socioeconomic hardships

Yesterday, the Archbishop of Canterbury had this to say to the Jerusalem Post:

Socioeconomic hardships caused by the West Bank security barrier are contributing to the decline in the Christian population in the Holy Land, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

"I recently met with Christians in Bethlehem, people by no means extreme, and they told of the daily burdens driving in and out of the city that were created by the wall," Williams said by telephone during a break in his 24-hour visit to these parts.
(…)
Williams said he was aware of "claims" that the project had reduced the number of victims of Palestinian terrorism, but felt that in the long-term, building a barrier between two populations was "causing deeper problems" for the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations. "The fence does not solve the basic underlying causes of the conflict. That's why I am unhappy with it," Williams said. It was not just the present route of the barrier that he opposed. Rather, barriers between populations were inherently problematic, he said.

Too bad he didn’t meet with this Christian pastor from Ramallah:

An Arab-American evangelical pastor said Wednesday that he has been threatened by a Palestinian security official Ramallah, and has fled to Jerusalem for safety. Pastor Isa Bajalia, 47, a US citizen born in Birmingham, Alabama, said that he had been threatened over the last two months by a Fatah security official from the Tanzim militia who also demanded $30,000 in protection money. Bajalia said he had moved to nearby Jerusalem since the threats began.

The pastor has been living in Ramallah, considered to be the most liberal of all the West Bank cities under Palestinian control, since 1991, together with his American wife and son, who attended school in Jerusalem and has since joined the US Air Force. For the last decade he served as pastor for a group of 30-35 people in Ramallah, holding Sunday services in private homes and carrying out missionary work among the Palestinians, who are predominantly Muslim.

Initially, Bajalia said he was treated with respect, but some suspicion, by the locals, and viewed as an outsider coming in with a foreign concept. The pastor said the threats began about two months ago after a group of church workers were seen praying on behalf of Palestinians. "We will do to you what Hamas did to Fatah in Gaza," Bajalia said the Palestinian security official warned him. Bajalia, who has a vision problem, said he was also told that in addition to his eye problems he would not be able to walk anymore.

The Palestinian security official subsequently told Bajalia to register some of his family's land in the official's name and pay him $30,000, the pastor said. Bajalia said he had also been watched for six months. It was not immediately clear Wednesday if the pastor was threatened specifically because of his missionary work among Muslims or as a result of the land his family owned in the city, or a combination of the two.

Last week, Bajalia filed a complaint with the US Consulate in Jerusalem over the threats, he said. The consulate, which is responsible for US citizens living in the West Bank, told him that they were aware of the problem, but had no response or follow-up to his complaint, he said. "You would think that they would have gotten back to me and said something," Bajalia said. A US Consulate spokeswoman declined comment Wednesday, citing privacy regulations. Bajalia said he became more concerned for his safety after a prominent Christian activist, Rami Khader Ayyad, 32, was killed in Gaza last month. "It made me take the threats more seriously," he said. He has moved to east Jerusalem, and is uncertain when he will go back to Ramallah.

Let us not forget the significance of the Pastor fleeing to safety in Israel. And how ironic that the good Pastor looks for relief and resolution from the US government; when it is the US government who is busy propping up the very organization which is threatening him. Maybe the good Paster needs to find a cheaper hell hole. I suggest Columbia - as I hear shakedowns by the cops are cheaper.