Pope comes under criticism in Israel
The speaker of Israel's parliament accused German-born Pope Benedict today of showing detachment from Jewish suffering in the Nazi Holocaust, adding to criticism that has marked his Holy Land pilgrimage.
The pontiff, described by one Israeli newspaper columnist as coming across as "restrained, almost cold", prayed at Judaism's Western Wall and visited Islam's Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem holy sites at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Citing Benedict's teenage membership in the Hitler Youth and German military service, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin berated the pope over his address on Monday at Israel's memorial to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.
"He came and told us as if he were a historian, someone looking in from the sidelines, about things that should not have happened. And what can you do? He was a part of them," Rivlin told Israel Radio.
At the Yad Vashem ceremony, the pope spoke of the "horrific tragedy of the Shoah", the Hebrew term for the Holocaust, but disappointed some Jewish religious leaders who said he should have apologised as a German and a Christian for the genocide.
In what appeared to be an attempt to rally to the pope's defence, Israeli Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said he was certain the pontiff subscribed to the prayer Pope John Paul II placed in the Western Wall nine years ago in which he asked for God's forgiveness for suffering caused to Jews over the centuries.
In the prayer he slotted into a stone crevice of the remnant of the Roman-era Jewish Temple complex, Pope Benedict mentioned in general terms "the suffering and the pain of all your people throughout the world" and called for peace in the Middle East.
Rivlin said that "with all due respect to the Holy See, we cannot ignore the burden he bears, as a young German who joined the Hitler Youth and as a person who joined Hitler's army, which was an instrument in the extermination".
Pope Benedict, born Joseph Ratzinger, joined the Hitler Youth when enrolment was compulsory, and was drafted into the German forces, deserting towards the end of the conflict.
DOME OF THE ROCK
At the Dome of the Rock, the pope met the Grand Mufti, the Palestinians' senior Muslim cleric, and recalled the common roots of Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
The Dome stands at the spot where all three great monotheistic religions believe Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son to God, before an angel stayed his hand. King Solomon and his successors built Jewish temples there before the Romans razed the Second Temple in 70 AD and Jews scattered in exile.
In the 7th century, Islamic conquerors built the first Dome on the spot, where Muslims also believe Mohammad ascended to heaven. The area around, including the al-Aqsa mosque and known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, has been a focus of tensions since Israeli forces captured Jerusalem's Old City in 1967.
When Israeli leader Ariel Sharon walked through what is known to Jews as the Temple Mount in 2000, Palestinian anger turned into several years of bloody uprising, or Intifada, against occupation. Sharon went on to become prime minister.
After meeting Israel's chief rabbis, the pope prayed at the site of Jesus' Last Supper before his crucifixion, and Christians believe his resurrection; the focus of the city's importance for them.
The pontiff was to say mass for thousands of worshippers at the Garden of Gethsemane later in the day.
Arriving on Monday after three days in Jordan, Pope Benedict found his efforts to heal differences with Jews and Muslims challenged by both Israeli disappointment and by a fiery anti-Israel address, delivered in his presence by a Palestinian Muslim cleric, which annoyed both the Vatican and Israelis.
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Frans Sammut
May 13th 2009, 11:31
@Aaron Shalom
I hope I wasn't misunderstood. I despise, indeed I HATE the Nazi-Fascist mostly for what they did to the Jews. It was despicable, savage, crazy ... I cannot find words strong enough to express my hatred of what such a supposedly civilized country did in mid-XX century, the supposedly most enlightened centuries of them all! Having said that, I am perplexed how a people that has suffered so much has not, to date, found a way how it can lessen suffering among all peoples in the area it is now inhabiting. I can understand the difficulties lying in the path of peacemakers, but I am amazed how such an intelligent people has not as yet found the right formula for peace. I would again like to express my admiration for the Jordanian Prince who welcomed the Pope. Surely there must be many more of his stature and character with whom the Israelis can parley. Incidentally all the Palestinians I have met in my lifetime were nice and friendly (sometimes even more than certain Europeans) and this perplexes me even more as to why peace seems such a difficult goal to reach in the Middle East.
A. Muscat
May 13th 2009, 00:19
@ l borg the people that need help from the pope are the palestnians in 2009
the pope cannot do nothing for what happened in world war 2
also in the last 100 years 50 million people died in wars not just the jews
Yes, the six Million Jews (Amen) were killed and left six millions questions unanswered.
Aaron Shalom
May 12th 2009, 22:49
A. Muscat: You appear to be providing the Times readership with incorrect information. It is Hamas who deliberately (and systematically) target civilians.
l borg
May 12th 2009, 20:13
the people that need help from the pope are the palestnians in 2009
the pope cannot do nothing for what happened in world war 2
also in the last 100 years 50 million people died in wars not just the jews
Dr Emmy Bezzina,EU Candidate
May 12th 2009, 20:05
Many cannot put aside the immense charisma of Pope John Paul II which meant that wherever he went,people not necessarily faithful thronged in their thousands to watch,see ,nay even get a merely a glimpse of him! This Pope does not have neither the charisma nor the leadership qualities of his immediate predecessors,JOHN PAUL II, JOHN PAUL I, JOHN XXIII - under the latter three the Catholic Church had a face, under Benedict XVI it does not have one: he was not meant to be in the limelight,but once he was pushed into it,he apparently does not make any effort to make an impact and this is even witnessed by a number of serious diplomatic blunders which the shrewd Vatican diplomacy usually excels in.Is it a case,that this Pope of an ever - weakening Catholic Church, out of touch with the reality of our World,as is our Malta Government,does not have hawk-eyed advisers to indicate to the Pope the true dimension of his Papacy or is it more of a truth that even such advisers are perfectly aware that the World has changed and that salvation mercifully is not a monopoly of this unrealistic institution:THE TRUTH!
Frans Sammut
May 12th 2009, 19:59
It is a pity that the Pope's visit has not been more successful. Accusing him of being a member of the Hitler Youth is to my mind as puerile as the age of those who were obliged to join the youth movement that was secretly designed to destroy, among others, Christian youth movements. The Pope may come over as "restrained, almost cold" only because it is his natural demeanour. I personally prefer him to his Elvis Presley-like predecessor. I believe he is a very serious (though professorial) type of person, very much what the hot Jerusalem climate needs. There are enough volatile characters around. A restrained person fits the bill if people living in Jerusalem really aspire for peace. Incidentally I was impressed by the speech made by the Jordanian Prince (a descendant of the Prophet, no less) who welcomed His Holiness. Much politer, much more refined than the Knesset Speaker who could not overcome his angst and had to lambast the Pope for being ... German. Understandable but unacceptable, coming as his tirade comes, from such a high public official.
A. Muscat
May 12th 2009, 17:12
I sincerely sympathy with the Pope for having the gut (many politicians avert) to visit the hottest spot on planet Earth.
Time passes and the victims of the victims of the Shoah are being occupied, apartheid and systemically annihilated for six decades with big powers endorsement so far.
Dear Pope, this is a sad world and more. Its more like a jungle and every body knows what the rules of the Jungles are.