Opinion on the New Vatican Treaty Recognizing the state of Palestine

Opinion on the New Vatican Treaty Recognizing the ‘state of Palestine’

By E. Stanley Ukeni

On Wednesday, May 13^th 2015, news broke that the Vatican has officially ratified a treaty that officially recognizes the state of Palestine. That caught my attention, as an interesting development worthy of further pondering, and intense analysis. My interest is primarily born of my knowledge that this piece of territory is of historic and spiritual significance to three major religions of our world. As I read the news story, I was particularly interested in the reactions of diverse groups—who holds varied opinions on the prospect of a Palestinian statehood, to this intriguing diplomatic initiative by the Hold See.

Expectedly, the bold diplomatic move by the Vatican immediately drew the ire of the detractors of the Holy See, and the guarded condemnation of supporters of the Jewish State of Israel—many of whom are expressing the opinion that the new treaty would hurt the prospects of peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians rather than help the peace process. Well, the jury is still out on that theory. We hope to God that they are wrong in that analysis of this move being an impediment to peace in the Middle East. Nobody wants any more bloodshed in that already volatile region of our world. Any astute observer of world events knows that the need for peace in our world is more urgent now more than ever before in our recent history. 

It is quite understandable that supporters of the Jewish State, like The American Jewish Committee and The Anti-Defamation League, would be averse to this bilateral treaty between the Vatican and the Palestinian leadership. However, their opposition to the Vatican’s diplomatic initiative to ratify does not in any way diminish the constructive roles they’ve played in advancing peace in the Middle East, and around the world.

I am sure that there are political pundits—within and outside the corridors of power in the United States, who would soon be advancing the flawed hypothesis that this Vatican move is a sign of a broader European strategy to wrestle the initiative of the stalled United States-led efforts to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian deal on the terms of Palestinian statehood. Some of these political commentators might even go as far as speculating that other European Union countries with United Nations voting rights, may soon follow the lead of the Vatican and recognize the state of Palestine—a move that would put intense diplomatic pressure on the Israeli government to return to the negotiating table. However, there is no real evidence to suggest that this is the case here.

To be honest, I will not be the least bit surprised to hear messianic religious commentators assign apocalyptic significance to this Vatican diplomatic move. But nothing can be further from the truth. There is no messianic conspiratorial theory to be had here period. So, don’t even go there. This is in no way a conspiracy against Israel or the Jewish people. It is purely a political decision, aimed at primarily advancing the interests of the Catholic Church in the Holy land.  

This development is purely a political maneuver to ensure that Christians the world over continue to enjoy unfettered access to the many Christian historic and religious site within the Palestinian territory. Indeed this treaty, which primarily concerns traditional and spiritual interests of the Catholic Church in the Palestinian Territory, is a very symbolic political initiative that unambiguously indicates that the Holy See has altered its strategic diplomatic position on the viability of a Palestinian State.

However, it is worth noting that has long embraced the idea of a Palestinian state since the 2012 United Nations’ general assembly vote recognized Palestine as a state—with non-member observer status, and have since then referred to the official Vatican representative of the Palestinian government as the representative of the State of Palestine, in its annual directory. In essence, while this will be the first time the Roman Catholic Church have entered into a treaty with the state of Palestine, the Vatican has unofficially recognized the State since February of 2013.  

I suggest that this treaty be viewed from the prism of the Vatican’s important global political status as the widely accepted moral conscience of the world—a status which derives its impetus from the spiritual eminence of the Holy See. This important moral status, I believe, informs the Vatican’s fundamental intention to advance Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation through this diplomatic recognition of the state of Palestine.

As the Palestinians celebrate this important treaty as a strategic victory in their long quest for international recognition as a sovereign people, they must collectively begin to eschew violence as a legitimate and viable instrument of their struggle for self-determination. They should rather, embrace the path of none violent struggle as the only viable means of realizing their deep aspiration for an independent Palestinian homeland that exists side by side, and at peace with the State of Israel .

Authored by E. Stanley Ukeni, ©2015. All Rights Reserved.

Photo courtesy of the Vatican