A member of the Vatican delegation to the recent “Habitat” conference in Vancouver said today that the Holy See supported “Habitat’s” Declaration of Principals adopted at the closing session last week even though it was rejected by 15 Western countries, including the United States, because of its anti-Israel political implications.
The Declaration did not refer to Israel or the Middle East conflict directly. But it contained a reference to “all forms of racial discrimination” mentioned in resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. This obviously included the Assembly’s resolution of last November defining Zionism as a form of racism.
But Molly Boucher, vice-president of the Board of Canadian Catholic Organizations for Development and Peace, who was a member of the Vatican delegation at the “Habitat” conference, told newsmen, “We did not agree with the interpretation that some place on that paragraph. It could be construed as being anti-Zionist or anti-Jewish but was not specifically so.” Therefore, she said, the Holy See did not consider it was anti-Jewish by supporting the Declaration.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
