Nov 2, 2006 / 22:00 pm

In comments offered Thursday, regarding the United Nation’s Report on Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations, noted the ultimate importance of a separate Palestinian state for creating peace not only in the Middle East, but around the world.

The nuncio told members of the 61st session of the U.N. General Assembly that the core issues of Israeli-Palestinian relations must be addressed before lasting peace and justice can be reached in the region.  

“Each year at this meeting we recite the seemingly endless list of difficulties and differences separating Israelis and Palestinians, but they are differences which make it all the more urgent for states to address the problem of the fundamental injustice at the heart of this question. To make a litany of symptoms without addressing the root cause is hardly helpful to either party,” he offered.

In fact, the archbishop continued, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is central to instability throughout the Middle East. “This is why my delegation remains convinced of the two state solution as the basis for the resolution of the crisis, which would permit Israelis to live in security in their own land and Palestinians to live safely in a viable state of their own,” Migliore said.  

“It is a sad fact that the international community has failed to engage the Israelis and Palestinians in significant and substantive dialogue along with dispute resolution in order to bring stability and peace to both. It falls squarely upon the international community to use its good offices to facilitate with all speed a rapprochement between the two sides,” the archbishop implored. “Evidently, those brokering the negotiations will have to maintain a balanced approach, avoiding the imposition of preconditions on either side.”

“Solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the key to a series of questions affecting the whole Middle East, without going into the consequences for the wider world,” he concluded.

Archbishop Migliore also noted the importance of securing Jerusalem from increasing violence.