Day 4 - Farewell to Jordan; Arrival in Israel; visit with the President and Yad Vashem Memorial

On the Schedule Today (Monday May 11, 2009)

This post will be updated with news and commentary on the day's events

• 07.30 - Private Mass in the chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature in Amman
• 10.00 - Farewell ceremony at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman
• 10.30 - Departure from the Queen Alia International Airport of Amman (Jordan) for Ben Gurion International Airport of Tel Aviv (Israel)
• 11.00 - Welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport of Tel Aviv
• 16.15 - Courtesy visit to the President of the State of Israel at the presidential palace in Jerusalem
• 17.45 - Visit to Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem
• 18.45 - Meeting with organizations involved in interreligious dialogue at the Auditorium of Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem

Spoken Words by Pope Benedict XVI

• Farewell ceremony at Queen Alia International Airport of Amman (May 11, 2009)
• Welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport of Tel Aviv (May 11, 2009)
• Courtesy visit to the President of the State of Israel at the presidential palace in Jerusalem (May 11, 2009)
• Visit to Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem (May 11, 2009)
• Meeting with organizations involved in interreligious dialogue at the Auditorium of Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem (May 11, 2009)

Responses

• Welcome remarks by Pres Peres to Pope Benedict XVI at Ben-Gurion Airport

Coverage & Commentary

General

• Pope Concludes Jordan Visit, by Mohammad Ghazal. (Jordan Times)
• 3 Public Papal Masses Bringing Eager Expectation: Common Hope Is Peace for Troubled Homeland May 11, 2009.
• What to Expect from the Pope's Visit, by Irene Lagan (InsideCatholic.com)
• Dialogue Pioneer Expects Headway From Papal Trip: Says Pilgrimage Is Historic Chance to Strengthen Bonds Zenit News interviews Baruch Tenembaum, founder of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
• On His Tour, Pope Runs Into Politics of Middle East and Holocaust, by Rachel Donadio. New York Times
• Speak softly and carry a big staff by Julian Rake (Reuters' FaithWorld)

Arrival at Ben Gurion

• Pope speaks of Shoah, peace and two states for two peoples on arrival in Israel, by Franco Pisano. (Asia News) Benedict XVI has immediately faced the hot issues of this visit. From anti-Semitism which “continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of the world” to the request for a “just solution” to the conflict, and that all pilgrims to the Holy Sites have free access without restrictions.
• Pope condemns anti-Semitism, prays for interreligious harmony, by Cindy Wooden. (Catholic News Service)
• Pope in Israel calls for Palestinian homeland, by Victor L. Simpson. (Associated Press)
• Pope and Peres talk of peace, tolerance, hope and prayer, by Greer Fay Cashman

Meeting with Shimon Peres

• Peres Greets Pope in Official Residence, by Hillel Fendel (Israel National News)
• Pope pledges to do 'utmost' to gain Schalit's release, by Greer Fay Cashman (Jerusalem Post)

Interfaith Service

• Pope faces first crisis of historic visit, by Tobias Buck (Financial Times)
• Sheikh attacks Israel, pope walks out, by Matthew Wagner (Jerusalem Post)
• Muslim cleric slams Israel to pope, raising anger (Reuters)
• Foreign Ministry enraged by incident which cut pope's east J'lem visit short (YNet News)
• Israeli reaction to comments by Tamimi at Papal interfaith meeting Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial

• Visiting Holocaust memorial, pope says hatred must never reign again, by John Thavis and Judith Sudilovsky. (Catholic News Service)
• Pope, in Israel, confronts dark history of Germany, by Steven Gutkin (Associated Press)
• Catholic, 82, who rescued Jews from Nazis excited to meet pope, by Judith Sudilovsky (Catholic News Service)
• American who met pope was only Holocaust survivor from his family, by Judith Sudilovsky (Catholic News Service)
• A German Pope at the Holocaust Memorial: Message Takes on Greater Significance, Suggests Aide Zenit News interview with Father Caesar Atuire, the delegate administrator of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi.
• At Yad Vashem, what pope doesn't say makes waves - Pope's speech at a key Holocaust site draws mixed reviews, by John Allen Jr. (National Catholic Reporter)
• Rav Lau disappointed over pope's Yad Vashem speech, by Etgar Lefkovits (Jerusalem Post)

Audio

• Tracey McClure speaks to Israel's Ambassador to the Holy See ahead of the Pope's arrival in the Holy Land about how the Jewish community is anticipating the Pope's pastoral visit and asks have past tensions been surmounted? (Vatican Radio)
• Tracey McClure asks the PLO's Ambassador to the Holy See Chawki Armali if relations with the local Christian community might change under a new Palestinian leadership and what are prospects for peace. (Vatican Radio)

Sheikh Taysir al-Tamimi disrupts Pope Benedict XVI's interfaith meeting with vicious attack on Israel

Chief Islamic Judge of the Palestinian Authority, Sheikh Tayseer Rajab Tamimi, launched a poisonous verbal attack at Israel at a Monday night gathering attended by Pope Benedict XVI. Reuters provides the gritty details:

Referring to Palestinian Muslims and Christians, Sheikh Taysir al-Tamimi said: "We struggle together and suffer together from the oppression of the Israeli occupation.

"We look forward together to liberation and independence and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state."

The incident further marred the start of the German-born pope's five-day tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories....

In uncompromising language, [Taimmi] welcomed the pope to "Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Palestine" -- a direct riposte to Israeli claims to the same city -- and enumerated many of the complaints Palestinians have against Israel.

He said Israel had "desecrated" the Old City's holy sites since capturing it from Jordanian forces in the 1967 Middle East war and was defying international law by demolishing homes, seizing land, building Jewish settlements and erecting a series of walls and fences that had turned the city into "a prison".

Tamimi won a round of applause from some of the assembled clerics for comments referring to Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip in January in which 1,400 Palestinians died.

Addressing the pope at the end of a six-minute address, he said: "Your Holiness, I call on you in the name of the one God, to condemn these crimes and press the Israeli government to halt its aggression against the Palestinian people."

Tamimi shook the pope's hand as he left the podium and the meeting broke up as scheduled immediately afterwards.

Lest there be any misinterpretation as to why the Pope and Tamimi shook hands after the incident occurred, Tobias Buck (Financial Times explains:

Organisers tried to persuade the sheikh to stop, but he continued for several minutes. According to local media reports, there was no translation available, so the pontiff was made aware of the content of the statement only after Mr al-Tamimi had finished speaking. The Pope and his entourage then left the meeting.

Minutes after the embarrassing incident, Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See press office, released the following response:

"The intervention of Sheikh Tayssir Attamimi was not scheduled by the organizers of the meeting. In a meeting dedicated to dialogue this intervention was a direct negation of what a dialogue should be. We hope that such an incident will not damage the mission of the Pope aiming at promoting peace and also interreligious dialogue, as he has clearly affirmed in many occasions during this pilgrimage. We hope also that interreligious dialogue in the Holy Land will not be compromised by this incident."

The Tourism and Foreign ministries also denounced Tamimi's remarks:

It is regrettable that Sheikh Tayssir Tamimi has abused an inter-religious meeting aimed at promoting dialogue and understanding between Christians, Jews and Muslims, in order to incite against Israel.

Minister Stas Misezhnikov, charged with the pope's visit to Israel, stated:

"The sheikh's provocation hurt, first and foremost, Pope Benedict XVI who came to the Holy Land to promote peace and unity between the peoples of the region and all persons of faith. Israel condemns these words of hatred uttered by the sheikh, who instead of fostering peace and coexistence chose to plant seeds of division and confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as between Jews, Muslims and Christians."

It is a shame that the extremists were those who represented the Palestinians and the Muslims in this important event in the presence of the Holy See.

Coincidentally, this was the very same Sheikh who caused a similar disruption during an interfaith meeting attended by then-Pope John Paul II at the Notre Dame Jerusalem Center in 2000. Cindy Wooden and Judith Sudilovsky (Catholic News Service) recall the incident:

Nine years ago, one of Israel's chief rabbis made a speech in which he called Jerusalem Israel's "eternal undivided capital" and claimed the pope had recognized it as such. Sheik al-Tamimi got up and made a rebuttal, saying Jerusalem was Palestine's undivided capital and decrying Israel's occupation of the city.

Related

More recently, in 2006, Tamimi indicted Israel with "trying to hurt the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people also by means of exporting AIDS, drug trafficking, promiscuous norms, and making prostitution legal". (Via Elder of Ziyon).

• In Jerusalem, pope walks into politics of interreligious dialogue, by John Thavis. (Catholic News Service)
• FLASH: Pope Benedict walks out on Sheikh as he attacks Israel in unplanned speech Coverage from American Papist, and this from an alleged eyewitness in the combox:

  I was there, In ND of Jerusalem. It was very evident how Msgr. George got nervous when Tamimi stood up and approached the microphone... He initiated sayin to the Pope: "Welcome to Jerusalem, capital of Palestine"... so you can imagine the rest of the speech. His tone was very strong, not very friendly. At some point some people (I guess the arabic speakers) started to clap hands supporting him. The Pope's "nunzio", ambassador, in Israel, when directly to the podium to ask Tamimi to end his speech. He ended and walked in front of the Pope and gave him a very distant hand greeting. After that, the Pope left the place, and in the way he stopped to say something and goodbye to Tamimi.

  A Muslim cleric who commandeered the stage at a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI to rail against Israel's harsh treatment of Palestinians said Tuesday he spoke out because he was representing Islam (San Jose Mercery News):

  Vatican officials criticized Sheik Taysir Tamimi's five-minute speech Monday evening at what had been billed as an interfaith meeting. It was the first political controversy played out in Benedict's presence on his five-day Holy Land pilgrimage.

  Tamimi said organizers had not allotted him speaking time, though he was seated on the stage, and he simply righted a wrong by walking up to the podium to address the pope. A rabbi at the meeting was also not scheduled to speak.

  "I wanted to express the suffering of our people and to show the occupation's procedures against the Palestinian people," Tamimi told The Associated Press. "If I represent Islam at a meeting for dialogue and I don't speak, am I just a piece of furniture?"

• Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a leading American rabbi and confidante of Pope Benedict XVI defended the pontiff for his speech Monday at Yad Vashem, saying that expectations were too high. (Haaretz May 13, 2009.