The bishops of Ireland call on the government of their country to recognize the state of Palestine

The bishops of Ireland call on the government of their country to recognize the state of Palestine

The bishops of Ireland called on their country’s government to recognize the state of Palestine, in the final statement of their general meeting for the summer of 2021, which was held hypothetically due to the “Corona” pandemic, headed by Archbishop Eamon Martin.

During the meeting, the bishops discussed the humanitarian crisis in Palestine as a result of the continuous Israeli aggression against our people, raising their prayers for peace in the Holy Land.

The meeting called for “an end to violence and a just and lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis, on the basis of respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law, accountability for war crimes perpetrators, an end to the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, and an end to the siege imposed on Gaza.”

The bishops hailed the Irish parliament´s recent vote to condemn the de facto annexation of Palestinian lands and the forced displacement of Palestinians, as a violation of fundamental principles of international law.

The bishops referred to the recognition of the State of Palestine by the Vatican in February 2013, calling on their country´s government to pass a draft law on regulating economic activity - the occupied territories (the Settlements Law) and recognizing the State of Palestine.

For her part, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Ireland Gilan Wahba Abdel Majid praised, on Thursday, the final statement issued by the conference.

I expressed to Archbishop Eamon Martin the appreciation of our people for this support, stressing the continuation of coordination with the Irish bishops and churches to achieve the Irish government´s recognition of the State of Palestine, in implementation of the resolution voted by Parliament in 2014.