What are the reasons that no Palestinian State has been created up to this date?

If Palestinians have lived along Jews in the Middle East, why is it that they don't have a full-flegged country?

Did the Catholic Church at any moment support the creation of a Palestinian State?

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), May 18, 2002

Answers

--to the top--

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), May 18, 2002.

Enrique, I to was wondering what the Vaticans position is on Palestine. Im presuming that the Priests I saw from the Church of the Nativity sheltering the gunmen were Catholic. Judging by the Priests joyous embraces of Arafat I saw on tv they looked very pro Palestinian. Id be interested to hear what the official line is.

-- Courtenay (csisherwood@hotmail.com), May 19, 2002.

Hello, Enrique.

I found this brief historical summary to be helpful in understanding the situation mentioned in your first two questions. I hope that it will help you too.

Concerning your last question and Courtenay's observation, I have two things:

(1) Hardly any Israeli Jews are converts to Catholicism. Thus, almost all the Catholics living in the Holy Land (Israel and the region that will someday be Palestine) are Palestinian Arabs. It is therefore only natural that the Catholic priests living in that area (diocesan and religious [especially Franciscan]) should be well acquainted with, and sympathetic, to the plight of those Palestinians who are innocent of crimes, suffering great poverty, and made to feel like third-class citizens [i.e., the Christian Arabs]. I hasten to add, though, that the Catholic clergy in the Holy Land show no animosity toward the Israeli Jews, being pleased instead that the Vatican now has diplomatic relations with Israel.

(2) When the pope made his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2001, he visited Syria, where he stated the following, which clearly shows his support for a Palestinian state, in keeping with U.N. resolutions:
"It is time to return to the principles of international legality: The banning of the acquisition of territory by force, the right of peoples to self-determination, respect for the resolutions of the United Nations organisation and the Geneva conventions. My pilgrimage is also an ardent prayer of hope. Hope that among the peoples of the region fear will turn to trust and contempt to mutual esteem, that force will give way to dialogue and that a genuine desire to serve the common good will prevail."

There is nothing shocking about a Palestinian state, as Israel's leader, A. Sharon, is not against one in principle, and I think that his predecessor, E. Barak, almost had the establishment of such a state worked out with Y. Arafat a couple of years ago.

God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), May 19, 2002.

(Moderator, if you happen to see this thread, please close my link. Sorry about that!)

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), May 19, 2002.

Thank you, John. I will continue to investigate the plight of the Palestinians. I have some relatives of Lebanese origin and they are interested in knowning how things are working over there. Thanks, again, John.

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), May 19, 2002.

Thanks John

-- Courtenay (csisherwood@hotmail.com), May 20, 2002.

You're welcome, fellows. It was a pleasure. JFG

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), May 20, 2002.