Is this a scam at Phuket arrivals?

[webfact]

Mideast needs two-state solution, Pope says in Christmas message

By Philip Pullella

 

Pope Francis waves as he leads the "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican December 25, 2017. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

 

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis used his Christmas message on Monday to call for a negotiated two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after U.S. President Donald Trump stoked regional tensions with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

 

Francis spoke of the Middle East conflict and other world flashpoints in his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) address, four days after more than 120 countries backed a U.N. resolution urging the United States to reverse its decision on Jerusalem.

 

"Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states within mutually agreed and internationally recognised borders," he said, referring to the Israelis and Palestinians.

 

"We see Jesus in the children of the Middle East who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians," he said in his address, delivered from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to tens of thousands of people.

 

It was the second time that the pope has spoken out publicly about Jerusalem since Trump's decision on Dec. 6. On that day, Francis called for the city's "status quo" to be respected, lest new tensions in the Middle East further inflame world conflicts.

 

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state, whereas Israel has declared the whole city to be its "united and eternal" capital.

 

Francis, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, urged people to see the defenceless baby Jesus in the children who suffer the most from war, migration and natural calamities caused by man today.

 

"Today, as the winds of war are blowing in our world ... Christmas invites us to focus on the sign of the child and to recognise him in the faces of little children, especially those for whom, like Jesus, 'there is no place in the inn,'" he said.

 

OPEN HEARTS FOR REFUGEES

 

Francis, celebrating the fifth Christmas of his pontificate, said he had seen Jesus in the children he met during his recent trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh, and he called for adequate protection of the dignity of minority groups in that region.

 

More than 600,000 Muslim Rohingya people have fled mainly Buddhist Myanmar to Bangladesh in recent months. The pope had to tread a delicate diplomatic line during his visit, avoiding the word "Rohingya" while in Myanmar, which does not recognise them as a minority group, though he used the term when in Bangladesh.

 

"Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed and how hard it is not to have a place to lay one’s head. May our hearts not be closed as they were in the homes of Bethlehem," he said.

 

He also urged the world to see Jesus in the innocent children suffering from wars in Syria and Iraq and also in Yemen, complaining that its people had been "largely forgotten, with serious humanitarian implications for its people, who suffer from hunger and the spread of diseases".

 

He also listed conflicts affecting children in South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Ukraine and Venezuela.

 

At his Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday, Francis strongly defended immigrants, comparing them to Mary and Joseph finding no place to stay in Bethlehem and saying faith demands that foreigners be welcomed.

 

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-26

[ezzra]

I wish the Pop will keep his opinions to himself just like he did on the

Rohingya people when he visited Burma recently,

the Palestinians and the Arab world in general doesn't want peace with

Israel, isn't goes against their image of the eternal refuges and for ever in

needs of billions of dollars in aids from the world's community,

A state of Palestine can't really function as a sovereign country because

it uses all most all it's infrastructure supports from Israel, and as long as

there're Palestinians and other Arabs who are full of loathing and hate and

 sworn to the destruction of Israel, this idea of two states is a bad

idea right now....

 

[quandow]

The Pope should ask for peace but stay OUT of the details. This conflict is older than his church. Just keep praying, handing out juice and crackers, and passing the collection plate.

[Morch]

3 hours ago, quandow said:

The Pope should ask for peace but stay OUT of the details. This conflict is older than his church. Just keep praying, handing out juice and crackers, and passing the collection plate.

 

The conflict it "older than his church" how?

[Morch]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

I wish the Pop will keep his opinions to himself just like he did on the Rohingya people when he visited Burma recently,

the Palestinians and the Arab world in general doesn't want peace with Israel, isn't goes against their image of the eternal refuges and for ever in needs of billions of dollars in aids from the world's community, A state of Palestine can't really function as a sovereign country because it uses all most all it's  infrastructure supports from Israel, and as long as there're Palestinians and other Arabs who are full of loathing and hate and  sworn to the destruction of Israel, this idea of two states is a bad idea right now....

 

 

Other than the liberally applied wide brush nonsense - what is the point? That the Pope's supposed failure to adequately address one issue should be replicated? And as for the gem of "this idea of two states is a bad idea right now" - a bit of a chicken and egg argument there.

[Scott]

A post violating Fair Use policy has been removed.  

[pegman]

The two state solution train has left the station. It was doable for a time but the biased Americans pretending to be honest brokers blow that. One democratic state is the only non-apartheid option left. 

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, ezzra said:

I wish the Pop will keep his opinions to himself

A Head of State is entitled to his opinion.

Just as Trump.

[Morch]

5 hours ago, pegman said:

The two state solution train has left the station. It was doable for a time but the biased Americans pretending to be honest brokers blow that. One democratic state is the only non-apartheid option left. 

 

Or so says poster, without a whole lot by way of substantiation. Whether or not the two-state solution is realistic or viable is not necessarily dependent on the USA. As for the "only option" pushed, perhaps it would be prudent to have some sort of grasp on reality, and therefore the likelihood of such bringing about anything resembling a peaceful solution.

[JemJem]

I honestly don't see any solution for this issue. Well, maybe many many many years later ?

[quandow]

23 hours ago, Morch said:

 

The conflict it "older than his church" how?

Is your Google broken?  Look it up. The Middle East conflict predates the Catholic church.

[Morch]

45 minutes ago, quandow said:

Is your Google broken?  Look it up. The Middle East conflict predates the Catholic church.

 

My Google is just fine, as I bother it much to check nonsense. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not predate the Catholic Church.

[pegman]

On December 26, 2017 at 5:55 AM, Morch said:

 

Or so says poster, without a whole lot by way of substantiation. Whether or not the two-state solution is realistic or viable is not necessarily dependent on the USA. As for the "only option" pushed, perhaps it would be prudent to have some sort of grasp on reality, and therefore the likelihood of such bringing about anything resembling a peaceful solution.

It's sure as hell dependent on  the American's $4.1b of aid per year in support of its apartheid regime. This sort of situation has been resolved in the not so distant past. South Africa became a democratic state but only after a consented effect to isolate it by the non-American/Brit/Israeli world. 

[Morch]

12 hours ago, pegman said:

It's sure as hell dependent on  the American's $4.1b of aid per year in support of its apartheid regime. This sort of situation has been resolved in the not so distant past. South Africa became a democratic state but only after a consented effect to isolate it by the non-American/Brit/Israeli world. 

 

Apart from the usual factual issues with your post (US aid to Israel is lower, Israel not being an Apartheid regime, and sanctions being less instrumental with regard to change in SA) - it does not actually pertain to the question raised.

 

Other than posting yet another I-don't-like-Israel bit, there is nothing in the above which coherently explains why a two-state solution is dependent on USA support or involvement. There is nothing in it that addresses the accountability of both sides to the current state of things, and there's nothing which references the likely outcomes of the "only option" pushed.