February 1992, Page 71

Special Report

Three Reasons Why the Vatican Can't Establish Diplomatic Ties with Israel

By Dr. Judith G. Martin, SSJ

Now that the Soviet Union has established diplomatic ties with Israel, Jewish spokespersons are asking why the Vatican remains reluctant to do the same. Jewish leaders note that the current pope has been willing to condemn the Holocaust and acknowledge the right of the state of Israel to exist. Why, then, does John Paul II refuse to exchange ambassadors? Is it simply a matter of being obstinate and unreasonable, as some Jewish groups charge, or are there other possibilities?

A partial explanation for the Vatican's position stems from the fact that although Israel insists on its need to have secure borders, it has never in its 43 years of existence declared what those borders are. Would Rome be expected to recognize its 1948 UN-stipulated borders? Its 1949 borders which included 22 percent of the land allotted by the UN to the Palestinians? Its 1967 borders which expanded to include Gaza taken from Egypt, the West Bank taken from Jordan and the Golan Heights taken from Syria? Or its 1982 borders that further extended into southern Lebanon despite UN Security Council Resolution 242, which emphasizes "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war"?

Human Rights Violations

Added to this is the Vatican's concern about Israel's inhumane treatment of the 1.8 million Palestinian Christians and Muslims who live in Gaza and the West Bank. These women, children and men have been deliberately and systematically deprived of their human rights for almost 25 years, despite numerous condemnations issued by the UN Security Counil, Amnesty International, and other human rights organizations from around the world. Since the start of the popular uprising against the occupation began in December 1987, Israeli Defense Forces and Jewish settlers have killed more than 1,000 unarmed Palestinian civilians (one-fourth under the age of 16) and caused more than 100,000 casualties by mean of bullets, beatings and gassings.

A third reason for the Vatican's reluctance to initiate formal ties with Israel is the lack of clarity regarding the status of Jerusalem, a city sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. In June 1980, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 476 opposing Israeli practices in Jerusalem, charging the Israeli government with changing the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure and the status of the Holy City in violation of international law, which prohibits an occupying power from altering the character of territory under its control. Israel chose to disregard world opinion when, in July 1980, it annexed Jerusalem as its "eternal capital" while insisting that this move would protect access to the city for all.

Christianity is being threatened with extinction in the birthplace of its Palestinian founder.

The leaders of three major Christian churches whom I interviewed in Jerusalem last summer challenged this claim, as they described the negative impact occupation policies were having on local non-Jewish communities. "What the Israeli government wants to preserve is the city of Jerusalem, not its native Christian inhabitants who are being deliberately driven out by heavy taxes, confiscation of property, the closing of Palestinian universities and pervasive discrimination in employment," said one churchman. This explains why these religious leaders are asking people to visit the Holy Land not as tourist coming to see the dead stones and shrines, but as pilgrims willing to meet the "living stones"-the Palestinian Christian community that has been under siege for more than 20 years.

In 1967, when Israel occupied Jerusalem, there were 14,000 Christians living there. Today, there are fewer than 10,000 Christians remaining and it is estimated that in five years there will be fewer than 7,000 Christians in Jerusalem if the current trend continues unabated. Yes, West Bank Palestinians had suffered under Jordanian occupation between 1948 and 1967, but no occupier, not even the Ottoman Turks who ruled Palestine for 400 years, had sought to alter the demography of the area as has Israel. As it stands now, Christianity is being threatened with extinction in the birthplace of its Palestinian founder.

Vatican diplomacy evolves around three major religious concerns: a) preserving the faith, b) promoting human rights, and c) providing moral guidelines on social justice. In light of what is happening in the occupied territories, Rome would be sending the wrong signal by offering to have full diplomatic ties at this time. For it is the view of the Catholic church that "the two peoples [Palestinians and Jews] have an identical, fundamental right to have their own homeland in which they live in freedom, dignity, and security in harmony with their neighbors" (Osservatore Romano, Dec. 23, 1988).

"Once the Palestinian situation has been resolved, formal Vatican recognition will be no problem. The Holy See wants an internationally recognized solution," said Msgr. D. Causero, the Vatican permanent observer to the UN World Health Organization in a May 14, 1990 interview in Geneva. It seems, then, that the only remaining obstacle to diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican is Israel's reluctance to negotiate the Palestinian claim to a homeland. The peace process begun in Madrid seems to provide Israel with the opportunity to remedy this unfortunate impasse.

Dr. Judith G. Martin, SSJ, is professor of world religions at the University of Dayton. An earlier version of this article appeared in America, 106 W. 56th St., New York, NY 10019. Reprinted with permission.