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Pope slams anti-Semitism on Israel visit
AFP - Tuesday, May 12
BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel, May 11, 2009 (AFP) - - Pope Benedict XVI on Monday denounced anti-Semitism as "totally unacceptable" and pleaded for Middle East peace as he began his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
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"Sadly anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of the world," Benedict said after he touched down in Israel from Jordan on the latest leg of an eight-day Holy Land pilgrimage.
"This is totally unacceptable. Every effort must be made to combat anti-Semitism whereever it is found, and to promote respect and esteem for the members of every people, tribe, language and nation across the globe."
The pontiff also pleaded for Israelis and Palestinians to do everything to resolve their conflict that has caused decades of bloodshed in the land sacred to the world's three major monotheistic faiths.
"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," he said at the welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion airport.
"I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding difficulties so that both people may live in peace in a homeland of their own within secure and internationally recognised borders."
Security-obsessed Israel is laying on stringent measures for the trip under "Operation White Robe", with tens of thousands of law enforcement officers deployed, entire sections of Jerusalem to be shut down and Israeli air space to be closed for the pope's arrival.
During his five-day pilgrimage, the pope will follow in the footsteps of Jesus and visit Jewish and Muslim holy sites, but the visit comes at a delicate time, with Israel-Vatican ties strained and the peace process stalled.
And the German-born 82-year-old Benedict is not expected to receive the warmth that greeted his predecessor John Paul II on his landmark Holy Land tour nine years ago, the first since Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic ties in 1993.
Israel is angered over Benedict's backing the beatification of controversial Nazi-era pope Pius XII and lifting the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying British bishop.
His trip is a mainly pastoral visit aimed at encouraging the dwindling Christian population to stay in the Holy Land, as well as promoting peace.
The pope will meet senior Israeli and Palestinian leaders, top Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious officials, and Palestinian refugees living in the shadow of Israel's controversial separation barrier near the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born in Bethlehem.
"I pray that your continuing presence in Israel and the Palestinian territories will bear much fruit in promoting peace and mutual respect among all the peoples who live in the lands of the Bible," he said on arrival.
"I come, like so many others before me, to pray at the holy places, to pray especially for peace -- peace here in the Holy Land and peace throughout the world."
The Palestinians hope to use his visit to highlight their plight, with the West Bank still under Israeli occupation and Gaza in ruins from Israel's devasting war on the territory at the start of the year.
Among the pope's first stops in Israel will be the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, where he will lay a wreath in memory of the six million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II.
"It is right and fitting that during my stay in Israel I will have the opportunity to honor the memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Shoah and pray that humanity will never again witness a crime of such magnitude," he said.
But he will pointedly not visit the area of the memorial where a caption under a photo of Pius XII says the war-time pope failed to protest against the Holocaust -- a stance that has angered the Vatican which disputes the claim.
Benedict unleashed a torrent of criticism in January when he lifted the excommunication of Holocaust-denying British bishop Richard Williamson and three other ultra-conservative bishops in what he called a "discreet gesture of mercy."
There is also concern over the Pius beatification and Benedict's membership of the Hitler Youth, although he has said he was enrolled against his will after membership became compulsory in 1941.
Israeli President Shimon Peres hailed Benedict's visit, saying it "brings a blessed understanding between religions and spreads peace near and far."
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Enlarge Photo
Christians wave Jordanian and Iraqi flags as they greet Pope Benedict XVI upon his arrival at a football stadium in Amman. The pope has denounced anti-Semitism as "totally unacceptable" and pleaded for Middle East peace as he began his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
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