POPE ENDS HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE WITH CALL FOR TWO-STATE SOLUTION
Irish Times
Saturday, May 16, 2009
WEISS in Jerusalem
POPE BENEDICT XVI ended his Holy Land pilgrimage yesterday with a
visit to the Holy Sepulchre Church where Jesus was crucified, and a
departing message to Israelis and Palestinians to put an end to the
fighting and bloodshed.
Speaking at Ben Gurion airport before flying back to Rome, the pontiff
expressed the hope that "the two-state solution will become a reality
not a dream". He told Israeli president Shimon Peres, in a reference
to Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, "one of the saddest sights
for me during my visit to these lands was the wall".
The pope added that he came to the Holy Land "as a friend of the
Israelis, just as I am a friend of the Palestinian people", and called
for an end to tensions between the two.
"No friend can fail to weep at the suffering and loss of life that
both peoples have endured over the last six decades. Allow me to make
this appeal to all the people of these lands: No more bloodshed! No
more fighting! No more terrorism! No more war!" the pope declared in
his final message.
In his comments on the tarmac, with both Mr Peres and prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu looking on, the pope also spoke about the Holocaust,
in what appeared to be an attempt to respond to crit icism from some
in Israel earlier in the week following his visit to the Yad Vashem
Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.
"That appalling chapter of history must never be forgotten or denied,"
the pope said, adding that "those dark memories should strengthen our
determination to draw closer to one another as branches of the same
olive tree, nourished from the same roots and united in brotherly
love."
President Peres thanked the pope for his visit to the Holy Land calling
it "a profound demonstration of the enduring dialogue" between Jews
and Christians.
He said his presence carried "substantial weight", and he praised the
pontiff’s remarks at Yad Vashem, which, Mr Peres said, represented
a welcomed attack on Holocaust denial around the world.
Earlier, visiting the Church of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City,
the pope urged worshippers "not to lose hope".
After being welcomed by Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian, Ethiopian
and Coptic clergy, the pope knelt down and kissed the stone slab on
which the body of Jesus is believed to have been placed after the
crucifixion. He then entered the small chamber marking the site of
the tomb of Jesus and prayed alone for several minutes.
Summing up the eight-day pilgrimage, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico
Lombardi said: "It was a trip in which the pope listened very much. He
was also listened to, I think." The visit was extremely well planned
and passed off without any major hitches. It certainly acted as a
morale boost for the region’s dwindling Christian communities, but
if it will be enough to stem the exodus remains to be seen.
The Palestinians were encouraged by the pope’s clear messages of
support for a two-state solution and criticism of Israel’s security
barrier.
Israeli officials expressed the hope that the trip will encourage
more pilgrims to visit the Holy Land. The Holocaust remains the most
sensitive issue in Israel and it was almost a mission impossible
for a German-born pope who grew up in Nazi Germany to visit without
upsetting some Israelis.
A cartoon in yesterday’s Ha’aretz newspaper showed an Israeli official
at passport control at the airport asking the pope, one last time,
if he wanted to express forgiveness (for the Holocaust).
The pontiff’s compassionate, pre-departure speech yesterday may have
gone some way to soothing Israeli sensitivities.