Official Considers Pope’s Prayer to The Wall a Political Propaganda; Palestinian Christians Trying to See the Pope Beaten by Police
Pope Francis had delighted the Palestinians as he made an unscheduled stop at the Memorial To The Victims of Terror at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl - the wall that separates the town of Bethlehem from Jerusalem. He pressed his forehead against the symbolical wall which was built more than ten years ago to protect Jerusalem from suicide bombers. The Pope stopped at the part of the wall where there was a graffiti saying "Free Palestine."
The pontiff made another surprising gesture as he invited President Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority and Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, to a meeting at the Vatican.
"I offer my home in the Vatican as a place for this encounter of prayer. To build peace is difficult, but to live without peace is a constant torment."
In an ironic twist of event, The Palestinians Christians of Jerusalem penned a letter to the Pope, revealing that they were beaten by Israeli political authorities in their desire to see the Pope.
"Today, we are reminded of our Lord's wish as we were awaiting Your historic visit to our beloved city Jerusalem, but we knew our meeting with you will be hindered by the Israeli political authorities. Our women, children and disabled were beaten this evening in Jerusalem while they were trying to get a glance of you passing in the streets of their city. Women and children were injured and young men were arrested for some time. No one came to our rescue. Hope for the unity of Christians all over the world, but also our Christian hope for freedom from occupation, and for justice for Palestine and Palestinians. We know Your stand with the poor and the victims will prevail in the light of truth," the letter read.
The letter also made the shocking revelation that Jerusalem Christians were 24,000 prior to the Israel occupying the East Jerusalem in 1967. To date, Jerusalem Christians are only 9,000 due to displacement, house confiscation and demolitions, revocation and denial of residency rights and restrictions of movement.
"We have become an isolated community, economically and socially as a result of Israeli laws against family re-unification, and torn apart by the separation wall. This is the truth of Jerusalem Christians today," the letter said.
Meanwhile, one high-ranking official told The Telegraph that the unscheduled stop was just as a political propaganda as the Pope was only pressured to make the "unscheduled" stop.
"There is a general feeling that this was a well-prepared propaganda event into which the entourage of the pope brought him without thinking about the meaning or about how it would be interpreted. We definitely blame the Palestinians, although we cannot say exactly how it took place. If one thing is certain it's that he didn't happen to go there by chance. He was brought there by his hosts. There is not a shadow of doubt that he was brought there deliberately," the source said.
"This was in the spirit of don't get mad, get even. If the Palestinians are using the pope entering Bethlehem to convey purely political messages, we will get even. Yes there's a wall, but why is there a wall?," the source asked.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, admitted that he planned the unscheduled stop.
"I want to thank the pope for accepting my request to visit this memorial. I explained to the pope that the establishment of the barrier he visited yesterday has prevented many more victims of Palestinian terror that continues to this very day and that Palestinian terrorists were planning and continue to plan."