Palestinian Christians: “They want to put us in a huge prison” Israelis destroy 2000-year-old olive trees

Beit Jala (a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank), August 25, 2015

Representatives of all the Christian communities of Palestine started a large-scale rally in the form of a joint procession of the cross in order to condemn the recent actions of the Israeli army, reports the Calam1 news portal with the reference to Tele Lumiere.

As has been reported, Orthodox and Catholic clergy together with representatives of Protestant communities of the Holy Land in the morning of August 18 gathered in the centuries-old olive grove near the town of Beit Jala to express their indignation at the ongoing construction of the so-called “security fence” (or the “separation barrier”, “separation wall”) on private lands along with the felling of 45 centuries-old olive trees by the Israeli servicemen.

“By means of this huge wall they are going to put us into a huge prison; that is why we are standing here and praying so that people at last could see the suffering of the Palestinian residents and stop this construction work here in Beit Jala. Peace is all what we need,” said cleric of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem Fr. Joseph Al-Houdli, who performed a prayer service together with his parishioners at the venue of the demonstration, to the journalists.

Representative of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Fr. Aktham Saba Hijazin, explained the situation around the takeover by the military of a portion of the lands of farmer Isa Ash-Shatl, to the media:

“This wall is virtually killing local families. According to the court ruling, the plan of the construction should be totally changed – but neither the Israeli army, nor the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu, nor highest judicial authorities know the word ‘justice’.”

At the present time, construction in Beit Jala is still in progress in spite of the indignation of the Palestinian and Israeli communities: thus, several days ago soldiers of the Israeli Military Forces set about destroying another row of olive trees which are 2000 years old.