USCCB: Sharon plan no roadmap to peace

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May 2004

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USCCB: Sharon plan no roadmap to peace

USCCB: Sharon plan no roadmap to peace
Calling an abrupt turnabout of U.S. policy "deeply troubling," Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote a letter on April 26 to President George Bush expressing the USCCB's concerns about Israeli Prime Minister's Ariel Sharon new settlement policy and the Bush administration's acceptance of it. Just days before, the administration essentially abandoned 30 years of official U.S. policy—and its own "roadmap" to peace—by backing Sharon's plan to shut down settlements on the Gaza Strip while formalizing other Jewish settlements on the West Bank and permanently dismissing any negotiation around a right of return or compensation for Palestinian refugees.

"The President's acquiescence in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral approach," wrote Gregory, "risks undermining the Roadmap for Peace and prospects for a negotiated settlement of this conflict."

Gregory urged the president to return to a role as an "honest broker" of Middle East peace between Israelis and Palestinians "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."

Gregory said that under different circumstances the closing of the Gaza settlements and the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Force from the refugee camps would have been seen 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.

Gregory continued: "In accepting Israeli-created 'facts-on-the-ground,' which were established in defiance of long standing U.S. 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.

Gregory argued that "A just peace cannot be imposed by one side; it can only come from mutual dialogue and negotiation by Israelis and Palestinians."

Another recent letter from the USCB to the president expressed grave concerns about the "seriously deteriorating" security conditions in the Holy Land and the encroachments of Israel's security wall into the West Bank, calling on a more active mediating role from American authroties in the region.

Noting the American church's strong connection to both the American and Israeli Jewish communities and its ties to Christians in the Holy Land, Gregory wrote: "We are especially clear that the current violence and repression, suicide bombings and aggressive responses are unacceptable. Palestinian attacks on innocent civilians cannot be tolerated—both because they are morally abhorrent and because they undermine the legitimate claims of the Palestinian people. Israeli occupation cannot be sustained—militarily or morally; nor can the repressive measures that are sometimes used to enforce this occupation be justified.

"U.S. leadership is essential if both sides are to escape this spiral of violence and injustice."

Gregory also deplored the deteriorating relationship between the church and Israeli authorties. "The growing problem of denial of or delay in granting visas, new difficulties over taxation, failure to implement the Fundamental Agreement signed with the Holy See in 1993, the suspension of negotiations on treaties related to that Agreement, and other matters have created the most difficult situation in living memory for the Church in the Holy Land. It would be a great tragedy if the vital role of the Christian community in the Holy Land is undermined because of these and other actions."

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