A Middle East peace
| DESCRIBING the rapidly escalating carnage in the Middle East as “absurd” and “pointless” last month, Pope John Paul precisely defined the nature of that war. |
| Israeli attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian suicide bombs targeting Israelis are unlikely to create a peaceful resolution. Instead, the various atrocities serve only to entrench mutual hatred. |
| The objectives of peaceful existence and liberation respectively have now been supplanted by what both protagonists appear to experience as a battle of life or death – one from which there soon may be no return. |
| This spiral of enmity becomes a burden to the rest of the world when the Palestinian cause is adopted as a pretext for international terrorism, as manifested by the September 11 attacks on the United States. |
| International efforts at mediating a peace in the Middle East have proved deplorably inadequate. To some degree, that failure must be ascribed to the presumptuous engagement of the United States, which invariably advocates Israeli interests. This precludes the US from acting as a credible facilitator. |
| Last week we reported Patriarch Michel Sabbah, primate of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, as saying that efforts at international mediation would succeed only if the peacebrokers “start with the will to resolve the root of the problem,” that is the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. He also noted that the international community (ostensibly meaning the West) appears to focus only on acts of terror perpetrated by Palestinians, abominable though they are, while exculpating Israeli atrocities. |
| We do not know exactly what it will take to accomplish peace in the Middle East. Patriarch Sabbah has, however, set out the starting point for meaningful international mediation: identify the root problems and concerns (on both sides), and then act impartially. |
| There are few agencies that would or could realise these criteria. The Holy See may well be among them. Pope John Paul has earned the respect of Israelis and Palestinians alike, and has thus prepared the foundation for the acceptance of a facilitative role by the Vatican. |
| Significantly, unlike governments, the Catholic Church has little to gain or lose in terms of political strategy or economic advantage by engaging in such a role, and would therefore be unencumbered by self-interest. |
| The Catholic Church – whose crusaders were once party to much bloodshed in the Holy Land – is now well-placed to help bring peace to the Holy Land. It may be the only hope left. |
Latest posts by Editor (see all)
- The Look of Christ - May 24, 2022
- Putting Down a Sleeping Toddler at Communion? - March 30, 2022
- To See Our Good News - March 23, 2022
