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MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 5/08: With the creation of a "Jewish State" in the Holy Land, in a sense a new era began twisting the modern-day concept of nationality back to one of ethnic and religious identification. Whereas the old Ottoman Empire turned into Turkish secularism, the creation of a "Jewish State" in the 20th century has in turn fostered a major historical twist toward "Muslim" political power, best represented by the Iranian revolution in 1979 and the rise of Hizbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in occupied Palestine, and other movements spreading the Muslim reach for state authority from Algeria to Indonesia. Last month's gathering of forces from some 30 countries in opposition to both Israel's "peace process" and Israeli power noteably took place in Tehran, presided over by the leading Muslim as well as State authorities of that important State.
Now in his final years the Pope of Rome, no doubt seeing the dangerous turns that if unchecked could lead to renewed religious schisms and possible religious wars in the future, is taking some desperate steps to try to head off such developments. First he tried to open a dialogue with the Jewish faith by reversing church doctrine and then visiting the shrines of the Jewish Israeli State, but it has been rough going and there are doubts the rapproachment will bear much fruit other than among a small group at the top. Even so the Zionist movement is thrilled because the Pope's very visit to Israel has further legitimized the very concept of "Jewish" Statehood in their eyes.
And now before all of our eyes the Pope of Rome is attempting to breach the thousand year-old schism with the Orthodox Church as well as the even longer one with the the Muslim faith -- taking historic symbolic steps against centuries encrusted and nearly locked in place by confused myths and theological abstractions.
Even so, these symbolic steps may not be sufficient to reverse the tide toward renewed religious conflict; especially as other political and social forces push apart at the grassroots even while the leaders at the top, the Pope in the forefront, desperately attempt to heal the deep breaches of the past before they erupt again in the era of weapons of mass destruction.
This said, let's not forget the miserable history of this and previous Popes of Rome when it comes to the Palestinian refugees and Palestinian Statehood. No Pope had ever visited a Palestinian refugee camp until it appeared the Israelis were in favor of a mini-and quasi Palestinian State and a Palestinian leader was about to pay the huge price in concessions demanded by Israel to get it. At the time of the Pope's visit to Deheishe Refugee Camp near Bethlehem, it appeared he was doing so as a tag-on to his visit to Israel and as an endorsement of the disengenuous "Peace Process" on the road to the Camp David entrampment. Furthermore, the Pope didn't seem to pay much attention to the fact that within minutes of his departure from Deheishe the very "Palestinian Authority" he came to legitimize was busy shooting and beating the very same refugees in the very same "camp".
This particular article from the right-wing pro-Israeli Daily Telegraph highlights the bitterness and divisions the Pope's recent visits and acts have brought to the surface and which may already be beginning to spiral out of control transforming a heretofore largely political and territorial conflict into one defined far more by religious identification.
[The Daily Telegraph, UK, 7 May] THE Pope yesterday rebuffed a call by President Bashar Assad of Syria to join his struggle against Israel on the grounds that the Jewish state was "killing the principles of all divine faiths".
The Syrian leader's tirade, made in a welcoming speech to the Pope on Saturday, was condemned by Israel as anti-Semitic and harking back to a past era when the Roman Catholic Church officially blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus Christ. Mr Assad, who took power from his father less than a year ago, did not mention Israel or the Jews by name. But he said Palestinians were being murdered by "those who killed the principle of equality when they claimed God created a people distinguished above all other peoples".
He added: "They try to kill all the principles of divine faiths with the same mentality of betraying Jesus Christ and torturing Him, and in the same way that they tried to commit treachery against the Prophet Mohammed." Mr Assad urged the Vatican to join the Islamic struggle against Israeli "oppression and persecution", saying: "The application of heavenly tenets requires taking a stand against those who oppose them."
Mr Assad's stance will not have surprised the Pope, as the new Syrian leader has twice denounced the Israelis as "more racist than the Nazis".
While the main purpose of his visit to Syria is spiritual - to follow in the steps of St Paul and bring Muslims and Christians together - the Pope is under no illusion that he could avoid the blood-soaked politics and hatred of the region.
In a homily to 45,000 Christians of various rites at a stadium in Damascus, the Pope stressed that, despite his criticism of Israel, he would not join any ostracism of the Jews.
"In this holy land, Christians, Muslims and Jews are called to work together, with confidence and boldness," he said.
"They must work to bring about without delay the day when the legitimate rights of all peoples are respected and they can live in peace and mutual understanding."
The Pope said he hoped that in the region, "fear will turn into trust and contempt to mutual esteem, that force will give way to dialogue, and that a genuine desire to serve the common good will prevail". In view of the Pope's frail health and visible fatigue, most of the homily was read out by a senior cleric, with the Pontiff delivering only the opening and closing passages.
In Israel, Avi Pazner, a diplomatic adviser to the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, condemned the Syrian president's remarks as "ignoble and clearly demonstrating anti-Semitism".
In advance of the Pope's visit, Syria has adopted a new slogan for the country as "the cradle of faith and civilisation" in contrast to Israel which, the Syrians say, has no historic right to exist in the region. Mr Assad said Syria had protected St Paul after he was baptised in Damascus and allowed him to spread the Christian faith all over the world. Similarly, he said, Islam spread from Syria throughout the world.
The harsh words about Israel contrasted with the otherwise festive atmosphere of the papal visit, with Christians of all rites joining together to welcome the Pope.
Syria has about two million Christians in an overwhelmingly Muslim
population of 17 million. Although it has many problems - economic
stagnation and a stifling lack of political freedom which Mr Assad is
just beginning to ease - communal strife is not one of them. Under
the iron rule of the Ba'ath party, the security forces smashed the
power of the Islamic fundamentalists in the 1970s and 80s, allowing
the Christians to live in greater freedom than in any other
Muslim-majority country in the Middle East.
| Mid-East Realities | www.middleeast.org |
| Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/5/195.htm |