Priest documents life restricted by Israeli checkpoints, fence

Published: 2006-07-06

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A Catholic priest in the Israeli-occupied West Bank detailed at a House subcommittee hearing June 30 what life will be like living with the Israeli security wall coming through the town. "The barrier will confiscate around 1,500 acres of Aboud's land," said Father Firas Nasib Aridah of Our Lady Mother of Sorrows Church in the town of Aboud. "As a result, Aboud will be physically separated from surrounding villages and its land. The land is the source of Aboud's livelihood." The barrier, Father Aridah added, "will restrict the land available for the natural growth of Aboud residents, resulting in serious housing shortages. Most harmful will be the inability to control our own water." Father Aridah was one of several panelists appearing at an oversight hearing on "The Plight of Religious Minorities in the Middle East: Can Religious Pluralism Survive?" held by the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, chaired by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

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