Israel Closes Media Center, Upsetting Palestinians

Israel Closes Media Center, Upsetting Palestinians

www.nytimes.com

JERUSALEM — The Israeli police on Monday closed down an official Palestinian media center that had been set up in East Jerusalem for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, as Israel and the Palestinians competed to exercise authority in the contested part of the city.

As the pope arrived in Jerusalem, each side accused the other of exploiting his visit for political gain. Though the pope’s movements have been carefully choreographed to avoid obvious political minefields, every step and word was bound to be closely scrutinized.

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Fighting over the Pope's visit the Israelis have used a clause in a 1994 law to shut down a media center. while this may seem trivial it in many ways highlights the struggle between Israel and Palestinians over a small piece of land. Israel has the big guns and will win usually always win and rule the day.

In fact from the article:

Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said in response that it was “really sad to see how some Palestinians will do anything to politicize this visit.”

Could the Pope's visit actually make the problem worse?

If you read the article it is hard to figure out which side is trying to politicize this visit more. In fact the Palestinians don't have a chance.

Palestinian president, said Israel was trying to keep the Palestinians’ “mouths shut about how the city has been occupied and is still occupied.”

No Palestine, the Pope will not hear you on this visit, go back beyond the walls and checkpoints and await your destruction.

www.nytimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

To begin with, its totally stupid on behalf of the Israelis doing this, i mean how stupid and straight forward can it get. By closing it , they more or less told the world that , hey look at us we can do what ever we want when ever we want.

Then again the message they sent was that Palestine is growing and is being respected in the eyes of the global community.

Latest news from the Pope's visit...

Pope Takes Peace Message To Holy Site

(
www.cbsnews.com...

(AP) Pope Benedict XVI took his message of peace to the most contentious site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Tuesday, urging both sides to engage in "a sincere dialogue aimed at building a world of justice and peace."

On the second day of his Holy Land tour, the pope visited the Dome of the Rock, where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, and the adjacent Western Wall, the last remnant of the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

The Palestinians released two groups of red, green and black balloons perhaps as a reminder to the Pope and world that they are there, and that they too see these sites as having great importance to their religion.