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View Full Version : Pope risks more Israeli wrath as he calls for Palestinian state on visit to West Bank



Beorn
05-13-2009, 04:01 PM
Pope risks more Israeli wrath as he calls for Palestinian state on visit to West Bank


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The Pope provoked further controversy on his visit to the Middle East today as he called for a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict.
Benedict, speaking on a tour of the West Bank, called for a 'just and lasting' peace to put an end to the decades-old conflict.
He has already angered many Israelis after his spokesman claimed he had never been in the Hitler Youth.

The statement directly contradicted the Pope's own admission of his involvement with the organisation.
And it did nothing to damp down accusations the Pontiff comments at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem had been 'inadequate'.
His words today came on a visit to Bethlehem, the town of Jesus's birth, where he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,

'I know how much you have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of the turmoil that has afflicted this land for decades,' he told his audience.
'My heart goes out to all the families who have lost so much.'

He added that he would visit a refugee camp for families who fled what is now Israel at its founding in 1948.
Addressing Abbas, he said: 'Mr President, the Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with your neighbours, within internationally recognised borders.'
Abbas, who like most Palestinians is Muslim, described the hardships faced by his people, including tens of thousands of Christians.

He said: 'In this holy land there are those who continue to build separation walls instead of bridges, and who try with occupation forces to compel Christians and Muslims alike to leave the country, so that the holy places turn into mere archaeological sites, rather than living places of worship.'

Thousands of Christians from Bethlehem have gone abroad since a Palestinian uprising in the years after 2000 saw an Israeli security clampdown and construction of the barrier that runs through and around the West Bank, restricting movement.
'All types of oppression, tyranny and land expropriation are being exercised against all Arab citizens, Christian and Muslims,' Abbas told the pope.

Acknowledging Israel's security concerns, Benedict said: 'It is my earnest hope that the serious concerns involving security in Israel and the Palestinian territories will soon be allayed sufficiently to allow greater freedom of movement.'

He urged people not to 'resort ... to terrorism'.

The pope will later visit the Church of the Nativity, built over the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born in a manger.
He will say mass in Manger Square outside and also visit a refugee camp where residents hope he will see and comment on the towering wall Israeli forces have built next to it.
Benedict was on the third day of his visit to the Holy Land , a hugely-sensitive tour of the Holy Land has been dogged by controversy.

In his speech at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, he said that the cries of Jewish victims 'still echoed in our hearts'.
Reuven Rivlin, speaker of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, said this was inadequate considering the Pope's activities in the Second World War.
It was while defending Benedict from this attack that Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi made his bizarre outburst.

He said the Pope had been a member of the anti-aircraft units that many youths were drafted into in the last two years of the war but had not been in the Hitler Youth.
'The Pope was never in the Hitler Youth, never, never, never,' he insisted.
Mr Rivlin described the Pope as a ' German who joined the Hitler Youth and... a person who joined Hitler's army'.
He added: 'The Pope spoke like a historian, as somebody observing from the sidelines, about things that shouldn't happen. But what can you do?
'He was part of them. We cannot ignore the baggage he carries with him.'

Israeli newspapers were filled with criticism of the Pope, with survivors saying he should have apologised on Monday for 'Catholic indifference' toward Jews.:rolleyes:
In Salt Of The Earth, a 1996 book of autobiographical and religious reflections, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said he was automatically enrolled into the Hitler Youth.

Asked if he had been a member, he said: 'At first we weren't, but when the compulsory Hitler Youth was introduced in 1941, my brother was obliged to join.
'I was still too young, but later, as a seminarian, I was registered in the HY. As soon as I was out of the seminary, I never went back.'
He said he served on anti-aircraft batteries and was conscripted into the German infantry late in the war.

Last night, Damian Thompson, editor-in-chief of the Catholic Herald, said: 'The Pope's brief and enforced membership of the Hitler Youth is a matter of historical record.
'Lombardi's comments simply beggar belief. He should immediately be sent packing to an obscure country parish, where no doubt he will announce the wrong times of mass in the newsletter.'

Last night Father Lombardi revised his initial statements to say: 'He [the Pope] was enrolled involuntarily into the Hitler Youth but he had no active participation.'Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1180053/Pope-risks-Israeli-wrath-calls-Palestinian-state-visit-West-Bank.html)