The Gateway to the East

Speaking to AsiaNews, the former ambassador of Palestine to the UN draws a parallel between the war in Gaza and the exodus of 1948. Today the Palestinians "have learnt their lesson" and know that if they leave, "there will be no return". Israel uses its “special status” to strike with impunity, but “all this won’t work”. A duplicitous United States condemns raids against civilians but supplies weapons.

Speaking to AsiaNews, the Custos of the Holy Land describes a surreal feeling, with something “looming" from Iran. Israel’s nationalist-religious leaders are fuelling the conflict, while Israeli civil society is unable to find a political response. Defending Christian-owned land and property is essential for the future.

The killing of children in a football pitch in the Golan Heights has put the spotlight back on the Druze, who are divided by a border never recognised after the 1967 war. Lebanon has asked the UN to open an independent investigation into the incident. Lebanon’s Druze community warns against attempts by Israel to split from its Arab identity and exploit the tragedy to sow discord with Shias.

At the end of three days of talks involving Hamas, Fatah and 12 other groups, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced today an agreement for an "interim national unity government" in post-war Gaza. But the official Palestinian News Agency makes no mention of this in reporting the deal. Meanwhile, the United States, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates are once again talking to each other about an international mission with a role for the latter in Gaza.

A Baha'i researcher under arrest and three Baha'is convicted are the latest examples of sectarian persecution. The president-elect has Azerbaijani and Kurdish roots, and one of the first steps he took was to meet religious leaders. For Turkey’s Erdogan, he will improve relations because he "speaks Turkish". For others, the focus on dignity is just propaganda. The world is waiting to see who will be the next foreign minister.

Despite denials by the Jewish State, the use in raids against Hezbollah, especially against civilian targets and farmland, has been documented by pro-human rights associations and observers on the ground. The Land of the Cedars is ready to lodge a complaint with the United Nations. Amnesty International speaks of ‘appalling’ attacks that cause serious damage to the environment.

The murder of a headmaster at the hands of a minor sparks controversy. The shooter was a student who wanted ‘revenge’ for his expulsion. Pro-government unions (also) go on strike. Fr. Monge: education is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’. The four Akp reforms have overturned secular and scientific education. Erdogan's ‘nemesis’ and the rise of Imamoglu.

Fr Bahjat Karakach, a Franciscan, talks about the difficult situation in the battered city after 13 years of war, a powerful earthquake, and the Gaza War. With inflation and rents skyrocketing, people survive with “remittances from relatives abroad.” The parish is involved in various projects in neighbourhoods once occupied by militias where poverty and degradation are high. The Church today is "a light in the midst of darkness.”

The hostages in the hands of Hamas, but also the starving civilians in the Strip and the victims of settler violence, in the prayer published in Israel by Rabbi Arik Ascherman - of the 'Torah of Justice' movement - on the evening when Jews celebrate through the rite of the seder the liberation from Egypt. "It is all too easy to become oppressed and oppressor at the same time. Stay with us, so that our fears do not become our masters".

The vicar of Aleppo expresses concerns after yesterday’s raid against the Iranian embassy in Damascus that killed General Mohammad Reza Zahedi. “Here too we have counted 35 dead in an attack that seems to have been coordinated with the rebels and terrorists who control Idlib,” said the prelate who thanks Pope Francis for citing Syria’s suffering in his Easter message. To survive, “people are constantly looking for a piece of bread,” said Maronite Archbishop Nassar.

For Fr Romanelli, "something is moving" in the quagmire of international diplomacy, but an "effective" truce and "humanitarian aid" are needed. Yesterday's UN vote is a positive step, but it must be accompanied by the delivery of food and medicine and the stop of the invasion of southern Gaza. This year’s Holy Week celebrations are a mixture of “bitterness and joy”.

The autonomous region is expected to go to the polls on 10 June in a vote postponed several times due to disagreements between the min Kurdish parties. A ruling by Iraq's Federal Supreme Court is causing chaos after it abolished minority quota seats. Both the Chaldean patriarch and the Shura Council of Kurdistan have criticised the court’s ruling, which puts at risk the crucial, yet fragile balance exists between various groups.