Poland and Palestine 'affinities' stressed

STATEMENTS on the Palestinian problem by Pope John Paul II give "a certain personal, dynamic moral support of special significance" to Palestinian rights, a Jesuit specialist on Middle East affairs has told a United Nations seminar.
Jesuit Father Joseph L. Ryan, spoke on "Resonances in the Life and Themes of Pope John Paul II" at a U.N. seminar on Palestinian rights requested by the U.N. General Assembly last December. From 1973 to 1975, Father Ryan was president of Americans for Justice in the Middle East, an organisation with headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon.
Father Ryan cited a Vatican communique issued after Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir visited the Pope in January. "The Holy Father said an effective contribution will have been made" to a resolution of the Paletinian problem "when the Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip see that they may enjoy a serene condition in fcullb respect for all their righls," the C011111111IliqUe said. Topics on \A, hich the Pope has spoken out. such as human rights, self-determination, culture, oppression under the pretext of security. violence and refugees "reflect the personal experience of the Pope and. as well, of the Palestinian people," Father Ryan said.
The Jesuit said the present Pope has brought to the Vatican "the enormous experience of his people, 1,000 years old, but having suffered under the political and military harassments of its more powerful neighbours." He said the Pope brought with him also "his personal experience from Cracow, in its suffering under two occupation armies." The Pope was Archbishop of Cracow. Poland, before his election to the papacy.
"Some affinities between Poland and Palestine are remarkable," Father Ryan said. "A pope like John Paul II can readily look at the Palestinian struggles with a deep sympathy, while a Palestinian, reflecting on the Polish suffering. cannot fail to be stria gy nurfterous corn
rarisotls.".