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Israelis reacted differently to the pope's visit,
depending on where they were from
John rather than John Paul II who
touched down at Ben-Gurion Airport.
An Israeli youngster can go
through 12 years of school without
here was an enormous
learning the basic facts about
difference between the
Christianity for Islam for
way that adult
that matter).
Israelis, on the
There are a few excep-
one hand, and their chil-
tions,
to be sure. Dor, a
dren, on the other, related
Analysis
12th grade history major at
to the pope's visit.
a local high school., has stud-
The adults, or at least
ied the foundations of Christianity
those who grew up in pluralistic
and the development of the Papacy.
Western countries, followed the pon
But among the 260 teenagers in
tiff's pilgrimage with great interest
his
grade, only eight are history
because they understand v,,ho he is
majors.
The other 252 can hardly dif-
and what he stands for Sabras, in
ferentiate
between a pope and a pizza.
contrast, were generally indifferent;
What little knowledge they have
they know practically nothing about
about Christianity is mainly acquired
Christianity and would certainly have
within the context of their studies of
been more excited had it been Elton
NECHEMIA MEYERS
Special to the Jewish News
.
Head In His Hands
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As the pope departed Sunday night on
an El Al 747 with the name "Jerusalem"
on its nose, interfaith activists realized
his would be a hard act to follow.
"We have come very far, but that
does not mean there is still not a
long way to go," said Rabbi
Melchior, who' announced during the
Western Wall visit his intention to
launch a new interfaith dialogue
forum. "I know that there are more
and more Christians and people in
the Catholic Church, as well as
Muslim leaders, who want to join in
a different kind of dialogue."
This, however, was not clearly evi-
dent from the pope's visit.
Before visiting the Western Wall,
John Paul toured the Temple Mount,
which houses the AI-Aksa Mosque,
Islam's third holiest shrine.
There he heard Palestinian griev-
ances about Israel's behavior toward
them in eastern Jerusalem since the
Jewish state took control of the entire
city in the 1967 Six-Day War.
He also met the grand mufti of
Jerusalem, the leading Islamic cleric in
the city, whose inflammatory com-
ments published that day accused the
Jews of exaggerating the Holocaust to
win world sympathy. The pope's
spokesman said John Paul was
unaware of those remarks.
Earlier during the trip, the mufti
refused to attend a Jewish-Christian-
Islamic summit. A second-tier Islamic
representative stormed out of the
meeting after lashing out at Israeli pol-
icy toward Palestinians in Jerusalem.
As he listened to competing Jewish
and Islamic claims to Jerusalem, the
pope held his head in his hands.
Reality Check
Throughout his pilgrimage, John Paul
skillfully traversed the religious and
political chasms that sever the Holy
City. He kept himself above attempts
from both sides to politicize the visit,
and he issued universal calls for peace
wherever he set foot.
Rabbi David Rosen, director of the
Anti-Defamation League's Israel office
and a veteran interfaith activist, said
the difficulties in finding common
ground with Islamic leaders demon-
strated the importance of pressing
ahead with interfaith work.
"This has been a boost for inter-
faith relations and an inspiration for
those of us who work in this field,"
said Rabbi Rosen. "But it is not going
to change the reality we will have to
contend with, which is not only a
politicization of religion that tends to
work against interreligious
but also the "cultural context in which
people perceive themselves as exclusive