While attending the Rimini Meeting in Italy recently, the Latin Patriarch of Jersusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa warned that the West Bank has become a “lawless land.”
“The fact that there is a situation of continuous aggression by settlers is well established,” he said, referring to Israeli settlers who illegally encroach on the land. “The West must help raise its gaze somewhat, create perspectives, and also help calm this continuing downward spiral through ever greater diplomatic efforts,” he also stated.
Pizzaballa also noted that the situation in Gaza has “deteriorated enormously” but that politically, there is hope.
That hope came with a warning: “We must not confuse hope with ‘everything will be fine’ or with a political solution,” he said, saying that Jews, Christians, and Muslims together must choose to do something beautiful.
He also said that a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel “is the only way to recognize the right of Israelis and Palestinians to have a home in their own land.”
Responding to a question from the audience about how to confront suffering in places like the Middle East, Pizzaballa encouraged prayer “because you cannot do everything.”
“We must be realistic because the situation has deteriorated,” he shared, but noted that he was hopeful after meeting with young students at a university in Gaza who agreed that violence needed to be rejected.
“Everyone in the Holy Land feels like a victim, and the only victim, and this is a vicious circle. The other becomes an enemy. The first violence begins in the heart and in words,” he stated, and said that we must listen to people with whom we disagree with, especially as social media algorithms may increase issues like misinformation or polarization.
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