Tel Aviv, Israel - Pope Benedict XVI called for an independent Palestinian homeland today and condemned anti-Semitism on his arrival in Israel for the latest leg of his tour of the Middle East.
The Pontiff told Israeli leaders at the airport in Tel Aviv that they must reach a peace deal with the Palestinians. “I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue . . . so that both people may live in peace in a homeland of their own within secure and internationally recognised borders," he said.
The Pope is hoping that his five-day tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories will help to heal tensions created by his reinstatement of a bishop who denied the Holocaust earlier this year. Today he criticised anti-Semitism and marked the suffering of the Jewish people during the Second World War.
“Tragically, the Jewish people have experienced the terrible circumstances of ideologies that deny the fundamental dignity of every human person,” he said, confirming that he will visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, later today.
“I will have the opportunity to honour the memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Shoah and to pray that humanity will never again witness a crime of such magnitude.”
After travelling from Jordan, he was met at the airport by the Israeli President and Prime Minister. He told them: “Sadly anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of the world.
“This is totally unacceptable. Every effort must be made to combat anti-Semitism wherever it is found, and to promote respect and esteem for the members of every people, tribe, language and nation across the globe."
A simmering disquiet has continued between the Jewish community and the Roman Catholic Church since the Second World War. It re-emerged in January when the Pope lifted the excommunication of four right-wing, traditionalist bishops, including one who denied that six million Jews were killed.
The Vatican says it had not known enough about that British bishop’s past and the church and Jewish religious leaders now hope the issue can be closed during the Pontiff’s first visit to Israel.
The Pope said he hoped for a period of peace in the Middle East. “Even though the name Jerusalem means ‘city of peace,’ it is all too evident that, for decades, peace has tragically eluded the inhabitants of this holy land,” he said.
“The hopes of countless men, women and children for a more secure and stable future depend on the outcome of negotiations for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
“I hope and pray that the climate of greater trust can soon be created that will enable the parties to make real progress along the road to peace and stability.”
President Shimon Peres welcomed the Pope this morning saying he hoped for a new era of religious harmony.
“Your visit here brings a blessed understanding between religions and spreads peace near and far,” Mr Peres said. “I see your visit here, to the Holy Land, as an important spiritual mission of the highest order: a mission of peace. A mission of planting seeds of tolerance and uprooting the weeds of fanaticism.
“I appreciate your position and your actions to bring down the level of violence and hatred in the world."