- The Pope will not be dictated to by Israel, the Vatican
declared yesterday, as it hit back at officials of the Jewish state who
criticised him for "failing" to condemn a Palestinian suicide
bombing.
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- A sharply worded Vatican statement said the Pope could
not be expected to condemn every Palestinian bombing because Israel's retaliation
for such attacks was "not always compatible with the rules of international
law".
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- It would be "impossible" to condemn a Palestinian
attack while letting any Israeli military reaction "pass in silence".
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- The staunch defence of the pontiff by Vatican officials
came after the Israeli foreign ministry complained that he had "deliberately"
failed to mention - during his Angelus prayer last Sunday - a suicide bombing
in the town of Netanya. The Pope condemned recent terrorist strikes in
Britain, Egypt, Iraq and Turkey, but not the attack that killed five Israelis
on July 12. Nimrod Barkan, head of the foreign ministry's Jewish affairs
bureau, replied by summoning the Vatican envoy, Archbishop Pietro Sambi,
to his office on Monday.
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- Such an omission, Archbishop Sambi was told, had the
effect of "granting legitimacy to ... terrorist attacks against Jews".
Mr Barkan added that Pope Benedict XVI's predecessor, John Paul II, had
also failed to condemn attacks against Israel.
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- He told the Jerusalem Post that if his protest proved
ineffective, "we will have to weigh other steps".
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- Mr Barkan seemed unconcerned at whether his protest might
harm relations with the new pontiff, who recently accepted an invitation
to visit Israel. "What could be worse than implying that it is OK
to kill Jews? What else am I supposed to do?" The Vatican said Israel
was trying to distort the Pope's intentions. It added that the Church condemned
"all forms of terrorism".
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- The row follows a long period of improving relations
and threatens to undermine sensitive talks to cement diplomatic ties.
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- Yesterday's Vatican statement said: "It's not always
possible to immediately follow every attack against Israel with a public
statement of condemnation." This was mainly because "the attacks
against Israel sometimes were followed by immediate [Israeli] re-actions
not always compatible with the rules of international law.
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- "The Holy See cannot take lessons or instructions
from any other authority on the tone and content of its statements."
It also defended John Paul II, who died in April, saying that he had publicly
condemned Palestinian attacks on "numerous" occasions.
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- Rome's Chief Rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, said the Holy
See was acting in the matter like "a political institution, with precise
interests to protect in the chess game of the Middle East". He added:
"I hope that Benedict, who knows theology so well, will quickly try
to also grasp the ways of politics and the art of diplomacy."
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
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- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/0
7/30/wpope30.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/07/30/ixworld.html
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