As Pope Benedict XVI makes final preparations to embark on 8 May on a week-long pilgrimage to the Holy Land to pray for peace in the Middle East, his planned visit to the region has already become the latest trigger for new Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Various reports in the last few days said Israeli authorities and Palestinian Christians were embroiled in disputes over security issues surrounding at least two papal events.
The first has concerned the location of the platform the Pope is to stand on when he visits the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem on 13 May. According to an Associated Press report last week, Israel was demanding that Palestinian organisers stop building the platform and an amphitheatre because they were too close to the large cement wall that is part of Israel’s West Bank separation barrier. Israeli authorities said the Palestinians had not acquired the necessary permits to build the structures. They said their proximity to the wall posed a security threat.
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Robert Mickens: Tension builds in Holy Land ahead of visit
As Pope Benedict XVI makes final preparations to embark on 8 May on a week-long pilgrimage to the Holy Land to pray for peace in the Middle East, his planned visit to the region has already become the latest trigger for new Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Various reports in the last few days said Israeli authorities and Palestinian Christians were embroiled in disputes over security issues surrounding at least two papal events.
The first has concerned the location of the platform the Pope is to stand on when he visits the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem on 13 May. According to an Associated Press report last week, Israel was demanding that Palestinian organisers stop building the platform and an amphitheatre because they were too close to the large cement wall that is part of Israel’s West Bank separation barrier. Israeli authorities said the Palestinians had not acquired the necessary permits to build the structures. They said their proximity to the wall posed a security threat.
Read it all.