(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MAY 22 - The Assembly of Catholic
Ordinaries of the Holy Land have said in a statement that the
two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian Territories
has gone nowhere and that discussing it repeatedly has become
empty rhetoric.
It added that a new orientation was needed, different
education and a new vision for the holy land and the two
populations living therein.
It said that only peace based on dignity, mutual respect and
equality as human beings ''will save us''.
The statement was signed by Catholic representatives of
different rites including Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa,
Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate, and Father
Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land.
It focuses on an analysis of the current situation in which ''every hope of peace'' has disappeared and in which even those who once claimed to be guardians of democracy and peace promoters have become promoters of power and partisan participants of the conflict. The church leaders said that, reflecting on recent decades in which peace and reconciliation were promoted, ''we have received more hatred, oppression, corruption and demagogy'', and that the time has come from the Church and spiritual leaders to find another way and to insist that everyone, ''Israelis and Palestinians, are brothers and sisters in humanity''.
The statement urged an exit to ''this permanent situation of war, hatred, and death'' and called on Christians in Palestine and Israel to join with Jews, Muslims, Druze and others sharing a vision of a society based on equality and the common good and to build bridges based on mutual respect and love. The statement added that equality is a necessary foundation for a just and lasting peace. (ANSAmed).
It focuses on an analysis of the current situation in which ''every hope of peace'' has disappeared and in which even those who once claimed to be guardians of democracy and peace promoters have become promoters of power and partisan participants of the conflict. The church leaders said that, reflecting on recent decades in which peace and reconciliation were promoted, ''we have received more hatred, oppression, corruption and demagogy'', and that the time has come from the Church and spiritual leaders to find another way and to insist that everyone, ''Israelis and Palestinians, are brothers and sisters in humanity''.
The statement urged an exit to ''this permanent situation of war, hatred, and death'' and called on Christians in Palestine and Israel to join with Jews, Muslims, Druze and others sharing a vision of a society based on equality and the common good and to build bridges based on mutual respect and love. The statement added that equality is a necessary foundation for a just and lasting peace. (ANSAmed).
