“A seared conscience – the statement reads - is one that can perpetrate evil acts in the darkness. If one’s conscience is clear, the living in the light follows and the light keeps the hope alive. Today, walls that have been dirtied can be cleaned and holy places that have been destroyed or burnt down can be rebuilt”. “How long will you proclaim openly ‘The war has started’? Are you, as Jews, victims of the violence and slaves of your phobia against any believer, Muslim or Christian?”. “We, the Catholic Bishops of the Holy Land – the statement concludes -, join our voices to the voices of Religious leaders and strongly condemn this act of vandalism. We put into the hands of God the concern of the inhabitants of Jaba to whom we say: with endurance and solidarity you will rebuild your place of worship. May God convert the hearts of law-breakers and give a new heart to those who are heartless”. The fire is just the latest in a long history of similar acts which have caused growing tension in the West Bank: the attack, condemned by the Palestinian Authority and by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, might have been perpetrated in response to the demolition ordered by the Supreme Court of five illegally constructed buildings in the settlement of Beit El.

21/06/2012 -