The top Roman Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land lamented the stalemate in Mideast peace efforts on in his annual pre-Christmas address Tuesday but said he still sees reason for hope.
In his annual pre-Christmas address, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal urged his followers not to give up, despite a deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that has extended for nearly three months.
"We suffer from the failure of direct peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," Twal said, but added, "This should not lead us to despair."
Twal, a Palestinian citizen of Jordan, noted that Palestinian firefighters helped battle a huge forest fire in northern Israel early this month. He called the effort a "very significant gesture" that could be "the beginning of a fruitful collaboration in the future, when peace is established in this troubled land."
President Barack Obama personally launched direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians in September, saying he hoped to broker a peace accord within a year.
The negotiations broke down just three weeks later with the expiration of a limited Israeli freeze on settlement construction. Palestinians say they will not return to negotiations unless Israel halts settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories they claim for a state.
Twal, speaking at the patriarchate's headquarters in Jerusalem's Old City, urged Europe to take a greater role in peace efforts. "This process is still a monopoly of the United States," he said.
Twal noted that a record 3.4 million tourists are visiting the Holy Land this year, many of them Christian pilgrims. He said he is grateful for "the fantastic solidarity" of Christians around the world with the Palestinian community.
"We are not alone, we are not abandoned, we are not forgotten," he said.
Christians make up a small minority in Israel and the Palestinian areas. Twal ministers to some 70,000 Catholics across Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Cyprus and Jordan.
Rev. David Neuhaus, vicar for the Hebrew-speaking Christian population in the Holy Land, said there are about 210,000 Christians living in Israel and the Palestinian territories. In addition, most of the 210,000 foreign workers are Christians, he said, along with "thousands" of illegal migrants who have fled hardship in Africa.
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