AUSTRALIA’S bishops have called on Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories in a bid to end the escalating violence in the Middle East.
In a statement following this month’s Australian Catholic Bishops Conference plenary meeting in Sydney, conference president Archbishop Francis Carroll of Canberra and Goulburn said the move was ‘clearly essential if peace is to return to this troubled region’.
The bishops also criticised lack of international action over the crisis and deplored outbreaks of ‘religious hatred’ in Australia.
The bishops said they were appalled by ‘the escalation of violence, by the suffering inflicted on innocent people by both sides, by the violation of sacred places, in particular the Church of the Nativity, and by the wanton destruction of property’.
‘We condemn all acts of terrorism,’ they said, ‘especially attacks on innocent civilians, as well as disproportionate acts of reprisal causing death and injury to many people going peacefully about their business.
‘Acts of self-defence must be governed by the principle of proportionality.
‘While defending the right of both the Palestinians and the Israelis to have their own states, we consider that the occupation of any part of the Palestinian territories by the Israelis should cease,’ the bishops said.
