St Mary's University conference: Weeping in Ramah

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On Friday 21 November, St Mary's University in Twickenham, hosted a day conference entitled Weeping in Ramah, addressing the crisis in the Holy Land. T his was linked to the university's Master's programme in Catholic Social Teaching; it also reflected the long-standing engagement of St Mary's with the Holy Land and the work done in the past by Father Michael Prior and Professor Nur Masalha. Originally the conference had been due to be addressed by Professor Conor Gearty, but sadly he died on 11 September; the Mass in the university chapel during the conference was offered for him.

After a welcome by the Vice Chancellor (Professor Anthony McClaran) the opening address was given by Archbishop John Wilson, Archbishop of Southwark. The archbishop spoke about his links with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (Cardinal Pizzaballa), whom he quoted extensively, and his regular contact with the Catholic parish of the Holy Land in Gaza. He reflected on the title for the day conference, 'Weeping in Ramah', a quotation from Jeremiah (31:15):

'A voice was heard in Ramah - Wailing and loud lamentation. Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be consoled because they are no more. That ancient cry of Rachel, the mother, who will not be comforted, reverberates through the centuries. It's the cry of every parent who has lost a child to violence. Of every family forced from its home. Of every community torn apart by fear and hatred. It's the cry that rises again today from the land where our Saviour was born, crucified rose from the dead. First and foremost, the Holy Land belongs to God. It is a sacred soil of divine revelation, a geography and landscape of salvation. This land is scarred by inhumanity and bloodshed. And faced with such devastation, silence can never be an option. We must affirm again and again that war destroys lives, that war destroys homes, that war tramples dreams and steals hope'.

The second speaker was the Scripture scholar Father John Deehan. He looked in detail at the Old Testament passages which are often used to justify the conduct of the Israeli government and Israeli settlers in the West Bank, particularly from Deuteronomy: the picture in the biblical texts is a lot more nuanced than is often recognised. There is a lot of emphasis on the obligation to support the stranger, the alien. He also reflected on key passages in the book of Zechariah.

After Mass and lunch there was a panel discussion, partly online, involving Brendan Metcalfe, CEO of Friends of the Holy Land, international lawyer Dr Harry Hagopian and Joseph Hazboun, regional director of the Pontifical Mission in Jerusalem. One theme which emerged from this discussion was the need for Christians to resume pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Next the conference heard from Professor Ian Linden, former director of the Catholic Institute of International Relations, who is also a Visiting Professor at St Mary's. In his address he focussed on the claims made at the present time about antisemitism in this country and efforts to counteract it and other forms of racism, looking in detail at legal cases which are being pursued internationally in relation to what has been happening in Gaza and the West Bank.

The final address was from Sir Vincent Fean, sometime Consul General in Jerusalem and Ambassador to Libya. He talked of the history of the Holy Land since the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and also explained in detail how much the large number of people employed by the Palestinian Authority have suffered big losses to their income because of Israeli policies. He referred to what the Anglican Archbishop of York (Stephen Cottrell) had said recently about sanctions on settlement related enterprises, a ban on trade relating to illegal settlements in the West Bank, territorial clauses in trade agreements and church investment strategies.

A recording and transcript of the conference is available from Fr Ashley Beck, ashley.beck@stmarys.ac.uk