Bishop Hilarion Cappucci
The Bishop of Jerusalem - in Exile
23.10.2000
In my exile, I am away from you. But this absence is only physical. In my heart, my thoughts, and my prayers, I am with you all the time. In fact, I feel much closer to you now, during these difficult moments, than I ever have before. But I wish I were able to march with you and to be ready to die for you. It would be an honor for me to die in the battlefield because I know that this is my duty in front of God and my country.
The humanity of a person is glorified at its best in two things only: First, to stand in solidarity, firm and without any compromise, on the side of the oppressed, the weak and the underprivileged. Second, to stand against the oppressors no matter who they are and no matter what the cost. Any other attitude constitutes running away from our responsibility and washing our hands. To be silent is a sign of cowardice. To be silent is a form of approval.
As an Arab and as the Bishop of Jerusalem, my conscience obliges me to defend my parish and my children. Enough is enough! Our patience has reached its limit. Our catastrophe has as its cause the international Zionist movement, an expansionist, imperialist movement, which has made our life miserable since its inception. Israel is its implementing agency.
Our Palestinian people are living under occupation with no rights and no dignity. The Palestinian people are strangers in their own country and prisoners in their own homes. Israel has stolen our lands and has made our people homeless. Israel has stolen our rights and has disgraced our dignity. Israel has desecrated our holy sites and killed the worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
The first and the second Intifada are an expression of the Palestinian will against oppression and occupation, against Israel's denial of our rights, our inalienable rights for self-determination and building a sovereign and free Palestinian state.
Israel is trying to break our spirit with tanks, helicopters, rockets, and live ammunition. But while Israel attacks the unarmed heroes of the stones, these heroes will be victorious in the end, armed as they are with their will and their faith. Tens were killed and thousands injured, and Israel continues to annihilate us morally and physically. We are fighting for life. But life is not merely eating and drinking. Man does not live by bread alone. Our nourishment is our life, our dignity, and our homeland. This is our only choice and we accept it. Either we live in dignity in our homes, or we die in dignity defending our rights. To die a coward would be a shame.
Our mission is to struggle toward a just peace that guarantees for us a life with dignity in a free, sovereign, and independent homeland. Its borders are the borders of 4 June 1967, and Jerusalem is its capital. We are not beggars. This is our basic right according to United Nations resolutions 242 and 338. Beneath it is a red line because these constitute only 21% of the area of Palestine.
Now, Israel must choose, more than ever before, either peace or the continuation of occupation. But to enjoy both is impossible because these two options are mutually exclusive. The language of threats, oppression, closure, siege, and starvation used in order to dictate its policies is like counterfeit money. It is useless.
Our spirits are high and we refuse to be disgraced. We will not surrender until we raise the Palestinian flag all over our occupied land. We will not kneel and we will not surrender!
Our martyrs are innocent and our wounded are lighted candles that show us the path on which we must proceed -- the path to return to the Aqsa Mosque, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to Palestine. This path, however, is filled with thorns, filled with sacrifice. Dawn bursts forth only after the darkness of night. Revolution can only occur in the womb of grief, just as wheat can only grow when it is buried in the ground. Its death is its life, its fertility is its resurrection.
Your people are fighting against oppression and tyranny. The leaders of the Arab World are watching you. They are calling you in the name of God, in the name of all people who have been killed, in the name of the thousands who have been wounded, in the name of the courageous and the heroes. I call upon you as I remember the crying and the tears of the orphaned children and the widows. I call on you to be at your best as the awakening Arab people expect this of you. Do not let them down. You are their refuge. Help them to raise their level of ambition to live in freedom and in dignity. Help them to find unity among their Arab brothers and sisters. Strength only comes from solidarity and unity. God cannot change people unless they attempt to change themselves.
Make it your priority to stop all forms of normalization and to revive and support a true boycott of Israel. By doing this, your conscience will remain clear and history will remember you gratefully.
I send my greetings to all the Arab people who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Al Aqsa Intifada in order to express their anger and outrage through mass demonstrations.
I feel very proud and walk tall when I remember the heroes of the stones and all my struggling Palestinian people. The glory is for you, our dear martyrs. May you rest in peace. We will remain faithful on the path carrying the banner of freedom that you once carried. We will not let it fall. We promise to bring this banner to Palestine, to Al Aqsa Mosque, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to our Arab Jerusalem, free and the capital of Palestine.
For God, all things are possible.
Translated by Dr. Majed Nassar Deputy Director, Union of Health Work Committees, Palestine
There are some points that have not been translated literally. But the basic meaning was kept to the best of my knowledge. (translator's note)