Efforts to bring peace to the Holy Land have failed, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem said on Tuesday in a sombre Christmas message."Our dreams for a reconciled Holy Land seem to be utopia," said Fuad Twal, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land.
"Despite the praiseworthy efforts of politicians and men of goodwill to find a solution to the ongoing conflict, all of us, Palestinians and Israelis, have failed in achieving peace."
Twal said this was particularly disappointing in a year that Pope Benedict XVI had visited the region.
"Spiritually (the visit) gave us more hope, but on the ground nothing changed till now," he told reporters in his headquarters in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Twal singled out the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, a siege maintained on the Hamas-run Gaza strip and clashes in Jerusalem.
"Palestinians still do not have their own state where they can live in peace and harmony with their Israeli neighbours," he said.
Nevertheless, he urged the faithful not to give up hope.
"Hope means not giving into evil but standing up to it," he said. That was a quote from a recent statement by Palestinian Christian leaders who called for an end to the Israeli occupation and accused Christian Zionist groups of misusing Christian theology to justify Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
"In the Holy Land everything is not desperate," Twal added.
A recent Israeli move to limit settlement building and ease restrictions on Palestinians had led to an improved economic situation for the Palestinians.
"It is not enough, but a step forward," he said."On the other hand Palestinians are more and more expressing resistance in a non-violent fashion. It is a positive sign pointing in the right direction."
Twal also singled out an increase of pilgrims to the Holy Land.
Born into a Bedouin Christian tribe in Jordan in 1949, Twal was enthroned last year as the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, the title given to the Latin rite Roman Catholic archbishop of Israel and Palestine.
The patriarch urged his followers to work for peace in the Christmas season.
"The best gift we seek, above money and wealth, is peace. It is the wish of all the inhabitants of this land, Israelis and Palestinians alike. Peace is a gift of God for men of good will; we have to deserve it."
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SIC: AFP