Letter  from the parish priest of Gaza, Father Manuel Musallam, during the recent Israeli offensive.

My brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

From blood-drenched Gaza, whose one and a half million residents have been robbed of the joy they once had in their hearts, I send you these words of faith and hope. May God have mercy and pity on us and leave a remnant in Gaza.

What you see and hear on your television screens is not the complete painful truth about what our people in Gaza are going through. Their suffering is so widespread over our land that no television or radio could report the whole truth about it. The brutal siege on Gaza is a storm that escalates by the hour; it is not only a war crime but a crime against humanity

The children of Gaza have been sleeping with their families in the hallways of their homes (if they have them) or in bathrooms, for protection. They tremble with fear at every sound, every movement, and every violent F-16 attack.

Our people in Gaza are being treated like animals in a zoo; they don't get enough to eat, and they cry but nobody wipes their tears away. Instead of water, electricity, and food, there is fear and terror and restriction. Yesterday, the baker refused to give me bread, because he did not want to let me eat something made from flour not suitable for human consumption - which he had begun using when he ran out of good flour - so as not to insult my priesthood. I vowed not to eat any bread for the remainder of the war.

We want you to pray to God and to mention the suffering in Gaza before God in every Mass or service that you hold. We have all agreed to say the following prayer every hour on the hour: "O God of peace, shower us with peace. O God of peace, bring peace to our land. Have mercy on your people, O Lord, and do not be angry with us forever."

Your prayers with us will stir the world, showing it that any type of love that is not extended to your brothers and sisters in Gaza is not the love of Christ and His church, which does not let religious and social obstacles or even wars stand in its way. When your love is extended to us here in Gaza, it makes us feel that we are an indispensable part of Christ's one universal church. The Moslems among us are our brothers and sisters. We share with them their joys and their sufferings. We are one people, the people of Palestine.

Despite all that is going on, our people in Gaza reject war as a way to achieve peace and insist that the road to peace is peace itself. We in Gaza are patient and have decided that we have no choice other than bondage or death for our country. We want to live so we can praise God in Palestine and to witness for Christ-- we want to live for Palestine, not to die for her - but if we must die, then we will die honorably and bravely.

Your brother,

Father Manuel Musallam
Holy Family Priest
Gaza


Edited version Zenit 03 January, 2009