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Pope
makes video for AMIA bombing anniversary, calls Abbas and Peres about conflict
July 18, 2014 11:49am
ROME (JTA) – Pope Francis phoned Israeli and Palestinian leaders to urge an
end to fighting and made a video to mark the 20th anniversary of the AMIA
bombing. Francis personally called Israeli President Shimon Peres and
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday to urge peace. A Vatican statement
said Francis had made the calls “to share his very serious concerns regarding
the current situation of conflict involving in particular the Gaza Strip which,
in a climate of growing hostility, hatred and suffering for the two populations,
is claiming many victims and giving rise to a serious humanitarian emergency.”
Francis hosted Abbas and Peres at a prayer meeting for peace in the Vatican
garden June 8, a few days after he returned from a visit to the Holy Land.
In his phone calls, the Vatican statement said, the pope “reminded the
presidents, whom he considers to be men of peace and seekers of peace, of the
need to continue to pray and endeavor to ensure that all the interested parties
and those who hold political office at local and international level work to
bring an end to hostilities, making efforts to promote truce, peace and
reconciliation in the hearts of those involved.”
Meanwhile, Francis sent an unprecedented video message to Argentine Jews to mark
20 years since the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, where
he served as archbishop before becoming pope last year.
The video was made for Friday’s ceremonies in Buenos Aires marking the
anniversary of the bombing, Argentina’s worst terror attack, which left 85
dead. It was recorded at the Vatican two weeks ago by the pope’s friend
Claudio Epelman, the director of the Latin American Jewish Congress, on
Epelman’s smartphone. Francis expresses solidarity with the Argentine Jewish
community and calls for justice for victims of the attack.
“On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the tragedy at the AMIA, I would
like to express my solidarity with the Jewish community of Argentina and with
all the family members of the victims, be they Jews or Christians,” he said in
Spanish.
“Terrorism is lunacy. Terrorism’s only purpose is to kill. It does not build
anything, it only destroys,” Francis said. “For this reason, I stand side by
side with all those who have seen lives cut short, hopes destroyed, and ruin.
Today, together with my solidarity and my prayers for all the victims, comes my
desire for justice. May justice be done!”
Read more: http://www.jta.org/2014/07/18/news-opinion/world/pope-calls-peres-abbas-shares-video-commemorating-amia-bombing-1#ixzz386ptWZMN