PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

PLO Executive Committee
Department of Culture and Information

May 14, 2015

Dr. Ashrawi on the upgrading of relations between the Vatican and the State of Palestine

PLO Executive Committee member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi stated:

“On behalf of the Palestinian leadership and people, we welcome the upcoming signing of an agreement between the Vatican and the State of Palestine as a step towards the recognition of the State of Palestine and view it as a genuine contribution to peace and justice.  The significance of this decision goes beyond the political and legal into the symbolic and moral domains and sends a message to all people of conscience that the Palestinian people deserve the right to self-determination, formal recognition, freedom, and statehood.

This move gains an added significance in the context of the canonization of the two 19th century Palestinian nuns, Sister Marie Alphonsine Ghattas from Jerusalem and Sister Mariam Bawardy from Ibilin village in the Galilee, by His Holiness Pope Francis on May 17; this points to the long-standing relationship between the Vatican and the Palestinians, and it is an affirmation of Palestinian identity, culture and narrative in Palestine as the Holy Land.

We are extremely encouraged and appreciative of this courageous and moral stand, and it is our hope that those countries that have not yet recognized Palestine will do so in the immediate future.”