Thursday, March 8, 2007
CAMERA has a report on the German Bishops' visit and ill-advised comments, German Bishops Cross the Line. They report that the Catholic hierarchy is distancing themselves from the comments:
...Also disturbing is that the bishops’ statements mirror rhetoric from virulent anti-Zionist organizations that routinely compare Israel to the Nazi regime. For example, at the notorious UN racisim conference that took place in Durban, South Africa in September 2001, the Arab Lawyers Union distributed a book with a cover that superimposed the Star of David over the Nazi Swastika. While it might not have been a surprise for the Union to distribute such materials—the ALU supports Hezbollah, routinely calls for anti-Israel "resistance," and its Deputy Secretary-General Abd-al-Azim al-Mughrabi has explained that the "[s]truggle against the Israeli enemy is a struggle of existence, not of boundaries"—it is shocking that the German bishops adopted their rhetoric.
Fortunately, there is evidence that the Catholic community in Germany is distancing itself from the comments of the Bishops. According to Spiegel:
The Catholic Church in Germany is now trying to diffuse the row with a number of apologies. Hans Langendörfer, the Secretary General of the German Catholic Bishops' Conference, said he regretted the remarks made by the bishops. They were made during the visit to Bethlehem "under the pressure of a demanding situation," and were by "emotionally affected individuals who made a few very personal remarks, which have already been self-critically corrected." He added, "That is especially true of a passing remark that referred to the Warsaw Ghetto."
Sadly, the damage is done...
Indeed. You cannot mitigate by stating that you believe in Israel's right to exist while exactly parroting the rhetoric -- and thereby give backing to their words -- of those who don't.
