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Title: Israel and Vatican end row over Pope's comments [Catholicism Caves Again]
Source:
Haaretz
URL Source: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/617663.html
Published: Aug 27, 2005
Author: Staff
Post Date: 2005-08-27 13:53:26 by Bayonne
Keywords: [Catholicism, comments, Vatican
Views: 87
Comments: 3
A dispute between Israel and the Vatican over recent comments the pope made on terrorism appears to have been resolved after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI calling him "a true friend of Israel," Israel's ambassador to the Vatican said Friday. Israel's top diplomat at the Holy See, Oded Ben Hur, brought the letter Tuesday to the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, in what Ben Hur called an "amicable and intimate" meeting that signaled that "we definitely see this thing behind us and are looking forward to improving our relationship." The dispute began in July, when Israel summoned the Vatican envoy to complain that Benedict had "deliberately failed" to include a July 12 suicide bombing in Netanya when he listed countries recently hit by terrorist attacks, including Egypt, Britain, Turkey and Iraq. Advertisement The two sides publicly traded tit-for-tat pronouncements that culminated with a harshly worded Vatican statement saying the pope couldn't condemn every Palestinian suicide bombing because Israel would so often retaliate with illegal actions that would also have to be condemned. In his letter, Sharon said Benedict's efforts to promote dialogue with Jews and Israel made him "a true friend of Israel, genuinely committed to advancing tolerance, understanding and reconciliation," Ben Hur said in a phone interview, reading from the letter. He said Sharon then explained the reasons for his country's reaction to the omission. "Israel has been devastated and victimized by terrorism and we are very sensitive to any attempt to distinguish between Islamic terrorism which systematically targets innocent Israeli civilians and that which is aimed at citizens of other countries," the ambassador quoted the letter as saying. Sodano expressed his satisfaction with the letter during Tuesday's meeting, saying that both sides had made mistakes and that he was happy to put the issue behind him, Ben Hur said. Ben Hur said the Vatican said the omission of Israel on the list was unintentional and the result of hastily prepared remarks. The Vatican declined to comment on the matter Friday. Ben Hur confirmed that Israel's two chief rabbis will meet with the pope September 15, although he said the meeting has been in the works for some time and was due to coincide with commemorations marking the 40th anniversary of the Vatican's Nostra Aetate declaration that revolutionized its relations with Jews. The two sides are working on a joint statement to be issued after the meeting, which Israel hopes will include "a mutual condemnation of terrorism, of which also Israel has suffered so much," Ben Hur said.
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#1. To: All (#0)
Israel won this dispute. The only concession Sharon made was that he praised the Pope- which had nothing to do with the issue. And praising the Pope was in order, after he made statements in a synagogue last week beneficial to Israel's interests. Just visiting the syn was a big move. The Vatican left Israel off a short list of recent terrorism victims because of a moral dilemna that it did not want to make public, because it was to Israel's detriment. Israel violates international human rights laws when responding to terrorism and at other times in dealing with the Palis. The Vatican avoided mentioning Israel because it felt it would also be obligated to mention Israel's terrorizing of Palis and international human rights violations. It 'didn't go there' and spared Israel the criticism, but did not recognize them as victims. The position was firm: "The two sides publicly traded tit-for-tat pronouncements that culminated with a harshly worded Vatican statement saying the pope couldn't condemn every Palestinian suicide bombing because Israel would so often retaliate with illegal actions that would also have to be condemned." *** That should have been the end of the issue, but it wasn't. The Vatican made the exact concession that Israel wanted, and dropped it's position on Israel's terrorism and called the ommission of Israel a mistake: "Ben Hur said the Vatican said the omission of Israel on the list was unintentional and the result of hastily prepared remarks." *** How weak is this??? Now a joint statement will be made early next week detaling how the Church caved to Israel. The Church will recognize Israel as a victim of terror no different from any other victim, and drop their position critical of Israel.
Why is it anti-semitic to recognize the counterproductive nature of an alliance with Israel that emboldens them to recklessly oppress Palestinians? Why is it anti-semitic to criticize the spending of US taxpayer money to shore up a garrison state which commenced its existence by "displacing" Palestinians, to the Chagrin of Arabs who are thereby motivated to attack U.S. citizens? 'Because it is.' -Goldi-Lox
Another example of the fallabilty of the papacy.
It sure is.
Why is it anti-semitic to recognize the counterproductive nature of an alliance with Israel that emboldens them to recklessly oppress Palestinians? Why is it anti-semitic to criticize the spending of US taxpayer money to shore up a garrison state which commenced its existence by "displacing" Palestinians, to the Chagrin of Arabs who are thereby motivated to attack U.S. citizens? 'Because it is.' -Goldi-Lox
A dispute between Israel and the Vatican over recent comments the pope made on terrorism appears to have been resolved after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI calling him "a true friend of Israel," Israel's ambassador to the Vatican said Friday.
#2. To: Bayonne (#0)
...marking the 40th anniversary of the Vatican's Nostra Aetate declaration that revolutionized its relations with Jews.
#3. To: lodwick (#2)
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