Young people in Gaza despite
challenges changing the narrative for a better future, says Bishop Treanor
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| Young people in Gaza (AFP) |
The Holy Land Co-ordination group travels to Gaza to see for
themselves the complexities of daily life there.
By Lydia O’Kane
Bishops from across Europe and North America are continuing
their annual visit to the Holy Land in support of the local Christian community
there.
As part of their itinerary, the group visited Gaza at the
weekend to see for themselves the political and socio-economic realities for
the people that live there.
In 2012, the United Nations published a report which found
that by the year 2020 Gaza would become unlivable. As this new decade begins,
people there still don’t have safe drinking water, unemployment is high and it
still suffers from an electricity deficit.
Gaza a place of isolation but also of hope
“On entering Gaza one is struck by the isolation; of the
place, of the territory and immediately by the evident poverty”, said Bishop
Noel Treanor of the Diocese of Down and Connor, which encompasses Belfast in
Northern Ireland.
Speaking to Vatican News, he noted the amount of young
people walking around who were not attending school. But, what he was also able
to witness was a light of hope as visited the Catholic parish in Gaza run by
Argentinian priest Fr Gabrielle Romanelli.
The Bishop stressed that he was particularly impressed by a
centre run by religious sisters which provides care to children with
disabilities and those who have been abandoned by parents. He also said,
he was struck by the love, care and attention provided by the sisters to their
little charges.
Life for young people
Asked about the sense of frustration young people feel in
Gaza regarding a lack of opportunities, Bishop Treanor said that unfortunately,
it was a factor of life and he could understand the temptation of young people
to feel isolated, especially when prospects for the future are impeded and
blocked.
But, he added, the young people that he and his fellow
bishops encountered, had what he called, “another narrative”. On a visit to a
training and job creation project in Gaza, Bishop Treanor said what he
witnessed was a group of young people interested, “notwithstanding the
difficulty of their context and its complexity, in forging a future for
themselves, to develop their own skills, their own talents.” Each of them in
different ways, he commented, “touched upon their desire, (A) to remain in
Gaza, (B) to have a normal life there; thirdly, to engage in peace
promotion and the search for justice.”
From Northern Ireland to Gaza
Bishop Treanor himself comes from a land which for many
years suffered conflict and division and he remarked that while he was wary of
oversimplifying comparisons, it was interesting to hear, on a visit to the
Foreign Ministry of Israel, “that they had studied the reconciliation processes
in Northern Ireland in search for norms for advancing peace and understanding.”
He also said, it was interesting to hear that at the Foreign
Ministry, there was a department for world religions and that the importance of
dialogue was stressed.
The Bishops of the Holy Land Co-ordination group visit
continues until the 16th January.
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