Security barrier complicates lives at East Jerusalem home for aged

Published: 2004-02-18

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Before a 10-foot-high concrete block section of Israel's security barrier was erected across the street from Our Lady of Sorrows Home for the Aged in January, Agnes Mazakis, 73, used to visit her two children whenever she wanted. "My house is behind the wall, and now I can't go there anymore," said Mazakis, a Catholic. "Before the wall, I went to my house every week. My children used to come every week, but now they can't come to visit." Mazakis' three grandchildren, who used to come with their parents, are now afraid to visit, she said. Her son was able to visit her in mid-February, she added. She said that as a Catholic she has faith that one day there will be "peace with Israel. I pray always for everybody to make peace." The towering gray cement blocks have cut through almost a mile of the villages of Abu Dis and neighboring Azzaria, where Mazakis used to live, dividing the community in half. English and Hebrew graffiti compare the walled-in area to the Nazi ghettos.

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