THE Bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) have expressed their anguish over continuing violence in the Gaza Strip, involving Israelis and Palestinians, that have resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries—with children and women among the victims.A statement released by the Port-of-Spain-based Secretariat of the AEC said that the conflict in Gaza, “like that in Syria and Iraq, are an indictment on humanity and constitute a fundamental challenge to the whole of humanity…”
The AEC represents some two million Christians of the Catholic faith in the Caribbean Region, with Trinidad and Tobago, after Haiti, being the single largest diocese within the Caribbean Community.
The statement–the first to be issued by a leading representative religious organisation of the Caribbean–coincided with a fresh round of talks between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority that got underway on Sunday.
It followed a week after a second plea by the Caribbean Community for an end to the “hostilities and appalling bloodshed being caused by the bombardment, shelling and ground invasion…”
The AEC Bishops urged Caribbean Governments to “use their moral weight” in international fora, such as the United Nations, to press, for a start, “an extended ceasefire in Gaza and the provision of solid guarantees in support of negotiations for long-term peace in the area, including a process leading to citizenship for the millions of stateless Palestinians…”

(R.SINGH)