Despite the bombings and Israeli ground-force incursion into the Gaza Strip, the six Missionaries of Charity working in Gaza City say life has some normalcy and they plan to remain.
But for other Gazans, life has changed dramatically since Israeli airstrikes began Dec. 27 in an effort to stop Palestinian militants from launching rockets into Israel's southern region. Since then, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed. Israel also launched a ground invasion Jan. 3.
The six sisters --- from India, Malta, the Philippines, Rwanda and Slovakia --- continue to bathe, feed and care for 10 incapacitated elderly women and 10 severely mentally and physically disabled children as well as they can, Sister Thertsen Devasia told Catholic News Service in a Jan. 5 phone interview.
"We are OK. The bombings are not so near," she said. Their home is located in the center of the city just behind Holy Family Catholic Church. "We go to Mass every day at the Latin church. Father sends his car for us and brings us back."
Some of the children have been terrified by the noise of the bombings, she added, but most do not react to their surroundings. A 1-year-old who recently began living with them screams whenever she hears the loud noises, the nun said.
"By the grace of God we are safe and we will stay here. If something happens to our people we will be with them," said Sister Thertsen.
Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' international aid and development agency with offices in Jerusalem, has been in continual contact with the nuns, said Sister Thertsen. Recently when they ran out of diapers, bottled water and cooking gas, CRS was able to coordinate through the Red Cross and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees to have the material delivered to them.
However, a young Christian Gazan who asked not to be named sounded shaken while speaking to CNS by phone Jan. 4, the morning following the Israeli invasion. He said many Gazans had not slept all night, and as he looked out the window where some government offices had once stood he could see only rubble. In the background his mother called anxiously for him to move away from the window.
"We have lived through bad conditions here but never in my wildest imagination would I have thought that I would be living in a war situation," he said, wondering at the suddenness of how one goes from living a relatively daily mundane life, even in Gaza, to suddenly being in the middle of a war.
He was audibly distraught over the number of children who had lost their lives since the start of the Israeli attacks in late December. He said in early January that a 15-year-old Greek Orthodox girl died from a heart attack; she was unable to take the strain from the fear of the aerial attacks.
The Gazan said his family had not had any electricity for days and there was no running water. All the food in the refrigerator had spoiled, and although they had run out of bread he was too scared to go out to buy anything. The family lives in the center of Gaza City, which was targeted by Israel, and no stores were open in their neighborhood.
He still was able to have some phone contact and was aware of demonstrations around the world protesting the Israeli incursion. However, he said, protests only created more animosity and hatred and widened the gap between the sides.
Though he was in touch with some of his friends, he had little opportunity to express himself freely, he said.
"I have to choose what to say to friends. People in Gaza are not afraid to die. There are fanatics here," he said. "I do not support what either side is doing. I hope this can be a lesson for both sides when this is finished."
In Israel: Tub protects U.S. kids against Hamas missiles
Americans Robin and Matthew Umberger, both 32, have been putting their three children to sleep each night in the bathtub of their home in Beersheba, Israel, to protect them against incoming Palestinian missiles.
As the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip expanded, the militant Islamic group Hamas' resolve to hit Israeli targets continued and expanded, and for the first time Beersheba, Israel's fourth-largest city, became a target for incoming rockets, mortars and missiles.
"The worst part is you never know when or where one will fall so we stay inside the house all day," Matthew Umberger, who is originally from Thayer, Kan., told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview. "The kids were afraid of the sirens at first but they have gotten used to it. It has been stressful for the kids. We are all tired."
Robin Umberger said she told her children, ages 1-8, that some "bad people" wanted to hurt others but that God was taking care of their family.
"I emphasized that when they are frightened they should pray for the kids who are in Gaza who are in danger and whose situation is worse than ours. It is very sad," said Robin Umberger, originally from Oklahoma.
The Umbergers have been living in Israel for eight years as Matthew Umberger completes his doctorate in biblical studies at Ben Gurion University. He was an ordained minister of the nondenominational Churches of Christ, but he and his wife became Catholics in Israel. They are members of the 30-family Hebrew-speaking St. Abraham Parish in Beersheba.
Coming from tornado country, they have become adept at running quickly to safety after a siren, Robin Umberger said half-jokingly.
"Beersheba is very compact so anywhere a missile falls is pretty near you," said Matthew Umberger, noting that the first missile fell near their church building but caused no damage.
A missile warning alarm went off during Mass Jan. 1, and although parishioners were nervous they continued praying, he said, adding that Mass attendance has increased since the start of the missile attacks.
Matthew Umberger said reading the Psalms has calmed the children. He said his 8-year-old daughter has become adept at finding psalms that are appropriate to the situation and give her solace.
He added that his family back in Kansas has asked them to return home; he told them not to watch the news. "But I don't think they listened," he added.
While the couple have considered returning to the United States, he would like to complete his doctorate and will probably only leave Beersheba for another place in Israel if a larger number of missiles are launched into the city again.
Having experienced fear for his family for a few days, he said he can now begin to comprehend the experiences of Israelis in border communities like Sderot.
"Your perspective changes a little when the missiles start landing in your backyard," he said.
He added that Hamas began shooting the rockets shortly after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip some three years ago. "Unfortunately, innocent people are suffering," he said.
"I feel God is protecting us," he said. "The rockets could potentially do a lot more harm.... It is a blessing of God that we have not experienced more devastation. These are not fireworks. These are weapons.... They are shooting with the intent to kill if they can."
Gaza priest's message: 'We cry and nobody hears us'
The pastor of the Catholic parish in Gaza City described Gaza as "drowning in blood" as hospitals overflowed with patients.
In a message to participants in a special Mass for peace at St. Stephen Church in Jerusalem Jan. 4, Msgr. Manuel Musallam, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Gaza City, wrote: "What you see on television cannot be compared to what is happening. The word love is choking in my throat. ... We are living like animals in Gaza. We cry and nobody hears us. I am asking God for mercy and pray that the light of Christianity continues to shine in Gaza."
Church leaders from the Holy Land attended the Mass at St. Stephen's while local and international Christians gathered elsewhere in Israel and the West Bank to pray for a halt to the violence in Gaza. When Israel began its military operation in Gaza in late December, the heads of Christian churches in the Holy Land called for Jan. 4 to be a day of prayer for peace.
At St. Stephen's, retired Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem said the Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip means death for both sides.
"What is happening now is death for Palestinians as well as Israelis," Patriarch Sabbah said at the Mass. "What is happening in Gaza has made us all come to pray and join in a prayer that says stop the massacre. We are calling to God to look at Gaza and see what is happening there and to all of us."
Peace only can come through justice, not war, he said.
"We are looking at ourselves and we are not doing our best. Israel should stop this and will stop, but then after this destruction there will be more destruction," he said.
He called on Palestinians to realize that the only way to regain their freedom and independence is through nonviolent means.
Earlier in the day at St. Catherine Church, adjacent to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, West Bank, Christians attended a special Mass.
"This is genocide," said Bethlehem resident Adel Sahouri, 70, who attended the Mass. "Israel is so strong and has all the weapons the world can afford. What does Hamas have? Just rockets, nothing."
Israel says that during the past year Iranian-backed terrorist groups in Gaza have fired more than 3,000 rockets, missiles and mortars at civilian targets in the southern Negev region of Israel.
In a center pew of St. Catherine's, Victor Zoughbi knelt in prayer.
He told Catholic News Service after Mass he was praying "not just for the people in Gaza but also for those in Tel Aviv. Every (Israeli) soldier going into Gaza now has a mother who is sitting glued to the television with her heart in her throat. He who truly has God in his heart loves everybody."
Zoughbi said he did not understand the purpose of Hamas' rockets, given their inaccuracy, and he emphasized the fact that there is only one Palestinian government headed by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. In June 2007, Hamas split with Abbas' Fatah movement and took control of the Gaza Strip. Abbas' government still controls the West Bank.
"What are we fighting over --- for a piece of land? Take the land. In the end the land will swallow us all," he said, noting that, given the situation, he was not able to speak so freely with many of his friends and acquaintances lest his loyalty be called into question.
After the Mass in Bethlehem more than 50 worshippers --- carrying a flower wreath, placards calling for peace, a black mourning flag and a Palestinian flag --- processed around Manger Square reciting Psalm 50, traditionally said at funerals.
A buzz began in some of the small groups gathered outside the church as a rumor circulated that Hamas had taken some Israeli soldiers hostage. Israel denied the claim, and the rumor later proved to be false.
"What is going on is war and I am praying to stop it. I am not waiting for people to hear (my prayer); I am waiting for God and, whatever God's plan is, we will follow," said Rosemarie Nasser, 55. "No one understands that God has his own time. So many times in our lives God uses the bad for good."
Pope: New appeal for peace as casualties rise
As Israel continued its ground and air assault on Gaza, Pope Benedict XVI renewed his appeal for an immediate end to hostilities and offered prayers for the numerous victims.
"The dramatic news arriving from Gaza demonstrates how the refusal of dialogue can lead to situations of untold suffering for populations that are once again the victims of hatred and war," the pope said at his noon blessing at the Vatican Jan. 4.
The pope said he supported the initiative of the heads of Christian churches in the Holy Land, who requested prayers for peace and justice in Gaza. He asked Catholics to pray for the victims and the wounded, and for those suffering in other ways in the conflict.
"War and hatred are not the solution to problems, which is confirmed by recent history," the pope said. He urged Israeli and Palestinian authorities to take immediate action to "put an end to the present tragic situation." ---CNS |