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Writers Articles And Opinions |
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22 May 2009 By Ramzy Baroud "Gaza is not on the
Pope's itinerary, nor will it be. There will be no
change in these plans. But I'll say it very clearly,
the Pope is absolutely not going to Gaza." Such were
the astounding comments made by the Pope’s spokesman
in Israel, Wadie Abunasser, prior to Pope Benedict XVI
visiting Palestine and Israel.
As if there was no massacre in Gaza, no families
entirely slaughtered, no human rights violated to
match the record of the most grisly of crimes in
modern history. As if Gaza were a mere irritant in the
annals of human suffering. More, as if there were no
Catholic flock in Gaza. To clarify, there are actually
nearly 2,000 Catholics in Gaza, apparently not
important enough for the ‘cut’.
Now, there are a lot of important religious sites to
see around the Holy Land, lots of old churches,
stones, ruins and the like…sites of much more
significance, such as the Western Wall, the Holy
Sepulcher and so on… far more important than visiting
the site of a fresh massacre, where the stench of
rotting bodies - laid to rest beneath a tomb
consisting of the rubble of their own homes - has just
faded. Such sites are apparently of little import to
the Holy See. Rather, there are memorials to victims
of greater standing, in shrines of superior grandeur,
such as Yad Vashem…now, that’s something to see.
On a trip that was apparently dedicated to promoting
“reconciliation”, it is baffling that Pope Benedict
made little mention of the Israeli occupation of
Palestine as a source of discord. Imagine that. But
what he did say was, “Allow me to make this appeal to
all the peoples of these lands: No more bloodshed! No
more fighting! No more terrorism! No more war! Instead
let us break the viscous circle of violence.”
As if he was imploring two nations with common
grievances, with mutually strong armies and nuclear
arsenals. As if he were exhorting two peoples, both of
which have access to clean water, both of which are
properly nourished and educated. Or to put it another
way, as if both peoples face the daily threat of their
house being toppled while they are held up inside by
an occupying army, as if both peoples face the daily
threat of arrest, extra-judicial execution, the
humiliation of curfews and checkpoints.
The Vatican needs some serious introspection. It ought
to replace its highly politicized and, frankly,
questionable apologies, with an earnest apology to
oppressed people, who might have little political
worth. The Pope should apologize to Palestinians and
to Gazans in particular for failing to appreciate the
seriousness of their plight, for cozying up to the
very Israeli leaders who champion the suffering in
Gaza, and fail to console the very victim of their
onslaught.
More, as an institution that has garnered the
reputation of advocating social justice throughout the
world in recent years, the Catholic Church must
abandon its current course, cowering before Israeli
leaders, its Holy Father imparting such smug
condescension on a nation that has endured a slow and
gradual process of genocide for the past six decades.
Wishy-washy is the term that comes to mind. While he
never wavered from condemning the “godless nation”
that carried out the Holocaust, his references to
Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine were so
indistinct, that it was difficult to make any clear
separation between the aggressor and the victim. As he
witnessed with his own eyes the monstrosity of the
Apartheid Wall, his comments were painfully elusive,
“How earnestly we pray for an end to the hostilities
that have caused this wall to be built.” Oh really? Is
this all the Holy Father has to say? Never mind
occupation. Never mind hunger. Never mind randomly
closing schools for months on end and denying an
entire nation the right to education. But now we are
talking about illegal weapons being used on civilian
populations in Gaza. Now we are talking about a wall
that has been declared “illegal” by the International
Court of Justice. There is simply no time or place
here for indecisiveness and moral flexibility.
And it is completely unacceptable for anyone to have
the ‘audacity’ to urge Palestinian youth not to allow,
as the Holy Father stated, “the loss of life and the
destruction you have witnessed to arouse bitterness or
resentment in your hearts”. More, when making a stop
at Aida Refugee Camp, he blamed the plight of the
displaced population on “the turmoil that has
afflicted this land for decades.” It would have been
far more favorable for him to stay home and not insult
these sites of misery at all.
But in the end, the Pope finally was able to muster up
some courage and took one truly audacious stand: When
at the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem, the Palestinian
Authority’s chief Islamic judge, Sheikh Tayseer Rajab
Tamimi, declared that Israelis had killed innocent
women and children in Gaza, the Pope stood up and in
an act of defiance, walked out. Now that’s courage.
The Palestinians, and millions of people around the
world, expected more from a person who should be
advocating the New Testament teaching: “let justice
flow like a river and righteousness like an
ever-flowing stream.”
But the Pope has proven fallible, after all.
- Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author
and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has
been published in many newspapers, journals and
anthologies around the world. His latest book is, "The
Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's
Struggle" (Pluto Press, London), and his forthcoming
book is, “My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s
Untold Story” (Pluto Press, London)
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