USCCB committee chairman condemns rocket attacks on Israel

November 26, 2012

The chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has condemned recent rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza as a “continuing pattern of morally unjustifiable uses of indiscriminate force.”

“Israel has a right to defend its citizens, but its use of force must be proportionate and discriminate,” Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines said in a letter to National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon. “I urge the United States to exercise leadership with countries in the region and internationally to end this cycle of violence and retaliation before it spirals further out of control.”

Bishop Pates added:

Indefensible rocket attacks must end. There must be a reversal of Israeli policies that undermine the possibility of a two-state solution. Palestinians must renounce violence, improve security and strengthen governance. Israelis must stop settlement expansion in the West Bank, ease residency requirements and end home demolitions that harm Palestinian families, and review the route of the security barrier for its impact on Palestinian lives and livelihoods.

 

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Further information:

• Bishop Pates Calls On Administration To Negotiate Cease Fire Between Israel, Gaza (USCCB)
• Full text of letter (USCCB)