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