YNet reports that Pope Benedict “denounced rocket attacks on Israeli border towns that provoked Israel’s armed retaliation, and appealed in God’s name for Jerusalem to use moderation and for Palestinian authorities to ‘neutralize’ violent forces.”
He said, literally: “The clashes among Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and the rocket attacks against inhabitants of the nearby Israeli cities, which prompted armed intervention, are provoking a bloody deterioration of the situation. Yet again, in the name of God, I beg that an end be put to this tragic violence, while I desire to express my solid closeness to the hard-put Palestinian and Israeli populations and assure them that I remember them in prayer.”
More: “I appeal to the sense of responsibility of all the Palestinian authorities so that, in dialogue and with firmness, the difficult path toward understanding is undertaken again, neutralizing the violent ones. I invite the Israeli government to moderation and exhort the international community to multiply efforts to favor resumption of negotiations.”
Well: finally a world leader condemns Palestinian violence and speaks out in support of Israel.
PAST CONTRIBUTOR.