Kairos Palestine, a group of Palestinian Christians who co-authored the document "A Moment of Truth," condemned on Tuesday 21st May, the kidnapping of two bishops in Syria – as well as the way such an act damages efforts toward peace and stability in a country already ravaged by violence. The bishops, Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Metropolitan Boulos Yaziji of the Greek Orthodox Church, were kidnapped on April 20th 2013 in northern Syria; they were on a humanitarian mission to negotiate the release of two priests who had been kidnapped in February. Since their capture, almost no information has been divulged about their welfare or whereabouts, Kairos Palestine said in a press statement.
Kairos Palestine appeals to the kidnappers to ensure the bishops' health and safety. And in the name of the compassion and justice at the heart of both Christian and Muslim principles, in the name of both Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Nativity, Kairos Palestine calls for the bishops' release.
This kidnapping defies the human rights and basic liberties of the individuals held hostage. But the seriousness of this situation goes beyond the individuals themselves: Syria is being torn apart by conflicts both internal and imposed from outside. In the face of increasing the bloody violence, Kairos Palestine fears that religious strife – and numerous political interests manipulated by other countries and agendas – will prevent justice and democracy from strengthening their roots.
In Syria today, scores of non-Syrian groups are fighting their own battles, and many regional and international powers tolerate, endorse, and even participate in the bloodshed as a way to pursue their own claims. The people themselves, including but not limited to Christians, are the ones who pay the price for such impositions. Many Christians have fled Syria, as is the case across the region.
All conflicts and violence in Syria must be stopped. Syrians must resolve their crises at a round table; any and all international interventions must work to support this objective, and must not place any obstacles before it. Bordering countries must stop allowing foreign forces to enter Syria and wage their battles by proxy.
Kairos Palestine concluded, as Palestinians, Christians, and as Kairos Palestine, they express their deepest solidarity with the just demands of the Syrian people for reforms, justice, human rights, democracy, and dignity but within a united Syria and without imposed agendas from the outside. They call for the swift release of the captured bishops, and call for the safety and well-being of all Syrians – whose lives, in so many ways, have also been held hostage by this violent conflict.
