Scottish Catholic Observer

The Latin-rite Catholic Patriarchate of Jerusalem has called on Palestinians and Israelis to return to the negotiating table amid escalating violence in the region along ethnic and religious grounds, and fears of a new uprising or intifada.

Tensions have centred on the contested Holy Site of the Temple Mount or Al-Aqsa mosque which is considered Holy by both Muslims and Jews.

“Once again the flames of despair, fuelled by hate, represent a serious threat in this Holy Land,” a statement from the patriarch Archbishop Fouad Twal (above) says, calling on ‘Israelis and Palestinians to act with courage and return to the negotiating table.’

According to reports four Israelis have been killed in recent days including a man on his way to pray at the Western Wall with his family and a US-born settler and his wife in the West Bank. Aid group the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent said that 970 Palestinians have been injured in clashes with Israeli security forces since Saturday, with 66 shootings and a number of deaths.

Israeli hardliners have called for the building of more settlements and the government have ramped up its policy of demolishing the homes of attackers and barred Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Old City.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has barred ministers and lawmakers from visiting the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in an effort to reduce tensions.

“The fact is that in this conflict, as in most, both sides are wrong,” the Christian group Foundation for Relief Reconciliation in the Middle East said recently of the growing violence.

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