You’d think that a woman with a loving husband, newborn baby and a master’s degree in physics would be set for life — or at least not hiding out in a dank basement room bare of anything but two thin mattresses on the floor.

A few years ago, Rana [name changed] had a successful career in Iraq. Today, she fears for her life. One of an estimated 50,000 Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, Rana does not leave the tiny apartment in Beirut where she, her husband and her 10-week-old daughter wait out the time until another country accepts them as immigrants.

A young Iraqi refugee in Lebanon holds her baby daughter, whose name in Arabic means “Flower.” A Muslim, the mother ordinarily veils only her hair. Here, she has veiled her face for fear of being identified and deported. Photo by CRS Staff

A softspoken 30-year-old new mother, Rana explains that her father was murdered for his political beliefs. As his daughter, she herself was later threatened directly. She fled to Beirut to join her husband, who was in Lebanon already.

Lebanon proved not to be the asylum she hoped for. Having moved into one apartment, Rana heard rumors that her father’s enemies knew her whereabouts. She and her small family moved to another apartment, which the talented and well-educated Rana does not leave. “I am afraid all the time,” she says.

Stories like Rana’s are painfully familiar to the staff of the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, one of the few charities in Beirut reaching out to those fleeing Iraq’s violence and chaos. Funded by Catholic Relief Services and other donors, the migrant center helps the refugees with rent payments, medicine and household needs like mattresses.

The vast majority of Iraqi immigrants live illegally in Lebanon, unable to receive work permits or access public schools and health services. Many put their names on a long U.N. waiting list, hoping against hope that countries like Canada will take them in. Forbidden to work and afraid to go out often for fear of arrest, they sit in near-empty apartments and watch the months drag by.

This week, a group of U.S. nuns are visiting programs for Iraqi refugees in Lebanon. Hosted by CRS, the sisters have made home visits, seen shelters and met with women religious working in and around Beirut.

They are sharply aware of Lebanon’s limitations in dealing with the flood of refugees. Just a few days ago, a car bomb meant for a U.S. embassy vehicle killed several people on the streets of Beirut (everyone in the CRS delegation is safe). Lebanon has been in political turmoil for the past year and without a president since the end of November 2007, the country’s government has more problems than it can handle.

Private groups like the Caritas center are trying to bridge the gap, with case workers putting in long hours and struggling to find more resources. “There are just so many” Iraqis needing help, says one social worker.

“They are not refugees,” says a Lebanon-based Sister of the Good Shepherd that the delegation visited. “They are our brothers and sisters, because the world belongs to all of us.”

Msgr. Joseph Ciampaglio – Diocese of Paterson

We began our day with Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Despite the ornate surroundings, we were caught up in the mystery of what happened 2,000 years ago in this holy place – the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus – the central mysteries of our faith. To some degree that spirit permeated our day – a busy day of meetings with various officials and educators.

Mr. Avraham Lavine, Director of International Organization’ Relations, Ministry of Labor and social affairs and his associate, Eliane Haddad.

One of the major responsibilities of this office is to relate to 96 different humanitarian organizations, such as Catholic Relief Services, which respond mainly to the Palestinian needs. In 1994, when the Palestinian economy completely collapsed, CRS became central in providing food and other humanitarian aid.

Mr. Lavine believes that the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians wish to live in harmony, yet the actions of the extremists on either side continue to upset the apple cart. Only a deep sense of compromise can solve the current problems.

Risa Zoll of B’Tselem

B’Tselem is the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the occupied territories. B’Tselem – “in the image of” – is a dynamic agency founded by a group of public figures to enhance human dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis.

It employs 26 field researchers. They take testimony from victims of human rights violations, video the respondents and publicize the facts to governmental agencies and the general public. It attempts to “jar Israelis from a state of denial.” They have documented facts that the “wall” and the settlements have caused many human rights violations for Palestinians. It is a credit to the Israeli government that it permits this organization to function so openly.

Most powerful of all were the videos taken by the local Palestinian people of the different abuses at the hand of the settlers. Settlers are seen taunting, throwing stones, at the Palestinians, in the presence of the police, so that the Palestinians are virtually prisoners in their own homes.

After lunch we headed for

Rabbi David Rosen, International Director of Inter-religious affairs.

This man is truly dynamic and extremely articulate as he describes his life experiences of complex issues and situations without taking a breath. He suggested that we could help solve the problem if we enable people to get beyond the mentality of seeing the Israelis as all right and the Palestinians as all wrong or vice versa. See the facts as they are – people can be loved without somebody being hated. Also needed is more active engagement by the United States, without taking sides.

Dr. Mahadi Hadi, Director of PASSA

Mr. Hadi is a brilliant man who has compiled detailed histories of both Israelis and Palestinians from the founding to the present in order to help people, especially youth, to talk, research and educate.

After years of study, discussion, meeting and organization, this man’s heart spilled over as he said, “at sixty I am tired of being nice. I must speak out about the facts as I see them.” The heart needs to be reached if decency, respect and dignity are to be honored. We must grapple with the soul of humanity to bring about peace.

Our visit with the Latin Patriarch was canceled, which was disappointing. By the end of the day, we were overloaded with information and needed a break to process all we had heard.

In summary, today was a powerful, yet overwhelming day!

Msgr. Joseph Ciampaglio, from the Diocese of Paterson, is a member of the Global Fellows: Parish Homily Program. The Global Fellows: priests, deacons and seminarians, travel to the developing world to experience the plight of the poor and marginalized overseas. Upon their return, the Global Fellows are empowered to preach in parishes across the United States about social justice and peace around the world. This entry is a personal reflection by one of the participants in this program, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Catholic Relief Services, or its partners.

Fr. Joe Muth – Archdiocese of Baltimore

We are told that three visitors from the East arrived one day in Jerusalem inquiring about the child that had been born. That was in the first century. Twenty centuries later seven visitors from the West (from Catholic Relief Services) arrived one day in the same town, wondering about the same child.

In Jesus’ time, Jerusalem was occupied by the Romans, and today many parts of the city are occupied, in violation of International Law by Israel. The State of Israel is creating a wall to make itself more secure and to extend the size of Israeli controlled Jerusalem. The Palestinians see this wall as an oppressive, insecure, illegal occupation of their land. Both sides vehemently defend their position psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, and of course, militarily. The seven Global Fellows western visitors spent their first day in Israel in the Bethlehem District seeing glimpses of the wall; also referred to as an electrified security fence or security barrier.

Walls instead of bridges? In the motherland of faith, the home of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, who can believe what we have seen?

As visitors to this nation we have been told to look for balance, to listen for balance, and to seek balance. Even if we find balance I feel like we will be accused of betraying the Palestinians or not listening to the Israelis.

Balance is what Jesus cautioned against. Balance is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Jesus says the new law is to love you enemies and pray for your persecutors. If the occupation of this land is still going on, then so must the message of Jesus.

Our day began with Mass at the Church of the Annunciation, in Beit Jala. Despite the difficulties we had heard about, there was singing, joy, and friendship at the liturgy. Good conversation followed the liturgy. We talked about the plight of the Palestinian people and their desire to be treated humanely, with dignity and respect. They want their story to be.

Throughout the day, we heard about despair, poverty and the illegal occupation of land. We heard that Palestinians are not allowed to fly out of Tel Aviv, but must fly out of Jordan. We heard about humiliation, harassment, and long waiting times at checkpoints. In all of this, people still had a sense of hope and survival. They were also excited about family parties as they were preparing to celebrate Orthodox Christmas.

We left to return to our hotel in Jerusalem – waited about 20 minutes at a checkpoint going from Palestinian territory to Israeli territory. While waiting a young Palestinian man wearing a knapsack walked up to the checkpoint. The Israeli soldier exchanged loud words with him – lifted his rifle, pointed it at the Palestinian boy, stepped behind a barrier, and prepared to fire. We watched this unfold, stricken with fear, fell silently waiting. The young man turned around and walked away. We breathed a sigh of relief and continued our journey. I imagine this happens many times in the course of a day. Tensions are high.

We can learn lessons from the Palestinian people. They have developed a spirituality of fear, despair and frustration – it is their life!

The Magi left their gifts and returned home. I hope that by the end of the week we can discover the gifts we are supposed to leave here, too.

Fr. Joe Muth, from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, is a member of the Global Fellows: Parish Homily Program. The Global Fellows: priests, deacons and seminarians, travel to the developing world to experience the plight of the poor and marginalized overseas. Upon their return, the Global Fellows are empowered to preach in parishes across the United States about social justice and peace around the world. This entry is a personal reflection by one of the participants in this program, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Catholic Relief Services, or its partners.

Chris Tucker, Catholic Relief Services’ U.S. regional director for the Mid-Atlantic, is quoted in this Catholic News Service story on the Annapolis Middle East peace talks earlier this week. Chris previously served as the CRS regional director of the Middle East and North Africa.

A view of Jerusalem. Photo by Tom Garofalo/CRS

As key leaders from Israel, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria and other nations gathered in Annapolis for a Nov. 26-28 Middle East peace conference and related meetings, local Catholic leaders said they were hopeful the meetings would trigger further discussions for making a lasting peace in the Holy Land.

Peace is attainable, they said, but it will take assertive leadership from the United States to make it a reality.

“I’m guardedly optimistic in the sense that I’m always happy when there’s some kind of negotiation going on in the Middle East,” said Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden, urban vicar for the archdiocese.

Bishop Madden previously served as associate secretary general of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association and director of the Pontifical Mission for Palestine office in Jerusalem.

He said the lack of strong leadership from the United States in recent years has been a contributing reason the peace process has stalled. He was hopeful the U.S.-led Annapolis conference would change that.

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