Speakers says Israeli-Palestinian conflict takes toll on children

Published: 2004-09-13

CAMALDOLI, Italy (CNS) -- Palestinian-born psychotherapist Viveca Hazboun works with would-be martyrs among the troubled children of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, West Bank. She tries to teach them a simple lesson: Ending your life is not a ticket to heaven. Israeli historian Raya Cohen is trying to convince Israelis that the construction of a 400-mile-long "security barrier" would not only represent collective punishment for Palestinians, but would place Israelis in their own "ghetto" of fear. At times, both women feel they are fighting uphill battles. They spoke Sept. 11 at an interreligious conference in the Italian monastic complex of Camaldoli. The conference was sponsored by Il Regno, a Catholic magazine published by the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also known as the Dehonians.

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