(June 15,2010) The Latin-rite Patriarch of Jerusalem has called for an end to the
Gaza siege and the violence, saying the people of the Holy Land are tired of the ongoing
conflict. Patriarch Fouad Twal, also the president of Caritas Jerusalem, made the
remarks in an interview to the aid agency. He commented on the recent escalation of
tension in that region after a May 31 raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, a convoy
that attempted to break through the Israeli blockade to bring supplies to Gaza. "The
Gaza siege needs to be lifted," Archbishop Twal stated. “The conflict has been going
on for decades and the people are tired," he said. "We are receiving a lot of aid
and we need it, but we have not received yet - what we need the most, which is peace,"
he added. Noting that the new generation, the young Palestinians and Israelis, were
born in a climate of violence and were raised under these circumstances, Archbishop
Twal asserted that religious and political leaders have a great responsibility. He
said they all need to ask themselves what they can do, so that this new generation
will know peace." Noting that Caritas has been working in the Palestinian territories
since the Six Day War in 1967, Patriarch Twal expressed the hope that with the Caritas
initiatives, people can be brought together in the Occupied Territories."