ISRAEL DECIDEDLY UNHAPPY WITH VATICAN-PALESTINE TREATY
 |
| In this handout image supplied by the Palestinian Press Ofiice (PPO) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greets Pope Francis on May 25, 2014, Ramallah, West Bank. |
Pope Francis has decided to make the Catholic Church’s feelings about
Palestine official.
On Friday, the Vatican signed a comprehensive treaty with Palestinian
authorities, formalizing a basic agreement between the Catholic Church and the
PLO back in 2000. In essence, it is a formal declaration of the Holy See’s
support for the creation of a Palestinian state and the peace process with
Israel. “[I]t is my hope that the present agreement may, in some way, be a
stimulus to bringing a definitive end to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, which continues to cause suffering for both Parties,” wrote Vatican
foreign minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
The agreement follows on the Vatican’s decision in May to change the
status of its diplomatic relationship with Ramallah, and officially forgo the
recognition of the PLO to make way for the State of Palestine. The Catholic
Church has referred to a Palestinian state since at least 2012, but the new
agreement solidifies the Holy See’s support.
For the Vatican, the decision represents another unabashed and
controversial move into the foreign policy arena. It follows efforts to broker
Washington’s watershed decision to re-establish relations with Cuba late last
year, and the recent release of Pope Francis’ landmark environment-focused
encyclical. But it is also a matter of looking after Catholics everywhere. The
new agreement specifically notes that it is also meant to deal with “the life
and activity of the Church in Palestine.” It also mentions that “Catholics do
not seek any privilege other than continued cooperation with their
fellow-citizens for the good of society.” As Reuters reported, some 100,000
Catholics live in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, and most of
them identify as Palestinians. For the Church, assertively backing the
Palestinian cause and the cause of peace, then, is about protecting its own.
The news is not going over well in Tel Aviv. “This hasty step damages
the prospects for advancing a peace agreement, and harms the international
effort to convince the Palestinian Authority to return to direct negotiations
with Israel,” said Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon.
The Israeli government surely knew this was coming. Back in May when
the Vatican first signaled a shifting Palestine policy, commentators and
pro-Israel writers warned that such decisions would, in fact make the odds of
peace less likely. “By granting the Palestinians official recognition without
first requiring them to make peace with Israel, Pope Francis and the church
have only made it less likely that this will ever happen,” Jonathan Tobin wrote
for Commentary magazine on May 13.
Others saw the pope making common cause with the Palestinians as a
disturbing return to a horrifying past. “Given its sordid history of
anti-Semitism, book-burnings, forced conversions and Inquisitions, the Catholic
Church should think a hundred times over before daring to step on Israel’s
toes,” wrote Michael Freund, former deputy communications director to Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the Jerusalem Post on May 18. “If anything, the
pope should be down on his knees pleading for forgiveness from the Jewish
people and atonement from the Creator for what the Vatican has wrought over the
centuries.”
Israel is also likely frazzled by the Palestinian Authority’s decision
to take on Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC). On Thursday, the
PA submitted its first tranche of evidence of alleged war crimes committed by
Israel during last year’s war in Gaza to the ICC.
So it seems fair to say there’s a certain amount of distrust clouding
the waters. But this is about more than just politics: the Pope has, on
repeated occasions, spoken of the plight of Christians fleeing the
conflict-ridden Middle East.
No comments