Friday, December 21, 2007
ISRAEL MUST STOP BEING JEWISH
Israel's identity as a Jewish state discriminates against non-Jews, the Holy Land's top Roman Catholic clergyman said in a pre-Christmas address on Wednesday.
"If there's a state of one religion, other religions are naturally discriminated against," Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah told reporters at the annual press conference he holds in Jerusalem before the Christian holiday.
In his address, which he read in Arabic and English, Sabbah said Israel should abandon its Jewish character in favor of a "political, normal state for Christians, Muslims and Jews."
"This land cannot be exclusive for anyone," he said.
Yes, he really did say it, and you can check it out in an article sent in by a reader.
A backlash from the Jewish community was inevitable. Israel Insider reports on the response of Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center:
"Israel does not need lessons from Patriarch Sabbah on how to treat citizens of other faiths and religions," said Hier. "He would better serve the Christians in the Holy Land by going to Gaza and defending the beleaguered Christian minority there from Hamas extremists. We call on Pope Benedict to reject Sabbah's demand and all those supporting this insidious campaign to de-Judaize the State of Israel," Rabbi Hier concluded.
The last line in the article is priceless:
The Wiesenthal Center stopped short of callilng on the Vatican to de-Catholicize itself.
Is it something in the air over there????
