At the time of writing this, Pope Benedict XVI continues his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, and I have following observations: First: We have complied with the dictates of the Pope for all of Israel, where he met with the family of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who is being held by Hamas, while he has not thought to receive one of the families of more than eleven thousand Palestinians who have languished for decades in the depths of Israeli prisons. Second: the Pope spoke painfully of the crime of the Nazi killing of Jews for being Jews, for nearly half a century, while he used a shy language when speaking about the ongoing tragedy of the Palestinian people since the decision of the West to plant Israel as a thorn in the Arab nation and its latest Holocaust chapters on Gaza and holocaust is not an exaggeration, because the bodies of children, women and elderly Palestinians were burnt with phosphorus bombs.
Third: The Pope bowed to the Israeli arrangements to prevent him from visiting a camp for Bethlehem refugees which is adjacent to the hateful apartheid wall so as not to show the world this "wall of shame," which is what led many Christian Palestinians to reproach His Holiness for not standing by them as they are like their fellow Muslims who want to perform their religious rites freely as provided under all the laws of international conventions, and to have the occupying power desist from torturing them and killing, displacing them and in short turning their lives into hell. Fourth: The Pope spoke about the misuse of religion, calling for a dialogue of religions, speaking about the Jewish people, and their right in their homeland and it is difficult to believe that racist accounts are issued by the clergy! I ask His Holiness: What about the followers of Jesus who converted from Judaism to Christianity in Palestine, the birthplace of Christ? And on what basis are they exiled just because they converted to another religion? The bitterness of the Palestinians who are Christians was clear and the Pope ignored the gross injustice done to them just because they did not remain Jews!
Some of the Pope's entourage thought it was not appropriate to invite Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, head of Islamic courts in Palestine, as the Pope of the Vatican put pressure on Israel to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people! When then? What is the content of religious dialogue? Is it just slogans calling for a clear conscience on human fraternity and rapprochement between the followers of monotheistic religions? Or is it the center of resistance to oppression of religion - such as the extremely harsh reality of the Gaza Strip - and to demand justice for all regardless of their religious beliefs? Your Holiness the issue is not the issue of religious dialogue as this is a new invention that leads us into a maze of serious consequences. Simply put it is the occupation of the land and holy sites and of Arab, Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese ground which is still in the grip of Israeli occupation and this issue will not be solved by religious dialogue. We are not here to discuss religion, but colonialism in the worst form in the history of the world and possibly as is the case in Afghanistan and Iraq, and others. Let occupation go. Let religious people adhere to their religion as it is not a missionary issue but a realistic occupation which must be resisted whatever the religion of the occupied!
