Palestinian Christians plead for peace

Australia’s Palestinian Christian community is pleading for an end to fresh violence in the Holy Land, which has left at least 1500 dead and 6000 injured.

Jason Damouni, the spokesperson for the organisation Palestinian Christians in Australia, traces his heritage to the village of Al-Damoun, a small Christian village between Nazareth and Haifa.

His grandfather was among those displaced from the village during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Mr Damouni spoke to The Catholic Weekly as Gaza was pummeled by Israeli air attacks and shelling in retaliation for the surprise assault by Hamas in southern Israel, killing at least 900 Israelis at the time of printing, and taking over 100 terrified hostages, including civilians, on 7 October.

He said Australia’s Christian Palestinians are worried for their “very vulnerable” friends and relatives trying to shelter within Gaza, and frustrated by over-simplified media reporting on the attacks by Hamas militia.

Mr Damouni criticised the level of urgency among political leaders to resolve the ongoing conflict as “non-existent.”

Continue reading article by Marilyn Rodrigues on catholicweekly.com