MAYNOOTH - 28 February 2007 - 300 words
Irish
Bishops call for justice in Palestine/Israel
At a media conference in Dublin yesterday, Bishop Raymond Field,
Chair of the Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs (ICJSA),
Bishop John Kirby, Chair of Trócaire and Rev Dr Eoin Cassidy
of the ICJSA, launched a position paper Palestine/Israel, Principles
for a Just Peace before a briefing meeting with the Minister
for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern TD.
Bishop Field said: "Today we shall meet with Minister Ahern
and raise with him the issue of the EU-Israel Association agreement.
While we welcome cooperation between the EU and its neighbouring
countries, nevertheless such cooperation should not be at the
expense of a large segment of the indigenous population
in this case the Palestinians. Where there is evidence of systematic
abuse of human rights on a large scale as in the Occupied Territories
there are questions that must be asked concerning the appropriateness
of maintaining close business, cultural and commercial links with
Israel.
"We also intend to raise the issue of the restriction of
movement in the Occupied Territories. We are calling for an end
to restrictions on family reunification, and an end to humiliating
treatment of people at checkpoints. The Palestinian people need
freedom of movement to work, visit family, obtain medical treatment
and be educated. At present it is extremely difficult for Palestinian
Christians from East Jerusalem to pray at the Church of the Nativity
or for Christians in Bethlehem to attend Sunday Mass at the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. At this time, no Bethlehem
resident is allowed to visit Jerusalem without special permission
from the Israeli army. In effect, the communities of Bethlehem
and East Jerusalem are forced to live divided by a 25 foot wall
that surrounds Bethlehem on three sides.
"We also intend to raise with Minister Ahern the intolerable
situation that is the daily lot of the Palestinians who live in
Gaza, a territory just 6 miles wide and 25 miles long and home
to 1.3 million Palestinians. As things presently stand Gaza is
little more than a large prison. Israel retains control of its
land borders, airspace and territorial waters and imposes severe
restrictions on the rights of Palestinians in Gaza to either enter
or leave the territory. This injustice is exacerbated by the restrictions
that are placed on Palestinians engaged in a commercial activity
such as fishing a key source of income in a territory such
as Gaza with a relatively long coastline."
Log on to www.catholicjustice.ie
for more information on the Irish Commission for Justice and Social
Affairs (ICJSA).
The ICJSA is a Commission of the Irish Bishops' Conference. Dr
Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland,
launched it on 13 June 2005.
© Independent Catholic
News 2007
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