Vatican in terror dispute with Israel

[emad]

John Hooper in Rome and Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Saturday July 30, 2005
The Guardian

Pope Benedict XVI was yesterday immersed in the first big diplomatic crisis of his papacy after the Vatican issued an unusually blunt statement criticising Israel for its response to Palestinian attacks.
The Vatican's stinging rebuke came after Israel demanded to know why the Pope did not refer to a Palestinian suicide bombing in remarks he made on Sunday condemning terrorist attacks in London and Sharm el-Sheikh.

In a 1,300-word communique, the Vatican said: "It has not always been possible to follow every attack against Israel with a public declaration of condemnation."

It said one reason for this was that "the attacks on Israel were sometimes followed by immediate Israeli reactions not always compatible with the norms of international law ... It would thus be impossible to condemn the and pass over the in silence".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1539344,00.html

[emad]

1. Pope's exclusion of Israel causes uproar

SNIP:
The Jerusalem Post reported this week that Israel had "quietly" quarrelled with Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, about his failure to condemn Palestinian attacks on Israel, but decided to change tactics and put more open pressure on the new Pope. The Holy See replied sharply in a statement released Thursday night, arguing that the harsh measures adopted by Israel toward the Palestinians made it impossible for the Vatican to condemn one side and not the other. "It's not always possible to immediately follow every attack against Israel with a public statement of condemnation, and for various reasons, among them the fact that the attacks against Israel sometimes were followed by immediate Israeli reactions not always compatible with the rules of international law," the statement read. "It would thus be impossible to condemn the first and let the second pass in silence."

The Pope's election in April was greeted with official applause but also an undercurrent of concern in Israel, with many local media highlighting the German-born pontiff's brief tenure in the Hitler Youth, something that was compulsory at the time for young Germans.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050730/POPE30/TPEntertainment/TopStories

[DemBones DemBones]

2. Much ado about nothing. nt

[Moderator]

3. Duplicate

This has been posted and discussed and then moved to the I/P forum.

It can be found here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x97150