Palestinian Christians wary about Obama’s proposals for peace

Catholic News Service- U.S. President Barack Obama’s call for Israeli and Palestinian states based on Israel’s 1967 borders met with a largely wary response from Palestinian Christians.

While the Palestinians welcomed Obama’s proposal - which includes mutually agreed-upon land swaps - in May 19 and 22 speeches, they doubted that Israel would easily back away from Palestinian territory it has occupied for nearly 44 years.

Sami Awad, executive director of the Holy Land Trust and a promoter of nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, called Obama’s proposal “symbolic.”

“It was like every other president, he pushes the envelope a bit more than the previous president. That’s not enough,” he said.

Awad added that the plight of Palestinian refugees must be recognized and solved.

As an activist, Awad also expressed disappointment that Obama failed to acknowledge what he believes to be a growing Palestinian nonviolence movement that seeks to challenge Israeli policy.

Hussam Elias, an Arab Catholic living in Cana, Israel, who directs the Galilee program for the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, noted that the crucial issue of the final status of Jerusalem had been left out of Obama’s talks, even though settling on the city’s future is key to reaching a final resolution to the conflict.

Even so, Obama’s speeches were an indication that “the time had come” for Palestinians and Israelis to make serious moves toward a final and justice peace agreement, Elias said. Read more