/ 8 May 2009

Palestinians seek papal pressure on Israel

Palestinian officials are using Pope Benedict XVI’s visit next week to spotlight their disputes with Israel and, in doing so, are drawing criticism that they are playing politics with an event meant to bridge differences in the Holy Land.

Palestinian leaders this week made public a long-simmering dispute over Israeli plans to demolish part of a Catholic church that was allegedly built illegally. That followed an argument with Israel over a plan to host the pope in an outdoor theatre the Palestinians were building alongside Israel’s massive West Bank separation barrier.

A Palestinian official said on Thursday that the plan has been scrapped due to Israeli pressure.

The pope will start his five-day visit on Monday after a stop in Jordan over the weekend. He said he will be visiting as a ”pilgrim of peace”.

On Wednesday Rafiq Husseini, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told a news conference the pontiff ”should come to see the suffering of the Palestinian people and not just to see the stones and historical churches in Palestine”.

Husseini said Palestinian officials would raise a list of grievances with the pope, including Israeli restrictions on access of Palestinian Muslims and Christians to places of worship in Jerusalem.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor accused the Palestinians of trying to reap ”propaganda gains” from the pope’s visit. ”It will serve the cause of peace much better if this visit is taken for what it is, a pilgrimage, a visit for the cause of peace and unity,” he said.

During stops in Jerusalem, Nazareth and the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Benedict hopes to promote relations between Israelis and Palestinians and strengthen the church’s frayed ties with Muslims and Jews. He is also expected to meet a small group of Catholics from Gaza in Bethlehem.

Hatem Abdel Qader, the Jerusalem affairs adviser to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, has led the campaign to publicise the pending demolition order for two floors of dormitory housing built atop the Armenian Catholic Church in Jerusalem’s Old City. The shrine is located in the Old City, along the Via Dolorosa, the path that tradition says Jesus took to his crucifixion.

Abdel Qader said it is part of a bigger effort to draw attention to Israel’s policy of demolishing illegally built homes and structures in Arab areas of Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem municipality says the top floors of the church were built without a permit, and Israeli maintains all demolitions are strictly a legal matter. But Palestinians say it is almost impossible to obtain a building permit and the demolitions are meant to reinforce Israeli control over the disputed city.

”It’s not only a case of houses. It’s also a case of mosques and churches. It’s not a political issue anymore. It’s also a religious issue,” said Abdel Qader.

Abdel Qader did not explicitly say the pope’s visit was behind his decision to announce the demolition order now, two years after Israeli authorities issued the order.

But both Jerusalem City Hall and church officials said they have been working quietly to resolve the dispute and criticised Abdel Qader for taking the issue public. Both sides suggested the church would be able to seek retroactive approval for the additional floors, which contain rooms for monks and church workers.

”They have until November to either take down the additional structure themselves or to file for the additional permits,” said mayoral spokesperson Stephan Miller.

Another dispute arose last week over a Palestinian plan to receive Benedict in the Aida refugee camp in the West Bank, next to the towering cement wall that is part of Israel’s separation barrier. The Palestinians say they chose the spot to highlight life under Israeli military occupation.

Israel says the barrier separating the West Bank from Israel is a security measure needed to keep out Palestinian attackers. But Palestinians have denounced it as a land grab, since much of the barrier is located inside the West Bank, slicing off large chunks of land the Palestinians seek for an independent state.

The Israeli government ordered the construction to stop, saying organisers in Aida lack the necessary permits and the site’s proximity to the wall poses a security risk.

On Thursday Palestinian lawmaker Essa Qaraqie said the organising committee had changed the spot to a United Nations school in the camp ”after huge Israeli pressure”.

Wadi Abu Nassar, a local spokesperson for the pope, said the Roman Catholic Church is concerned that such disputes will overshadow the spiritual meaning of his trip. ”I urge all parties to collaborate to make this visit as successful as possible and not to abuse it,” he said. — Sapa-AP