World News
Latin patriarch says security fence threatens peace in Holy Land
Published: December 29, 2003
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNS) -- The new security fence being built by Israel will further divide Palestinians and Israelis and present new challenges to peace, said Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem. In his Christmas Eve homily, Patriarch Sabbah said that building the barrier would not change the fact that many in the Holy Land live under the threat of violence. He noted that Israelis still lack security and Palestinians still live under occupation. "A dividing wall ... is against the nature of this land of God," he said during the Mass in St. Catherine's Church, adjacent to the Church of the Nativity, which is built over the grotto where it is believed that Jesus was born. "It is against the nature of the two peoples called to live together," he said. Patriarch Sabbah said the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land was "the basic evil" that has led to other kinds of violence.
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