His Holiness Patriarch Alexy meets with the Hamas party delegation

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia met with Haled Mashaal, leader of the Political Bureau of the Hamas party, which has won the democratic elections in Palestine, on March 5, 2006, at the patriarchal working residence in Chisty Pereulok.

Participating in the meeting from the Palestinian side were also Palestinian Ambassador in Moscow Baker Abdel Munem, as well as Mussa Abu Marzuk, Said Siyam, Muhammed Hazzal, Sami Hater, Izzat Rashq, and Muhammed al-Hatyb, members of the Hamas Political Bureau.

Participating in the meeting from the Russian side were also Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, O. Ozerov, deputy director of the Foreign Office department for the Middle East and Central Asia, and a. Lokmanov, a second secretary of this department.

His Holiness welcomed the delegation, noting that the Russian Orthodox Church had good traditions of friendly relations with the Palestinian authorities and expressed hope that these traditions would continue.

‘Your native land, Palestine, has always been a cherished holy place for Russian people. From of old, our ancestors sought to visit the Holy Land, which retains the memory of the biblical times and is filled with shrines held dear by every Christian. The Russian State and our people sought with special assiduity to contribute to the good development of the Holy Land, and to this day there are many places in Palestine associated with the history of Russian Orthodoxy, especially the monasteries in Hebron and Jericho,’ His Holiness said.

The Holy Land has always been a meeting place for the three Abrahamic religions, a place for dialogue between Christians and Muslims, the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church remarked. ‘It is important that this dialogue should continue, so that Christians may occupy an appropriate place in the life of the Palestinian Autonomy and participate in political and public life’, His Holiness said.

His Holiness reminded his guests that the Russian Church consistently advocated a just settlement of the Middle East conflict taking into account the interests of all sides. He said, ‘We have always supported the UN resolutions prescribing the establishment of two states in this territory and the aspirations of the Palestinians for a speedy establishment of an independent state’.

There is no alternative to peaceful dialogue, and the peace process should continue in any situation, Patriarch Alexy insisted. He underlined that it was necessary to break the vicious circle of violence and not to place responsibility for the actions of particular politicians on whole nations. It should be remembered that no goal justifies the killing of civilians, especially children.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed hope that Russia would continue active involvement in the process of settlement in the Middle East, underlining that the traditionally good relations with the Arab world and the peoples of Palestine would contribute to it.

As Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsk reported after the meeting, the fact that the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church received representatives of the party that won the election in Palestine was a gesture of respect for the Palestinian people with whom the Church has always had good relations.

Bishop Mark described as symbolic the fact that it was on the Sunday of Forgiveness that His Holiness Patriarch Alexy called for an end of violence in the Holy Land and for reconciliation and forgiveness.

In the course of preparations for the visit of the Palestinian delegation to Russia, Palestinian representatives expressed a persistent desire to meet the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, since the Palestinians regard Russian Orthodoxy as a religion of peace. During the meeting, the guests spoke of relations between Christianity and Islam in the Holy Land and expressed hope that these relations would continue developing and that Christians would continue active involvement in the life of the Palestinian people.