The Jewish Chronicle
Pope walks out of interfaith meeting
Pope Benedict reacts after a Palestinian cleric urged him to stop Israeli "crimes"
May 11, 2009 09:53
Pope Benedict reacts after a Palestinian cleric urged him to stop Israeli "crimes"
May 11, 2009 09:53Pope Benedict has walked out of an inter-faith meeting in Israel after a Palestinian cleric urged him to stop Israeli "crimes".
The incident came as he visits some of the holiest sites in Judaism and Islam as part of his Holy Land pilgrimage.
The Vatican has billed the trip as a spiritual, not political journey. But Palestinians are still looking to him to criticise Israeli restrictions on their freedom of movement and the ongoing occupation of Palestinian territory.
At one point, he walked out of an interfaith meeting when a Muslim cleric attacked Israeli policy in Jerusalem. Israel’s Chief Rabbinate later announced it was boycotting the forum until the cleric was banned.
The call was repeated again when Pope Benedict visited the Dome of the Rock, Islam’s third holiest site built on the vast stone platform that once housed the Jewish Temple.
Mohammed Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, told him: “We look forward for your holiness’s effective role in putting an end to the ongoing aggression against our people, our land, and our holy sites in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.”
The Pope will visit a Palestinian refugee camp tomorrow as the residents prepare to mark Naqba, or Catastrophe, Day, known to Israelis as Independence Day.
Fending off attempts to drag him into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Pope has filled his speeches with neutral, religious references to peace, justice and security, and called for reconciliation between all faiths in a city divided by religious and nationalist enmity.
“Here, the path of the world’s three great monotheistic religions meet, reminding us what they share in common,” he said as he became the first holder of the office to visit the Dome of the Rock shrine.
“This sacred place serves as a stimulus, and also challenges men and women of goodwill to work to overcome misunderstandings and conflicts of the past and set out on the path of a sincere dialogue.”