the group managed to enter Syria, where they stayed two weeks before crossing into Jordan on November 27. They spent three weeks in Amman documenting their travels for an upcoming book and were then joined by 30 other Swiss/German pilgrims on their last leg, which culminated in a December 21 arrival at Israel’s borders. From there, it was an uphill climb from the Dead Sea area to Jerusalem, and finally to Bethlehem in time for Christmas mass.

The Jerusalem Post caught up with the group on a stop at the desolate St. George’s Monastery in the middle of the Judean Desert. Despite their long and rigorous journey, the four appeared physically intact, bearing only minor blisters, and expressed without doubt how spiritually uplifting the experience was.

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Franz Mali, 50, a Roman Catholic priest and a professor of theology and church history at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, was in charge of navigating the group’s route from start to finish, relying on, among other things, GPS and Google Maps.

While their walking path was mapped out, the pilgrims had no set arrangements for food and lodging along the way. Nevertheless, Mali said that “the hospitality all over the world was absolutely impressive.” He stressed that the greatest revelation he had gained from the experience was that “God’s providence is always timely.”

“God is always there at the right moment,” he said. “If you need anything in your life, a bed to sleep in, something to drink, even if there is nothing around, when you need it, it will be there. I experienced this firsthand.”

When asked why they hadn’t used a more conventional mode of travel, Mali said the group had wanted to “express their authentic respect for the people of Israel.”

“We didn’t think it was enough to come by plane,” he explained. “We’re not tourists here to just take pictures, and for me, visiting Israel for the first time, I wanted to arrive on foot in order to approach the scene by truly getting into the experience.”

Christian Rutishauser, 45, is the program director of the Lassalle-House organization, which is dedicated to interreligious dialogue and social responsibility and which coordinated the pilgrimage. He asserted that “in making this commitment to come to the Holy Land by foot through many different landscapes and cultures, we hoped to show that even today, people can overcome their differences in a spirit of hope and mutual understanding.”

Rutishauser, who is also a Roman Catholic priest, a university professor and an official delegate of the Vatican for Jewish-Christian relations, came up with the idea of a walking pilgrimage nearly 20 years ago.

However, his vision only started to take shape in 2009, when he, Mali and two female colleagues – Hildegard Aepli, 48, and Esther Rutherman, 43 – started the intense two-year process of planning for the trek.

Resting on a breathtaking ledge overlooking St. George’s, Rutishauser said he viewed the trip as a great success.

“The main purpose of a pilgrimage (especially over a seven-month period) is the inner process, with an emphasis on spiritual growth,” he said, noting that he had personally reflected on the will of God and how he could contribute to peace and justice in the world – issues he will commit himself to pursuing when he goes back home.

Both he and Mali admitted that there had been hardships along the route, including tensions among the four travelers – though Mali felt this was normal, since “you’re together with the same group of people night and day for seven months straight,” and said that despite this, the four had truly bonded.

However, none of those tensions could compare to the dangers they faced while navigating through Syria, as the travelers tried to avoid areas of conflict in a country undergoing a violent revolution.

In one hair-raising incident, a Syrian soldier in a local village, seeing four strangers arriving, brandished his pistol and demanded to inspect the group’s belongings. Not understanding his dialect

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– and at this point with the gun pointed in his direction – Rutishauser tried to calm the soldier down and explain the group’s purpose. After some tense minutes, the message that the four were not a threat came across, and the soldier put away his weapon.

According to the priest, the soldier must have made their presence known to high-ranking authorities after that incident, since an official government security force was assigned to protect the pilgrims as they made their way south toward Jordan. The last thing Syria would have wanted, Rutishauser speculates, was for the world to hear that four Westerners had been harmed while in the country. The security guards even lied to suspicious locals on the group’s behalf, saying they were Christian pilgrims in the country visiting the sacred monasteries in the town of Maalula, near Damascus.

The four were overcome with relief when they crossed into Jordan. They made camp in Amman, logging their experiences and waiting for their fellow pilgrims to join them.

Following Christmas in Bethlehem, they were scheduled to share their experiences at a major

interfaith conference on modern-day pilgrimage on December 28-29 in Jerusalem, organized by Lassalle-House and the Jerusalem-based Elijah Interfaith Institute.

Elijah Institute founder and director Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein said that while pilgrimage was an aspect of religious observance typically associated with ancient times, this event proved that these journeys continued to hold a special message for people of all religions.

“These modern-day adventurers set out on an experience defined by spirituality and peace, and this week [at the conference,] we will look forward to saluting this remarkable accomplishment,” he said. “Their devotion and sacrifice proves that the spirit which defined the pilgrimages by foot of centuries past remains in our world today as a source of inspiration and hope.”

The group spent its remaining time in Israel visiting holy sites throughout the country before heading back to Switzerland on January 6. Asked how they were getting home, Rutishauser smiled and said, “By plane – no more walking for us.”

By Josh Hasten The Jerusalem Post – February 1, 2012

ISRAELI ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND 1,500-‐YEAR-‐OLD KOSHER 'BREAD STAMP' NEAR ACRE

The tiny stamp was used to identify baked products; experts think it belonged to a bakery that supplied kosher bread to the Jews of Acre in the Byzantine period.

A 1,500-year-old seal with the image of the seven-branched Temple Menorah has been discovered near the city of Acre.

The ceramic stamp, which dates from the Byzantine period in the 6th century CE, was found during ongoing Israel Antiquities Authority excavations at Horbat Uza, east of Acre, which are being undertaken before the construction of the Acre-Carmiel railroad track.

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It is thought the stamp was used to mark baked goods, and is known as a “bread stamp.” “A number of stamps bearing an image of a menorah are known from different collections.

The Temple Menorah, being a Jewish symbol par excellence, indicates the stamps belonged to Jews, unlike Christian bread stamps with the cross pattern which were much more common in the Byzantine period,” said Gilad Jaffe and Dr. Danny Syon, the directors of the excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority,

According to the excavation directors, this was the first time that a stamp of this kind has been found in a controlled archaeological excavation, meaning that it is possible to determine where it comes from and when it was made.

“The stamp is important because it proves that a Jewish community existed in the settlement of Uza in the Christian-Byzantine period. The presence of a Jewish settlement so close to Acre - a region that was definitely Christian at this time - constitutes an innovation in archaeological research,” Syon said.

“Due to the geographical proximity of Horbat Uza to Acre, we can speculate that the settlement supplied kosher baked goods to the Jews of Acre in the Byzantine period,” Jaffe and Syon added.

Horbat Uza is a small rural settlement where other archaeological finds, a Shabbat lamp and jars with menorah patterns painted on them, have alluded to it having been a Jewish settlement.

The stamp bears the image of a seven-branched menorah, and the handle of the stamp is engraved with Greek letters. According to Dr. Leah Di Segni of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, this is probably the name Launtius, which was common among Jews of the period and has appeared on other Jewish bread stamps.

“This is probably the name of the baker from Horbat Uza,” Jaffe and Syon said.

Haaretz – January 10, 2012

ARCHAEOLOGISTS SLAM PLAN TO REBUILD HEROD'S TOMB The plan, promoted by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Gush Etzion Regional Council, includes rebuilding the tomb of Herod the Great in the West Bank.

A plan to rebuild King Herod's tomb at Herodion, southeast of Jerusalem, is sparking objections from leading archaeologists. The plan is being promoted by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Gush Etzion Regional Council, and focuses on reconstructing the original grand mausoleum out of lightweight plastics and turning it into a visitors center.

This would be an unusual step never undertaken before at any excavation site in Israel, whose managers usually make do with installing miniature models of the historic buildings or partially recreating the sites using original materials found there.

The tomb was uncovered some five years ago by the archaeologist Ehud Netzer, who died as the result of a fall at the site in October 2010. Before his death, Netzer was able to recreate the grand structure, which soared to a height of 25 meters and had a cone-shaped roof. A four-meter tall model of the structure was built at a cost of NIS 50,000 and installed at the site last week.

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"It's crazy. Archaeology is not Disneyland," said a senior archeologist who chose to remain anonymous. "You don't take an archaeological site and make a joke out of it."

Prof. Haim Goldfus, head of the archaeology department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, added: "Herodion is impressive in its own right, and the new structure will just distract attention away from the real thing. A public committee should be formed to decide on such a move."

Prof. Gideon Foerster, who managed the excavations at Herodion together with Netzer, noted that the drafting of the tomb model based on the findings has yet to be completed. Beyond that, other archeologists doubted the definitive identification of the tomb's location.

However Shaul Goldstein, recently appointed head of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, is trying to persuade archaeologists that reconstructing the building in its original dimensions will not damage the existing findings.

Goldstein started pushing the project while he was still head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council. He also served as chairman of the Herodion site steering committee, and managed to secure funding for the project from the Ministry of Tourism and the National Heritage Site program.

Goldstein rejected outright the criticisms voiced by the archaeologists. "Disneyland attracts 50,000 people every day," he said. "I oppose the distortion of history, but support an approach where it is possible to recreate the site and leave an opening for the imagination. I also propose filling the pool beneath Herodion with water, so that it will be possible to understand Herod's wealth and the power of the period."

King Herod ruled the Kingdom of Judah during the first century BCE and died in 4 CE. Among other things, he is credited with refurbishing the Second Temple and the construction of Caesarea and Masada.

Goldstein added that he visited the Shivta National Park near Nitzana and came away with a negative impression of the ruins at this archaeological site. "It takes a lot of imagination to understand what happened at the site. After all, it is possible to show what a two-story building looked like in the ancient world. When you have a pile of stones, the visitor doesn't understand what is there. Caesarea and Beit She'an are attractive sites because they are well preserved."

By Nir Hasson Haaretz – January 30, 2012


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ARCHAEOLOGISTS BRINGING JERUSALEM'S ANCIENT ROMAN CITY BACK TO LIFE

Excavations of the Roman city Aelia Capitolina, built on the ruins of Second Temple-period Jerusalem, have unearthed a few surprises.

If you look at a map of the Old City of Jerusalem, you'll notice something odd. While the vast majority of the Old City's streets form a crowded casbah of winding alleyways, there are a few straight-as-a-ruler streets that bisect the city from north to south and east to west.

The best known of these straight roads are Beit Chabad and Hagai streets, exiting through the Damascus Gate; David Street, exiting the Jaffa Gate; and the Via Dolorosa.

Like the rest of the Old City's streets, these straight roads are narrow but, unlike the others, they preserve a historical skeleton of sorts that forms the basis of the Old City we know today. This skeleton was created, most archaeologists agree, not during Jewish, Christian or Muslim rule, but during the Roman period, when the city of Aelia Capitolina was built on the ruins of Jerusalem following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD.

Ironically, it is actually the streets of this imperial and pagan city - which supposedly left behind no cultural or spiritual heritage for modern Jerusalem - that have bequeathed to the city the skeleton structure that has survived to this day.

In the history of Jewish Jerusalem, Aelia Capitolina is the very embodiment of defeat and destruction - a reminder of the humiliation of the Second Temple's destruction, which erected a pagan temple in its place. This image has distanced Aelia Capitolina from the fathers of Israeli archaeology, who were naturally drawn to the ornate, Jewish city that preceded it. "No one concealed Aelia Capitolina, but we wanted to talk about the Second Temple," says Dr. Ofer Sion, of the Antiquities Authority. "Aelia Capitolina was an accursed city, a city from which we were banished. It was more idealistic to excavate the Second Temple."

Almost all of the archaeologists who study Aelia Capitolina call it "an elusive city." As opposed to the Jerusalem of Second Temple times that preceded it, Aelia Capitolina has not been entirely unearthed during the many excavations that have been performed in the city since 1967. The residents of Aelia Capitolina did not leave written texts like the works of Flavius Josephus during the Second Temple era or of Christian travelers in the following period.

It is known that the Roman city was established by Emperor Hadrian between 130 and 140 AD. After the Bar Kochba revolt of 135, Jews were forbidden to enter the city. Its most important inhabitants were the soldiers of the 10th Legion, who would remain encamped in Jerusalem for 200 years.

Salvage operations Following the latest wave of excavations, which began in the mid-1990s, more and more

archaeologists have become convinced that Aelia Capitolina was a much larger and more important city than was once thought, and its influence on the later development of modern Jerusalem was dramatic.

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Aelia Capitolina has sprung to life in a significant way through no less than four extensive excavations that have taken place in the Old City area, and in a number of other digs in other parts of Jerusalem. Most of these digs have been rescue excavations by the Antiquities Authority, salvage digs carried out before new construction and development goes ahead. In a few more years, Aelia Capitolina could again be covered over by new buildings.

In the rear section of the Western Wall plaza, in the spot where the Western Wall Heritage Foundation intends to erect a large building that it calls "the Core House," Antiquities Authority researcher Shlomit Wexler-Bedolah discovered an ornate and broad Roman street, complete with shops on each side. This is the eastern cardo, along whose path Hagai Street would later be paved.

Three hundred meters to the south, another Antiquities Authority researcher, Dr. Doron Ben-Ami, discovered the place where the Roman street apparently ended. The corner of the street is adjacent to the Givati parking lot at the top of the Silwan valley - the spot where the Elad organization intends to build a large visitors center. In a large rescue excavation at this location in recent years, Ben-Ami exposed a large, fancy Roman villa unlike any other structure from its time in the entire country. He estimates that the villa he uncovered was the home of the regional governor or some other central authority.

In another excavation, in the tunnel under the Western Wall, Wexler-Bedolah and archaeologist Alexander Onn re-estimated the dating of a large bridge leading to the Temple Mount. As with other ancient monuments this too turned out to be of Roman origin and not from the Second Temple period. Another example is the Roman bathhouse and swimming pool discovered by Sion a year and a half ago. "It's a tremendous spa, a country club," Sion says, comparing the bathhouse to similar facilities found in other parts of the Roman Empire.

This increasing number of Roman-era discoveries strengthens the notion that the Temple Mount, even after its destruction, did not lie totally barren, but was used for pagan worship rites.

But not only the Old City and its immediate surroundings have turned up new findings from Aelia Capitolina. Excavations made a few years ago in the area near the Binyanei Ha'uma international convention center, carried out in preparation for the expansion of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, uncovered a large pottery-workers village that served as the legion's central clayware manufacturing plant. Along the route of Jerusalem's new light-rail, remains of a large water facility serving the legionnaires were discovered, and in the area of Shuafat, a Jewish settlement from the same period was discovered.

The latest excavations give archaeologists much greater insight into Aelia Capitolina than was possible even a decade earlier. Experts agree the city was planned extraordinarily well, based as it was on designs of other cities in the empire and according to orders that came directly from the emperor. It included broad streets, numerous and magnificent entrance gates, temples and infrastructure, and it even housed a new elite of army officers and free soldiers who turned Aelia Capitolina into a thriving city.

"When I began to study the history of the Roman city, it was a barren field," says Prof. Yoram Zafrir, one of Israel's most veteran archaeologists. "Today, it is clear that the basic structure of

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Jerusalem is that of Aelia Capitolina." Zafrir describes the process by which, after the Roman period, beasts of burden replaced wagons, the central government became weak and streets became "privatized." This process led to the city that we know today.

"Similarly to the British Mandate, which lasted just 31 years but had a significant impact on modern Jerusalem, from the perspective of architecture, the Roman period established a whole new, imperial language that still holds sway today," archaeologist Dr. Guy Stiebel concludes. Stiebel even notes the irony of history: "Aelia Capitolina effectively saved Jerusalem. It raised her once again onto the stage of history. She returned like a phoenix from the ashes."


AT THE INN OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN

The “Khan” - or inn - of the Good Samaritan was reopened to the public in May, 2009. The site remained closed for several years because of excavations and restoration work

organized by the civil administration of Judea and Samaria in cooperation with the Israeli Department of Antiquities.

The final results of the excavations and of the conservation of antiquities are highly praiseworthy. In order of importance, the three most interesting aspects are: the archaeological examination of the entire area on the south and north of the modern road; the creation of the Good Samaritan Museum; the restoration of the sacred area, keeping pilgrims in mind.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the

hands of robbers….” This is how the parable of the Good Samaritan starts

(Lk 10, 30-37). During the narration an “inn” is highlighted where the merciful Samaritan entrusted the poor traveler to receive assistance and necessary healing after his brutal adventure. “Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him” (Lk 10, 34).

Following the results of the archaeological research recently finished, it seems possible to affirm that during the time of the New Testament (First Century A.D.) a structure to welcome


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travelers existed at the site called Khan al-Hatrur. Thus, it is possible that the author of the parable was spurred by the reality he saw while traveling along the road between Jericho and Jerusalem.

Christians place the parable of Luke (Lk 10, 30-37) at a specific stretch of the road about halfway between Jerusalem and Jericho, precisely at 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the Holy City.

The inn of the Good Samaritan has suffered heavily because of historical events, existing along a well traveled route and being tied to a military structure. The surrounding area is known as the Judean Desert, dotted with ruins of Byzantine monasteries. Here are the principal monasteries encountered in the descent from the Mount of Olives.

The archaeological investigation directed by Itzhak Magen, an Israeli, allowed for the re-creation of the occupational history of this site. This is most certainly the most brilliant result of Operation “Good Samaritan.” Archaeological excavations revealed traces of the first houses placed along this route.

During the era of Herod (First Century B.C.) cisterns were dug and a medium-sized building was constructed. It was filled with thermal baths with well-manufactured brick walls and rooms and mosaic pavements. The foundations of these structures are found near the apse of the small Byzantine-era church. Natural caves were alongside the building and were converted into storerooms and treasure rooms.

The complex formed a secure refuge for caravans, whether military or commercial, passing through. Perhaps the author of the Good Samaritan parable saw before his eyes the meaning of this stop along the route to Jericho and was spurred by this experience to give a teaching, as do many other Gospel parables.

In the Sixth Century a holy Christian square was built, measuring 24 meters by 26 meters (79 feet by 86 feet). It also had a mosaic pavement, which has been rebuilt with great patience. The Christian shrine was also rebuilt, but with larger dimensions than the previous one, during the Crusader era (12th Century A.D.). Several centuries later, the Khan of the Good Samaritan was called the Monastery or the House of Joachim (Cfr. Fr. Suriano, 1485, and Anselm, 1509).

In the Mamaluke era (14th through 15th Centuries A.D.) the spot remained operational for pilgrims and travelers. During the Turkish era the spot was rebuilt atop the previous ruins, causing damage to the original structures. It suffered notable damage during the fighting in 1917 and was partially restored during the British Mandate in Palestine (1934-36).

Father Bellarmino Bagatti visited the site in 1939 and found traces of the wall, two rooms and the perimeter wall of the Crusader fortress. He photographed the remaining fragments of the mosaics in the church.

By Pietro Kaswalder O.F.M. Terrasanta.net – February 7, 2012

The author is professor at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum – Jerusalem (Faculty of Biblical Sciences and Archaeology of the Pontifical University “Antonianum,” Rome)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Message from WCC Executive Committee to the Churches in Syria ................................................. 2

Holy Land Custos Makes Appeal for Syria ......................................................................................... 3 Message from conference on “Violence in the Name of God? Joshua in changing contexts” ........... 5

State appeals acquittal of priest cleared of punching yeshiva student ................................................ 7 Anti-Christian graffiti sprayed against monastery’s fence in Jerusalem ............................................ 8

Jerusalem Christians are latest targets in recent spate of 'price tag' attacks ........................................ 9 Vatican asks Peres to help find 'price tag' culprits ............................................................................. 10 Holy See Meets With Palestinian, Israeli Representatives ................................................................ 11

Documents: Pius XII Favored a Jewish Homeland in Palestine ........................................................ 12 The Christian population in Israel in 2011: highest rate in education .............................................. 14

Israeli city's Christian community fights for equal burial rights ........................................................ 19 Survey: Record number of Israeli Jews believe in God ..................................................................... 20

Retracing the journey of Russian Jewish converts to Israel ............................................................... 22 The sole way ...................................................................................................................................... 24

Israeli archaeologists find 1,500-year-old kosher 'bread stamp' near Acre ...................................... 26 Archaeologists slam plan to rebuild Herod's tomb ............................................................................ 27

Archaeologists bringing Jerusalem's ancient Roman city back to life .............................................. 29 At the inn of the good Samaritan ....................................................................................................... 31

To Our Readers: While the editor tries to exercise best judgment in the choice of items to report or reproduce in the bulletin, responsibility for the contents of items taken from other sources remains with the original authors or publishers.

Photo by: J. Kraj

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