this nonsense again...please, give it up...it's a dead horse
To my Christian friends on here, I love you guys, but this statement by the church is ridiculous:
"The Vatican explained it couldn't condemn all attacks on Israel, because these attacks were often followed by unlawful Israeli actions."
Is the church serious with this statement, saying Israel's response to terrorism is unlawful and wrong. Come on!!!! They might be tyring a little to hard to appease Muslims.
Condi Rice praised Abbas for tackling terrorism, while rockets are raining down on and killing Israelis (Jews). What exactly has he done? Rather than we in the US, who should after 9/11 know better, understanding why Israel would take strong measures to combat terrorism, we praise a facilitator of that terror.
The Vatican made it clear that they do not regard terrorism against Jews in the same light as terrorism against the British or others. They equated Israel targeting those that would perpetrate terrorism against Jews, with the deliberate targeting of civilians by the Palestinians.
The fact that you see this as a dead horse, indicates that you seem to agree with that stance.
However, to this FReeper who has friends and relatives living in Israel, the Vatican pointedly ignoring terrorism in that state, is a slap in the face to all Jews. It also raises many questions of the Catholic Church, and those questions are likely to ignite a firestorm.
I was a fan of Pope John Paul II. But there are Arabist, anti-semitic factions at the Vatican who are apparently testing the waters now that there is a new Pope. It was nice to have such a Pope as John Paul, but we can live very nicely thank you without the friendship of the new German Pope, if that's the way it goes. I am not in favor of Jews/Israel genuflecting before the Vatican, any more than I was that we kiss Mel Gibson's ring.