Extract from Charbonnier
UNE EXPÉRIENCE DE RÉCONCILIATION EN PALESTINE – ISRAËL
An experience of reconciliation in Palestine - Israel
The author, pastor in the French Lutheran Church, was an ecumenical counsellor,
one amongst the four hundred and fifty or so who took part in the support
programme set up in Palestine-Israel by the World Council of Churches. After
a reminder of the facts, in particular demographic, he describes the situation
of daily violence that reigns in this very small area of land and, in the
face of which, the Arab Christian community experiences great difficulty
in bearing witness. The community represents just 1.4% of the Palestinian
population today, compared with the 20% it represented in the middle of the
20th century. In spite of cultural difficulties, in the first instance, linguistic,
those who participated in the programme see themselves as witnesses of reconciliation
through support and guidance.