POPE CONDEMNS DENIAL OF HOLOCAUST
BBC NEWS
iddle_east/8043113.stm
2009/05/11 17:21:53 GMT
Pope Benedict XVI has said the suffering of Holocaust victims must
never be denied as he visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial
in Jerusalem.
"May the names of these victims never perish. May their suffering never
be denied, belittled or forgotten," he said in the midst of survivors.
The pontiff began his trip to the Holy Land by saying in Tel Aviv
that anti-Semitism was totally unacceptable.
He also voiced support for the Palestinians’ right to a homeland.
The Pope’s immediate, forceful and unequivocal condemnation of
anti-Semitism in any form and in any part of the world will have
pleased his Israeli hosts, the BBC’s David Willey reports from
Jerusalem.
Wreath for the dead Flying in from Jordan, where he visited a mosque
at the weekend, Benedict was greeted by Israeli leaders at Ben Gurion
airport near Tel Aviv before being flown to Jerusalem by helicopter.
Tim Franks BBC News, Jerusalem Yad Vashem is a place of immense
symbolic importance for Jews around the world and, within it, the Hall
of Remembrance is one of the most emotion-laden places. The very fact
of the Pope’s visit here carries huge symbolic importance. His personal
history and the long and tortuous history of relations between the
Catholic Church and the Jews saw to that. One Holocaust survivor I
spoke to, who was one of the six the Pope was going to shake the hand
of, told me she had to think about whether she wanted to meet the man
who as a teenager had been a Hitler Youth. But then she said yes,
it was. His very presence here, she said, was a victory for Israel
and against anti-Semitism.
"Sadly, anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of
the world," he said as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President
Shimon Peres sat nearby.
"This is totally unacceptable. Every effort must be made to combat
anti-Semitism wherever it is found."
At the Yad Vashem m was flanked by President Peres and other Israeli
public figures, Pope Benedict laid a wreath on a stone covering the
ashes of people killed in the Holocaust.
He shook the hands of six Holocaust survivors before making a sombre
speech about the six million Jews killed.
"They lost their lives, but they will never lose their names," he said.
"These are indelibly etched in the hearts of their loved ones, their
surviving fellow prisoners and all those determined never to allow
such an atrocity to disgrace mankind again."
Pope Benedict, as a child growing up in Nazi Germany, joined the
Hitler Youth, as was required of young Germans of the time, but he
was not an enthusiastic member.
‘Just resolution’ In his arrival speech, the Pope said the eyes of
the world were upon the peoples of the Middle East as they struggled
to solve conflicts that had caused so much suffering.
POPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
* Monday Arrives in Israel, meets President Shimon Peres * Tuesday
Visits Western Wall, meets Chief Rabbis * Wednesday Visits Bethlehem,
visits refugees, meets Mahmoud Abbas * Thursday Mass in Nazareth,
talks with Benjamin Netanyahu, meets Franciscans * Friday Meets
Orthodox Christian leaders, departs
He said: "I plead with all those responsible to explore every
possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding
difficulties so that both people may live in peace in a homeland of
their own within secure and internationally recognised borders."
President Peres said he hoped the pontiff’s visit would help "pave
the road to peace".
Prime Minister Netanyahu has now flown to Egypt, where the idea of a
two-state solution will be high on the agenda in talks with President
Hosni Mubarak.
Israel’s new prime minister has so far not said if he will support
a two-state solution.
Our correspondent, who is travelling with the Pope, says the Catholic
Church and the current Israeli government do not see eye-to-eye on
Palestinian statehood.
He says the issue will be the main focus of talks ver the next
few days.
Sacred places The Pope said Israel and the Vatican had many shared
values, including the desire to put religion in its rightful place
in society.
HAVE YOUR SAY As peace loving human beings we should appreciate
the Pope’s efforts for reconciliation Usman Javaid, US Apart from
celebrating Mass in Jerusalem and Nazareth, Pope Benedict will also
visit the most sacred places in Jerusalem for Jews and Muslims.
He will also visit a Palestinian refugee camp close to Bethlehem.
Israel is beefing up security for the trip in an operation named
"White Robe", with tens of thousands of law-enforcement officers
deployed and entire sections of Jerusalem to be shut down.
During the previous leg of his tour – a three-day stay in Jordan –
the Pope stressed the importance of Christians and Muslims working
together.
Analysts say his words are likely to be heavily scrutinised during
this week’s trip.