Father Emil Salayta, the Latin-rite Patriarchate's director of education for Gaze and the West Sank, said the Israeli closure of the two areas, while initially understandable in view of a week of terrorist attacks, has hit the local populsUon very hard. Father Salayta said about 50 Christian families in the village have turned to him for financial assistance and jobs since they are not able to reach their regular employment. In addition, he said, about 150 more Christian families in three neighboring villages are in dire need of help. The phone lines in Sir Zeit had been down for a week March 11, so Father Salayta sent out an appeal through the media to try to reach outside Catholic communities for emergency financial assistance to provide the families with basic food provisions. As a church, people come here looking for help.
Some people have no money coming in and have lost their jobs in Israel.
Israel has relaxed the closure at specific times, allowing residents to buy provisions. Prime Minister Shimon Peres' government has said the closure will be reiaxed further in late March, but, said Father Salayta, that seems far away. The military should give us a little freedom, at least for urgent cases. Other local residents have come to him asking for' assistance in setting up small businesses because they have lost their jobs and there are no other jobs available for them, he said. In addition to setting up an emergency fund, he would like to set up a fund for establishing small businesses.