There are few words which can describe the pain which both Israelis and Palestinians must be feeling in these last weeks. We get to hear many of the words of pain and the very real fear of our Israeli brothers and sisters on television and in the papers. But we seldom get to hear other voices. These words, from the Patriarchs and Heads of the Christian Churches in Jerusalem (some of whom are Palestinian and some who are not) which I received in the midst of the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, one of the holiest sites in the world, stand on their own:

Peace cannot be obtained by war nor by the tanks nor by the bloodshed, especially in Bethlehem.

There is no need for more bloodshed in Bethlehem. This morning blood was shed. We refuse all bloodshed, Israeli or Palestinian. Bethlehem must not remain any more a place of war. We ask the Israeli Authorities to withdraw all its instruments of war; to go in peace, and to send back their soldiers to their families.

On this barrier of war, we proclaim the Gospel of Peace, the Gospel of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace. We invite all the Churches of the world to proclaim it with us.

Peace upon all those who wish peace.

We invite our faithful to remain strong in their patience, faith and in the tranquility of soul, which comes from the peace, and the justice of God. We invite them to ring the bells of Christmas today at 2:00 p.m. in Bethlehem, Beit-Jala and Beit-Sahour, the town of the Shepherds and the Angels who proclaimed peace to the world and in all the parishes in the Holy Land, as a sign of the peace in their hearts and as moment of prayer and supplication until the end of this war.

–On the Military Barrier before Bethlehem–Bethlehem, 8 April 2002:

In the midst of the crisis, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem marched together in the rain with olive branches and white ribbons to the residences of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the U.S. Consul General Ronald Schlicher to carry a message of peace and to offer to mediate between the Israelis and the Palestinians. They offered prayers for peace. They were ignored by both government officials.

The next day these same church leaders marched to Bethlehem to try to visit with their parishioners and to check on their churches and the holy site of the Church of the Nativity. They were confronted by tanks, guns and the Israeli defense forces, which refused to allow them through the checkpoints. A second day they again tried to go to Bethlehem, but were stopped at the checkpoints, where they read scripture, prayed the Lord’s Prayer and sang "We Shall Overcome."

Members of a delegation from the World Council of Churches, sent from its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland to express the concerns of the Christian churches around the world to the Christian church leaders in Jerusalem, joined in these marches. While the delegation was not allowed into the closed off areas, they did hear eyewitness testimonies from many Palestinians who had escaped the terror of Bethlehem and Ramallah. They told of an entire civilian population under siege and of wanton destruction of Palestinian homes and businesses by Israeli soldiers. They told of thousands forced to live without water or electricity and injured people who were not able to get medical assistance. They told of families living with the bodies of their dead relatives in their homes because they had not been able to get permission to bury them. They told of children traumatized by the constant shelling and shooting.

Similarly, the Lutheran Bishop of Jerusalem has sent out press releases telling the stories of the invasion of the Christmas church in Bethlehem and the Church of Hope in Ramallah both being invaded by Israeli defense forces and their pastors detained while soldiers searched every room and every drawer in the churches and adjoining school buildings.

Likewise, the YMCA of East Jerusalem (which serves the Palestinian community and is located right above the shepherd’s fields of the nativity story) sent out messages telling how its offices and youth building had been partially destroyed by Israeli defense forces.

These stories, these words from those who are in the midst of the conflict, give a different picture of what has happened in the Holy Land. We who are people of faith in the U.S. must urge our government to demand an accounting of these actions. We who are concerned about human rights must raise our voices. The suicide bombings must stop, but so, too, must the terrorism of the Israeli defense forces.

Even as I write this, my e-mails tell me of an Armenian Orthodox monk who was mistakenly shot at the Church of the Nativity by a defense force sniper and of a child used as a suicide bomber. There must be an end to the violence or we shall be engulfed by it.