Abbas Awarded Russian Orthodox Prize
Date : 21/1/2012 Time : 17:56
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18758
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MOSCOW, January 21, 2012 (WAFA) – Russian Patriarch Kirill Saturday awarded
President Mahmoud Abbas the Orthodox People’s Unity Foundation prize, also
known as Patriarch Alexis II prize.

Abbas thanked Kirill for the prize, which he said is a proof of the close
ties between Palestine and the people of Russia.

“For me, this prize is a motivation to continue on the path to spread the
culture of peace and dialogue between religions and civilizations instead of
the culture of hate and violence, and to support tolerance and accept the
other instead of bigotry and denial of the other,” he said.

Abbas said that efforts to bring peace to the Middle East and to build the
independent Palestinian state alongside Israel are continuing, but “these
efforts are still facing Israeli government obstinacy.”

Kirill, on his part, praised Abbas for “safeguarding religious peace,” for
upholding Russian-Palestinian friendship and for facilitating Russian
pilgrimage to the Holy Land, saying he looks forward for the time the
Palestinians will have their own independent state, according to the Russian
news agency TASS.

Abbas decided to donate the money from the prize to support Palestinian
students studying in Russian universities.

M.S.