'Palestinians' seething: Vatican may recognize united Jerusalem

MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012

The 'Palestinians' are seething once again because, in the context of a final status agreement regarding Catholic institutions in Jerusalem, no distinction is being made between the two sides of the 1949 armistice lines.

Palestinian sources told Haaretz that the agreement meant indirect recognition of Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem and of the imposition of Israeli law in part of the West Bank.

France, which has special standing as custodian of holy Christian sites and Christian communities, is also said to be concerned at the apparent latent recognition of the annexation and the economic implications for the communities, and particularly its Christian institutions in the country and the people who are part of them.

However, a well-informed source told Haaretz “there is nothing in the agreement to harm the rights of the Palestinians,” and that the agreement was made with the sovereign State of Israel in its internationally recognized identity, and therefore there was no need for a clarifying preamble.

The Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel is to meet in Rome on Monday and Tuesday. They are to continue talks that took place in Jerusalem last week on matters of disagreement.

But the Church is claiming that there is no change in its traditional position on 'east' Jerusalem, which unfortunately is like most of the rest of the West. Read the whole thing.

My own view is that none of this will matter in the end, and I am much more interested in hearing how they deal with contentious sites (mentioned tangentially in the article) like David's Tomb.