Dir. Caritas Jerusalem onIsraeli-Palestinian peace
Ramallah, 01 August 2013: The resumption of the peace process between Israelis and
Palestinians "is a positive thing, because the only way to solve problems is to negotiate".
But the conditions in which it occurs are not open to too many expectations, because
"there are too many obstacles to the solution of two peoples-two States, starting
from the settlements that Israel continues to build in the Palestinian Territories".
The Palestinian priest Raed Abusahliah, general director of Caritas Jerusalem,
reported to Fides Agency the widespread considerations among Arab Christians in the
Holy Land compared to the new ongoing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian
Authority on the spur of the current U.S. administration. According to Fr. Raed the
beginning of a negotiation is always good news, and "even the decision to ask for
a deadline, nine months, to reach an agreement is appropriate".
On the other
hand, "the Palestinian side is weak: President Abu Mazen does not have the support
of Hamas, and even some groups of the OLP challenge the basis on which one began to
discuss". In particular, any excessive expectations on the outcome of further negotiations
according to the Arabic priest is fatally contradicted by the facts on the policy
pursued by the Israeli government. "I am afraid that the solution 2 peoples-2 States
- explains Fr. Raed - is made impassable by the facts: within the Palestinian Territories
there are already hundreds of settlements inhabited by thousands of settlers ideologically
oriented and they continue to build new ones. Who has the power and the intention
to convince them to leave?
And then there is the Separation Wall that the
Israelis are building and will try to propose as a new frontier, even if it does not
correspond to the border established by the UN in 1967 and includes several Palestinian
Territories. "From the Churches and other religious communities point of view - said
the director of Caritas Jerusalem "the agreement should protect the freedom of movement
and access to the Holy Places which has incredibly decreased since the beginning of
the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. After the Oslo agreements, freedom of access
to Holy Places is no longer guaranteed. Many cities, including Ramallah, are surrounded
by checkpoints.
International guarantees for the implementation of any agreement
are needed, especially with regard to the freedom of access to Holy Places". Source:
Fides