Church leaders urge Israelis, Palestinians to be patient after summit

Published: 2005-02-09

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Church leaders in the Holy Land urged Israelis and Palestinians to be patient and called a cease-fire from a summit in Egypt a step in the right direction. "The Israelis must be patient, even if there are still some episodes of violence." Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem told Vatican Radio Feb. 8. "The Palestinians must have even more patience, because it will be necessary to continue for some time to live how they have been living, a life of oppression." The patriarch said neither the violence nor the oppression "can be eliminated in one day." He urged leaders of both sides to "act as quickly as possible to not allow more time to pass and reawaken new violence, new incidents." Patriarch Sabbah said there was a "new openness on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, as well as on the part of the international community and the United States." He said Jews, Christians and Muslims are "living in a time of hope" but still have "many doubts" given past experiences. The hope, he said, comes for a new Palestinian openness that "does not leave room for excuses not to make peace" At the summit at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik Feb. 8, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed to put an end to violence in the area; they were photographed shaking hands and smiling. The summit was hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and supported by Jordanian King Abdullah II with, for the first time, no visible American or other third-party presence. The papal representative to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, called the summit a "good step in the right direction."

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