Catholics Warn of ‘Poison’ Atmosphere of Hate as Visit of Pope Francis Nears
Two weeks ahead of Pope Francis’s trip to the Holy Land, the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem said vandal attacks by suspected Jewish extremists “poison the atmosphere” of the papal visit.
Patriarch Fouad Twal, the Church’s senior cleric in the Holy Land, described the so-called “price tag” attacks as acts of “terror” and called on Israel to crack down on the perpetrators.
Twal made his call at a news conference on Sunday in Haifa, ahead of the annual Our Lady of Mount Carmel procession.
Israel has seen a spate of incidents where mainly Christian and Muslim sites have been spray painted with threats and racist insults. These have been dubbed “price tag” attacks, referring to threats by ultra-nationalist Jews that the government would “pay the price” for curbing Jewish settlement in Palestinian areas.
“This wave of extremist actions of terror is surely of grave concern to all reasonable persons,” Twal said. “The government of Israel must be concerned, because it is very bad for the State of Israel’s image abroad.”
“It is also a blight on the democracy that Israel ascribes to itself,” he added, “At this point, the unrestrained acts of vandalism poison the atmosphere, the atmosphere of coexistence and the atmosphere of collaboration, especially in these two weeks prior to the visit of Pope Francis.”
The pope is scheduled to visit Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority May 24- May 26.
Twal acknowledged that the Israeli government is attempting to deal with the issue but said so far it is not doing enough.
“The actions are only drawing condemnation by Israeli leaders but few arrests,” he said. But he said he was “encouraged” that Justice Minister Tzipi Livni held an emergency meeting last week with senior security officials “to combat this senseless vandalism.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30