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Statement
from the
U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops
on President Bush's support of the Unilateral Israeli Policy
Toward Gaza and the West Bank
April
26, 2004
President
Bush's recent announcement of support for the unilateral Israeli policy
toward
Gaza
and the
West Bank
is deeply troubling.
The President's acquiescence in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
unilateral approach risks undermining the Roadmap for Peace and
prospects for a negotiated settlement of this conflict.
Under
other circumstances, the closing of the
Gaza
settlements and the
withdrawal of Israeli troops would be regarded as serious steps toward
peace. It is difficult to
see, however, how endorsement of this withdrawal in the context of tacit
support for key elements of one party’s position on such core issues
as
West Bank
settlements and the
right of return will not block the path to peace for years to come.
In
accepting Israeli-created “facts-on-the-ground,” which were
established in defiance of long standing
US
policy regarding
Israeli settlements and the right of return, the
United States
has set a worrying
precedent that will make it extremely difficult to create a viable,
independent Palestinian state, especially if the
West Bank
settlements are
enlarged and the security wall proceeds as planned. The
combined pressures of expanding settlements, prolonged occupation, the
security wall, and general insecurity could lead in time to de facto
"transfer" of much of the Palestinian population.
For those who remain, it will yield a life of desperation; and
for many it will feed the fires of resistance.
Moreover,
U.S.
leadership is put at
risk if it accepts the view of Prime Minister Sharon that unilateral
actions will delay negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace for a
generation. A just peace
cannot be imposed by one side; it can only come from mutual dialogue and
negotiation by Israelis and Palestinians.
We
urge the Bush administration to return to the traditional
U.S.
role of “honest
broker” by working with the international community and Palestinians
and Israelis to develop trust-building measures and to pursue peaceful
means to negotiate their differences, in accord with international law
and existing UN Resolutions. In
that way, they can build together a culture of peace that respects the
rights of all. The
United States
must press both sides
for an end to the current violence and repression, suicide bombings,
extra-judicial killings and other aggressive responses that only fuel
more violence and delay the day of peace.
We
pray that God will hasten the time when both peoples, in the words of
the Psalmist, may call
Zion
mother, “for all
shall be her children.”
Bishop
Wilton D. Gregory
Bishop
of
Belleville
President,
United States
Conference of
Catholic Bishops
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