Palestinian priests used their Sunday sermons to give their support to the Palestinians' push for official United Nations membership. The move comes ahead of planned efforts to call for a UN vote on Palestinian statehood this week, which has sparked wide divisions among Palestinians and has seen the Israeli government lash out over the demand. Retired Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, the first Palestinian to hold the post since the Crusades, was set to preach in a Roman Catholic Church in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. A joint statement by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran priests pledged their “support for the diplomatic efforts being deployed to win international recognition for the State of Palestine… on the June 1967 borders with Jerusalem as our capital.” Last week, Bishops in Palestine issued a statement calling for prayer and diplomatic efforts ahead of the planned vote on statehood, which is to be sent to the UN Security Council on Friday. “Palestinians and Israelis should exercise restraint, whatever the outcome of the vote at the United Nations,” the bishops said. “We call upon decision-makers and people of good will to do their utmost to achieve the long-awaited justice, peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.” Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appear to be for a showdown, with Abbas planning to demand membership for a Palestinian state and Netanyahu arguing against it. “Despite the pressures that we face, Palestine goes to the UN on the 23rd of this month to seek admission as a full member,” Abbas told Egyptian television on Wednesday. BM
