05662
Dec. 8, 2005

Bethlehem pastor slams Clinton

Raheb accuses senator of using
Palestinians as political fodder

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE — A Lutheran pastor from Bethlehem has issued a public letter asking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton not to seek political support “at the expense of the Palestinian people.”

        The Rev. Mitri Raheb, pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem’s Old City, published his letter shortly after Clinton voiced support for Israel’s construction of a wall that runs deep into Palestinian territory.

        After a visit to the Holy Land, Clinton said that the wall is “not against the Palestinian people … (it) is against terrorists.”

        Raheb disputes that assessment — as does Human Rights Watch, the largest human-rights organization in the United States.

        Clinton’s office did not return repeated telephone calls from the Presbyterian News Service. Nor did the senator’s press secretary respond to a faxed request for an interview.

        Raheb said Clinton’s remark is offensive because the wall affects the daily life of every Palestinian person, not only in Bethlehem but throughout the West Bank. “It is designed to allow maximum expansion for Israeli settlements (which are unequivocally illegal under international law) and minimal space for Palestinian towns and villages to grow or even draw their livelihood,” he wrote.

        “The wall is limiting Bethlehem to an area of about six square miles, while the settlements which surround us continue to expand on stolen Palestinian land,” Raheb added in a letter posted on the Web site of the International Center in Bethlehem, a church-based community center next-door to his congregation that promotes the arts.

        “Please do not try to gain political support at the expense of the Palestinian people,” Raheb said.

        Human Rights Watch called Clinton’s comments “disturbing and disappointing” in a Nov. 23 letter, emphasizing that Israel’s metal-and-concrete wall is illegal under international law.

        In 2004, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to cease construction of the wall in Palestinian territory, dismantle the portions already built and pay reparations. But Israel has “failed to follow” the court’s decision, Human Rights Watch said.

        “Israel certainly claims that its construction of the wall is designed to counter terrorist attacks by building a barrier between Israelis and Palestinians, but that could have been accomplished by building it along the Green Line (the United Nations’ border between Israel and the Palestinian territories),” the organization wrote. “Instead, Israel has built the bulk of the wall (benignly referred to as a ‘security fence’ by the Israeli government) well inside the occupied Palestinian territories for the purpose of capturing Israeli settlements, and the Palestinian land and resources they control, on the ‘Israeli side’ of the wall.”

        Human Rights Watch said the wall is designed to annex settlements to Israel under “the guise of security,” and asked Clinton to reconsider her position.

        “Sadly, all evidence indicates that the wall is, in fact, very much ‘against’ the Palestinian people,” it wrote. “The humanitarian, economic and social impact of the wall on Palestinian communities has been nothing short of disastrous. …

        “The wall has severely circumscribed the already limited access of a number of Palestinian cities and villages to their local hospitals, schools and social service facilities. Worst off is the Palestinian trapped on the ‘Israeli side’ of the wall, who must now obtain special permits from the Israeli government to reside in their own homes.”

        Raheb reminded Clinton that Christmas is approaching.

        “I know that many Palestinians would have loved to welcome you in their homes in Bethlehem,” he wrote, “but you did not come to visit us. Perhaps you simply did not have the time to stop by and greet us. …

        “Or perhaps, while you had Bethlehem in the background of the publicity photos, you had certain of your constituents in New York in the forefront of your mind. In one month’s time, you will be singing, ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem.’” wrote Raheb. “I wonder how you will sing it this year, having declared your support for transforming our ‘little town’ into a big, open-air prison?”