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A group of German bishops sparked controversy yesterday when they compared Israel's treatment of the Palestinians with the Nazis' maltreatment of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
The comments were made by the 27-strong German Bishops' Conference after its tour of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Children walk past the controversial Israeli barrier
Several of the bishops were upset by the Jerusalem Wall, the 30ft high concrete barrier illegally built by Israel to separate Palestinian suburbs from the rest of the city.
While crossing one of the checkpoints into East Jerusalem, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, said he had been particularly incensed.
"This is something that is done to animals, not people," he said referring to the wall and heavily fortified checkpoints where Palestinians are subjected to intrusive questioning and demands for Israel-approved documentation.
The Archbishop was brought up in Communist-controlled East Germany.
"For me it is a nightmare. I didn't think I would see such a wall again in my life," he said.
"Just like they brought the Berlin Wall down, so too will this wall come down. It will not endure."
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The bishops visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, before heading to Ramallah, the de facto capital of the occupied West Bank.
"This morning we saw pictures of the Warsaw ghetto at Yad Vashem and this evening we are going to the Ramallah ghetto," Bishop Gregor Maria Franz Hanke said.
"It's enough to drive one mad. Israel has the right to exist, but this right cannot be realised in such a brutal manner."
The Israeli press described the Nazi comparisons as "divisive", but the bishops offered no apology.
Instead, Bishop Hanke said he planned to amend this year's Easter message to German churches to include the delegation's impressions and to demand a change to the situation.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/07/wbishops07.xml
The comments were made by the 27-strong German Bishops' Conference after its tour of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Children walk past the controversial Israeli barrier
Several of the bishops were upset by the Jerusalem Wall, the 30ft high concrete barrier illegally built by Israel to separate Palestinian suburbs from the rest of the city.
While crossing one of the checkpoints into East Jerusalem, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, said he had been particularly incensed.
"This is something that is done to animals, not people," he said referring to the wall and heavily fortified checkpoints where Palestinians are subjected to intrusive questioning and demands for Israel-approved documentation.
The Archbishop was brought up in Communist-controlled East Germany.
"For me it is a nightmare. I didn't think I would see such a wall again in my life," he said.
"Just like they brought the Berlin Wall down, so too will this wall come down. It will not endure."
advertisement
The bishops visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, before heading to Ramallah, the de facto capital of the occupied West Bank.
"This morning we saw pictures of the Warsaw ghetto at Yad Vashem and this evening we are going to the Ramallah ghetto," Bishop Gregor Maria Franz Hanke said.
"It's enough to drive one mad. Israel has the right to exist, but this right cannot be realised in such a brutal manner."
The Israeli press described the Nazi comparisons as "divisive", but the bishops offered no apology.
Instead, Bishop Hanke said he planned to amend this year's Easter message to German churches to include the delegation's impressions and to demand a change to the situation.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/07/wbishops07.xml
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