4-5 minutes
During the trip, the Prince of Wales visited the grave of his late
grandmother Princess Alice as well as many of the holy Christian and
Muslim sites.
On his two-day junket in the Middle East, Prince Charles went on a tour
through the Palestinian territories in the West Bank for the first time
in his life Friday.
During the trip, the Prince of Wales visited the grave of his late
grandmother Princess Alice as well as many of the holy Christian and
Muslim sites spread across the West Bank including the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem known to be the birthplace of Jesus - the day
before he addressed leaders at the World Holocaust Forum.
His grandmother was honored for her humanitarian efforts in
Nazi-occupied Athens during World War II, sheltering scores of Jewish
refugees from persecution, in which she was eventually named Righteous
Among the Nations by Israel's Holocaust memorial association. She was
buried near her aunt at the Church of Mary Magdalene in the Old City.
During the visit to her grave, the Prince added that he has "long drawn
inspiration from the selfless actions of [his] dear grandmother."
Additionally, he toured the Mosque of Omar located opposite of the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old
City, named after the Caliph Omar who conquered Jerusalem in 637 and
after taking the city, decreed that Christians would still able to
practice their religion freely after Patriarch Sophronius' amiability
and refinement influenced the ancient Muslim leader.
While visiting the Palestinian territories, the Prince of Wales also met
with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his official residence to
discuss the onset of the proposal for the United States peace plan
regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to WAFA, Abbas
thanked the United Kingdom “for its assistance to the Palestinian people
in building state institutions, as well as its assistance to the UNRWA,
and for accepting the two-state solution and rejecting the US-led “deal
of the century."
“Our hope in the near future is that Britain recognizes the State of
Palestine, because we’ve heard that the British Parliament recommended
this to the government. So we hope that this will happen,” Prince
Charles said according to WAFA, adding that the Prince of Wales praised
“the historical Palestinian-British relations and said he looks forward
to achieving just peace in the region.”
During a speech in Bethlehem Prince Charles explained that it would be
his "dearest wish" if everlasting "freedom, justice and equality" could
be bestowed upon the Palestinian people in the near future, attaching
that he was "struck by the energy, warmth and remarkable generosity" he
received by the residents despite the plights they face daily, adding
that Bethlehem embodies the "vital co-existence between Christians and
Muslims."
"No-one arriving in Bethlehem today could miss the signs of continued
hardship and the situation you face, and I can only join you, and all
communities, in your prayers for a just and lasting peace," Prince
Charles said at a speech in Bethlehem, according to the BBC.
"We must pursue this cause with faith and determination, striving to heal the wounds which have caused such pain."
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