Discussions between Jews, Christians and Moslems - A bi-annual newsletter from the Institute of the World Jewish Congress in Jerusalem - Vol. I, No. 8, March 2000.


The agreement signed by the Pope and Palestinian National Authority Chairman, Yasser Arafat, on 15 February, intended to normalize relations between Catholic churches and the Palestinian Authority, includes several references to the status of Jerusalem that have angered Israeli authorities and Jews throughout the world. The strongly-worded agreement does not mention Israel by name, but states that "unilateral decisions and actions altering the specific character and status of Jerusalem are morally and legally unacceptable."

The very fact that the Vatican concluded a treaty with the Palestinians that refers to Jerusalem, indicates acceptance of Palestinian Arab claims. In so doing, the Vatican has disqualified itself from playing any role whatsoever as a mediator in the Israeli-Arab conflict. Furthermore, this sudden development indicates a departure from the Vatican's earlier position. In 1992 when the bilateral commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel was established, the spokesman of the Holy See, Navarro Vals, explained that the question of Jerusalem was excluded from the conversations with Israel since the question is of a multi-lateral nature.

Although the Vatican's view of the Israeli presence in the area as an illegal occupation is well known, its reiteration at this juncture - in advance of the papal visit to the region - was viewed by the Israeli Foreign Ministry as an entirely inappropriate interference with a matter that is the subject of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The World Jewish Congress and other Jewish organizations are committed to preserving the city's status as the indivisible capital of the State of Israel. The Jewish state has upheld the rights of all creeds in the city and has preserved the sanctity of the city's holy sites, Jewish, Christian and Moslem. This, of course, stands in stark contrast to the way in which the Old City was administered when it was under Jordanian control (1949-1967), when Jerusalem's synagogues and Jewish burial grounds were laid waste and Jews prevented from even visiting the city.

… and a different Catholic approach from Cardinal Martini of Milan: Jewish Jerusalem "one and eternal"

A very different note was sounded last November, when Milan's Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini recognized the Jews' special connection to the city. The Cardinal was addressing an interfaith meeting at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, where he was visiting with a group of 1,200 pilgrims, and pointed out that although the city was holy to Christianity and to Islam as well, those two religions had developed other "spiritual centers," while the Jewish connection with Jerusalem is "one and eternal."

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