RAMALLAH, Friday, February 21, 2020 (WAFA) – Member of PLO Executive Committee Hanan Ashrawi Thursday met with Apostolic Delegate Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli and discussed with him ways to achieve justice and peace in Palestine.

Ashrawi welcomed the Apostolic Delegation’s opening of a secondary office in Ramallah as a sign of the Holy See’s commitment to further strengthening the historic and friendly relations with Palestine and the Palestinian people.

She and the Apostolic delegate discussed the latest developments in Palestine and agreed on the need to protect the historic Status Quo in Jerusalem from any alteration or changes. Jerusalem, they agreed, must be protected from the hegemonic control of any one party and must remain an open city and bedrock of coexistence and harmony.

Both officials also discussed the need to ensure that peace is realized in Palestine on the solid foundations of justice and respect for international law, as well as the dignity and human rights of the Palestinian people. They also agreed that proposals that depart from or disregard these requirements for peace cannot advance or serve the cause of peace.

Ashrawi called on the Vatican to use its moral leadership and the respect and admiration Pope Francis enjoys around the world to defend the Palestinian people’s human and national rights and to advance a just and real peace in the region that guarantees the realization of the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights.

She highlighted the coercive and punitive reality of the colonial Israeli occupation, which is driving Palestinian Christians from their homeland and threatening the Palestinian social fabric. She and the Apostolic Delegate agreed on the need to preserve and protect the living stones of the Holy Land, the Palestinian Christian communities.

K.F.