Palestine thanks President for donation

by P. Krishnaswamy

Palestine’s Ambassador in Colombo Zuhair Mhzaid called upon the External Affairs Ministry on Wednesday to express the gratitude of the people for President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s US $ 1 million donation to the war-affected people of the Gaza strip, Acting Minister Neomal Perera told the Sunday Observer.

The Ambassador expressed delight that a long-time truce has been reached between Palestine and Israel ending the gruesome deaths, destruction and trauma of the people and they were optimistic that there will be no more clashes between the two countries, he said.

Commenting on Pope Francis’ scheduled visit he said that the visit of His Holiness in early January next year has been confirmed but his itinerary has not been intimated officially, he said.

The canonisation of Blessed Joseph Vass is due to take place during the Pope’s visit, he said. It would be a significant event for the entire region as it is most unlikely that the present generation will witness such an event in the foreseeable future, he said.

He said that the Pope’s itinerary will include a visit to the Madhu Church where millions had received the blessings of Our Lady of Madhu and that the Pope will see for himself the massive damage inflicted by LTTE terrorists on the church and its environs and the Government’s rehabilitation and renovation work.

When President Rajapaksa met the Pope in Rome prior to 2009 he had expressed concern over the church and its environs, the Acting Minister said.