Catholic bishops from world wide have issued a communiqué calling for a return to “meaningful negotiations” towards a two-state solution as a solution to the Israel-Palestine query.
For much of the week the bishops were within the Holy Land for “a pastoral and ecclesial gathering, rooted in prayer, reflection, and attentive listening to the Christian communities and peoples of the Holy Land”.
The visit included a mass within the town of Taybeh – the one predominantly Christian town within the West Bank and the topic of a violent attack by Israeli settlers.
The people there “told us of their suffering: limitless attacks from extremist settlers, uprooting of their olive trees, the seizure of their land and intimidatory acts that make their day by day life unbearable, driving many into mass emigration”, they said.
Time was also scheduled to have an internet meeting with Father Gabriel Romanelli, who serves as priest in Gaza’s only Catholic church, which was hit by Israeli ordnance throughout the recent conflict.
In their communiqué the bishops denounced the expansion of Israeli settlements within the West Bank and said that Gaza was in the midst of a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis.
They called on Christians to hope for the people of the Holy Land and play their part in fostering “real dialogue”.
“In the twelve months since our last visit, the Land of Promise is being diminished and challenged. Gaza stays a catastrophic humanitarian crisis,” they said.
“The people of the West Bank we encountered are demoralised and fearful. The courageous Israeli voices which speak out for human and civil rights are increasingly threatened; advocating for marginalised voices is a costly solidarity. We fear that soon, they too might be silenced.
“As Christians, it’s our calling and duty to offer a voice to the voiceless, and to bear witness to their dignity, in order that the world may know their suffering and be moved to advocate for justice and compassion.”
The Archbishop of Glasgow and President of Justice & Peace Scotland, the Most Rev William Nolan, was a part of the visiting delegation of bishops. He said the people of the West Bank were “traumatised”.
He continued, “All sides, whether it is the Israeli side or the Palestinian side, have been traumatised by years of conflict, and much more so by the atrocities of the seventh of October attacks after which by the Gaza war.
“It’s very difficult for people, once they’re suffering themselves, to see the pain of the opposite side.”
The Archbishop said that the land was for everybody who lives there and that every one parties in the world needed to recognise the rights of others.
He went on, “[In the West Bank], we went to go to some Bedouins who’re under great pressure … there are Israeli settlers who’re causing a lot harassment by their violent actions, destroying people’s livelihoods.
“There’s a campaign to try to disrupt the lives of Palestinians on their land, to encourage them to go away and to vanish. It appears to be left completely unhindered by the authorities.”
Archbishop Nolan further praised those individuals and organisations from all the various communities who’re working towards reconciliation and peace within the region.
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