Christians & Israel.

While it is important to point out the problems the church presented to the Jewish community sixty years ago (see "The Missing"), I wish the editors of Commonweal would recognize the problems that the government of Israel is currently presenting to Christians in general and the Vatican in particular. I cannot recall a single article under your new editor that describes the problems stemming from Israel's refusal to implement its agreement with the Vatican. Archbishop Pietro Sambi, until recently the apostolic nuncio to Israel and Jerusalem, has said that the barrier Israel is building around the West Bank is a violation of the 1993 Fundamental Agreement guaranteeing the church the right to carry out its religious, charitable, and educational roles. Perhaps we should not expect a pope who was once a member of the Hitler Youth to take a hard line with the Israelis, but that doesn't mean we should close our eyes to what is happening to Christians in the occupied territories. Why doesn't Commonweal assign an objective writer to look into their status and suffering under nearly forty years of Israeli rule?

JOSEPH D. POLICANO

East Hampton, N.Y.