At UN, Vatican envoy calls for 2-state solution in Middle East, questions morality of drone strikes

July 13, 2016

During a UN discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on July 12, the Vatican's representative reaffirmed the commitment of the Holy See to a two-state solution.

"The time is long overdue to put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," said Archbishop Bernardito Auza. He lamented the fact that a viable Palestinian state has not yet emerged, 69 years after the UN set that goal.

Speaking more generally on the situation in the Middle East, the archbishop called attention to "the continued persecution of Christians, Yazidis and other ethnic and religious minority groups by non-State actors in parts of Syria and Iraq." He urged goverments to stop providing weapons to the warring parties. 

Archbishop Auza suggested the need to review international law in light of new studies that show that unmanned weapons, such as drones, inflict enormous levels of damage on innocent parties. He observed that "it is the civilian population that is disproportionately victimized by ever more technologically sophisticated weapons."

The Vatican's UN envoy said that religious leaders must take an active role in promoting peace, especially because of the "spurious" attempts to use religion as the basis for violence. He argued that "leaders must be engaged in the overall effort to defeat the violence that attempts to hijack it."

 

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Further information:

• The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question (Holy See Mission)