ASIA/HOLY LAND - The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem: the Palestinian problem is the focus of all conflict in the Middle East for the last one hundred years

Beirut (Agenzia Fides) - "There is no doubt that the Palestinian problem is the focus of all conflict in the Middle East for the last one hundred years. This is the truth that we cannot circumvent". This is what the Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal said in his speech at the Conference being held in Beirut (21-25 May) with regards to the presence and witness of Christians in the Middle East, on the initiative of the World Council of Churches (WCC). According to the Patriarch, unless the international community, the nations in the region and the interested parties act truthfully and wiyh goodwill to bring about peace, "this conflict will continue to feed aggression, oppression, deceit, double standards and occupation."
According to the report released by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and sent to Fides Agency, His Beatitude Twal referred to the historical phase of the so-called "Arab Spring" as a time when the Middle East entered "a dangerous and bloody vortex." "We, children of the Holy Land," said the Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins "understand too well the meaning of words such as displacement, expulsion, murder, injustice, evacuation and exile." (GV) (Agenzia Fides 24/05/2013).