A senior Palestinian bishop visiting Ireland has said that “Christians have a vocation to remain in the Holy Land and to be a factor of peace and reconciliation” despite the “staggering human toll” of the conflict, saying their presence is not a political statement but an act of faith. “It says that God has not abandoned this land,” he said.
Bishop William Shomali said that, despite the current crisis, “the call of the Holy Land has not ceased” – adding that “Christians around the world still long to walk where Jesus walked. And when pilgrims come – when they return, as we pray they soon will – they bring not only economic support but spiritual solidarity”.
While in Ireland, Bishop Shomali also met with Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee to brief her on the humanitarian situation for Palestinians in Gaza, and the West Bank – and said that Hamas does not speak for Palestinians and uses human suffering as a political weapon.
Visiting Ireland at the weekend to highlight the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank, the auxiliary bishop of Jerusalem also condemned the 2023 terror attacks on Israel which triggered the war and resulted in some 1,200 Israelis being killed and 251 Israeli hostages being taken, while alsao warning that Israeli settler violence against Palestinians had intensified dramatically, with entire villages living in fear.
Speaking at Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo, Bishop Shomali said that Hamas is “a terrorist organisation that does not speak for all Palestinians but that has sown destruction and used human suffering as a political tool.”
“Their attack on October 7 was not resistance; it was atrocity. When Hamas teaches that death in battle is immediate martyrdom and entrance to paradise, they encourage violence even unto death,” Bishop Shomali told the national pilgrimage of Aid to the Church in Need, a charity that works in Palestine and with other suffering communities in some 140 countries.
Referring to the upsurge in violence from Israelis in the occupied West Bank, Bishop Shomali said: “On the other side [you have], extremist settlers – not all settlers, but a violent fringe – who attack Palestinian villages, destroy olive trees that have belonged to families for generations, and speak of Palestinians as obstacles to be removed rather than neighbours to be loved.
“Both sides have their extremists. Both sides have their propaganda. Both sides have learned to dehumanise the other,” he warned.
Bishop Shomali was born in the West Bank – then under Jordanian occupation – in 1950, just two years after the creation of the modern state of Israel and described the Holy Land as “unique”.
“Yet this same land has not known lasting peace for generations. And since October 7, 2023, the weeping has grown louder.”
“Let me be clear about the consequences of that terrible day. The October 7 attacks killed 1,200 Israelis and resulted in the taking of many hostages.”
“What followed has been a war of exceptional intensity. In Gaza, the human toll is staggering: over 72,000 dead, hundreds of thousands wounded, and a population almost entirely displaced. Infrastructure lies in ruins.”
“This territory, already fragile, is now on its knees,” he said.
Bishop Shomali met with Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee to brief her on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and the West Bank, describing it as “deeply troubling”.
“In the West Bank, the situation is also deeply troubling. Settler violence has intensified dramatically – land seizures, home demolitions, attacks on villages. Entire communities live under constant pressure, in uncertainty and fear. The economy has collapsed, partly due to movement restrictions and the loss of jobs in Israel,” he said.
“But the weeping is not one-sided. It rises from Israeli homes shattered by trauma and loss, from Palestinian families mourning their children, from the land itself which cries out to God,” the bishop said.
While admitting he is not optimistic about the peace process, he sees signs of hope every day in his ministry.
“Despite the current crisis, the call of the Holy Land has not ceased. Christians around the world still long to walk where Jesus walked. And when pilgrims come – when they return, as we pray they soon will – they bring not only economic support but spiritual solidarity.
“Second, there is a vibrant Christian community. Today, we represent only 2% of the population of the Holy Land. Some speak of disappearance, but such a conclusion is too quick – and, in a sense, contrary to faith.
“Third, there are good people on both sides who work for peace with small gestures. They are numerous – Palestinians and Israelis who risk their security and their reputation to build bridges. In both camps, there are those who sincerely desire peace. They may not make the headlines, but they are the salt of the earth,” he said.
Asked about the huge numbers of Christians who are migrating from the Holy Land to flee the conflict, the bishop says he is trying to do everything to help them have a viable future there.”
“Christians have a vocation to remain in the Holy Land and to be a factor of peace and reconciliation.”
“Living in the Holy Land is not an accident. It is a calling. To be here, where Christ lived, is to be called to witness to the Gospel in the very place where it took flesh.”
“The temptations to leave are real. Emigration has drained more than one and a half million Palestinian Christians into the diaspora, and few will return. Many young people consider leaving, lacking prospects.”
“This haemorrhage weakens the Christian presence and poses an existential question: who will remain to bear witness?”
“But the answer must be: we will remain. Because our presence is not a political statement – it is an act of faith. It says that God has not abandoned this land,” he said.