WelCom June/July 2023
Pope Francis has made an appeal for peace in the Holy Land, praying that a recent ceasefire between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip might hold. Speaking at the Regina Coeli prayer on Sunday, 14 May, Pope Francis lamented the loss of life in the armed exchanges between Israelis and Palestinians, in which innocent people have lost their lives, including women and children. The Pope expressed his hopes the recent ceasefire might hold, and that both sides might lay down their weapons.
‘May weapons be silenced, because arms can never obtain security and stability. Rather, they only succeed in destroying any hope for peace.’
Gerard Burns
In July 2022, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops expressed their anguish over the continuing turmoil and violence in the Holy Land and suggested various ways in which we in New Zealand could support a just and lasting solution to the conflict there.
One of the proposed ways to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is that of the ‘two-state solution’ involving each country living side-by-side in peace and security. It is the solution proposed by the United Nations in 1947 and ever since. It has been supported by the Holy See (the technical name for the diocese of Rome, and the pope’s role in international diplomacy) as part of a way to resolving the conflict.
The two-state solution is becoming ever more difficult because of Israel’s expansion through the walls, settlements and roads being built on Palestinian land. However the two-state proposal is still the main solution on offer and it requires two internationally recognised states to be achieved. Israel has had diplomatic recognition for a long time, but the Palestinian state was only formally recognised at the UN in 2012. Like the Holy See the Palestinian state has ‘non-member observer’ status at this stage.
New Zealand foreign policy officially supports the two-state solution but has never officially recognised Palestine as a state (unlike the Holy See). Therefore, a local Palestinian support group (Justice for Palestine), decided to petition the New Zealand government to formally recognise Palestine as a state. I attended the handing over of the petition at Parliament in mid-May in response to the New Zealand bishops’ position on the issues. The 1500-signature petition was received by Green MP Golriz Gharaman.