LifeSiteNews has exclusively obtained a statement from the Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem, Monsignor William Shomali, relating to President Trump’s statements on the United States taking “ownership” of Gaza. The statements were made during a joint press conference on Monday with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.

Below is a video of John Henry Westen reading Bishop Shomali’s statement, and beneath that is a series of interviews that various expert commentators gave to Judge Andrew Napolitano on the Trump announcement. Finally, at the bottom, is an AI-generated summary of Monsignor Shomali’s statement.¹

It is the editorial policy of this website to praise what ought to be praised, and to criticize what ought to be criticized in this new administration. There is much to praise, but we are not cheerleaders for the administration, and no Catholic should carry water for what is morally wrong, as this plan for US participation in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza clearly is.

What will happen to Gaza’s Holy Family Parish? It is a Catholic parish with a school and an adjacent convent. Will some contrived “eminent domain” doctrine allow a Trump acolyte to put a real-estate development on ecclesiastical property — property that exists for the spiritual good of the Catholics there? Property that is a refuge for beleaguered Palestinians who are Catholic and non-Catholic alike?

Many of the commentators that Judge Napolitano interviewed do not believe that there is any intention to put US boots on the ground in Gaza. That is good. But what some fear — I am thinking principally of  Aaron Maté (who, like Max Blumenthal, is a Jew) — is that this is simply Mr. Trump giving a pass to Bibi to continue the slaughter while the world keeps it eyes focused on the outlandish nature of the Trump proposal.

Who knows? At any rate, the proposal is, at face value, illegal and immoral, and must be condemned as such (see The United States Must Never Be Complicit In Ethnic Cleansing).

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Here are the other commentators who are worth listening to.

COL. Douglas Macgregor: Can the US Own Gaza?

Aaron Maté: Does Trump Understand Gaza?

Max Blumenthal: GAZA Treachery:

Matt Hoh: Trump and Gaza:

Phil Giraldi: A War Criminal Visits the White House:

Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem Condemns Trump’s Gaza Remarks

Responding to Trump’s remarks about a U.S. takeover of Gaza, Monsignor William Shomali said in a statement to LifeSiteNews, ‘The idea of displacing a people against their will and forcing another state to absorb them is unacceptable.’

Here is the AI summary of the Bishop’s full statement:

• Displacing a people against their will and forcing another state to absorb them is unacceptable.
• People have the right and freedom to live on their own land without being forcibly displaced.
• Egypt and Jordan have strongly opposed absorbing a massive influx of Palestinians, citing the impracticality of hosting over two million people.
• While vulnerable groups like the elderly and sick may be helped, large-scale population displacement is not a solution.
• Any decision regarding this issue must be a free and mutual agreement between both sides, which is currently not the case.
• Trump’s announcement about Gaza’s future was shocking, as it ignored UN resolutions and the Two Peoples: Two State solution.
• Trump views a Palestinian state as unrealistic and seems to overstep the United Nations’ role as the decision-maker.
• A lasting solution to the conflict requires affirming the rights of both sides, not denying one people’s rights.
• The exchange of hostages and prisoners addresses symptoms of the conflict but not its root cause – the question of land ownership.
• Christian Palestinians, like others, would be deeply affected by displacement, as they were during the 1948 war, which forced many to leave their homeland.
• A ceasefire and a just resolution to the conflict are urgently needed.

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