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Pope In Syria Calls For "Real Peace" In Mideast
DAMASCUS, May 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Pope John Paul II began a visit to Syria Saturday with a strong appeal for a "real" Middle East peace, while his host, President Bashar al-Assad, called for his support against Israeli oppression.
The two spoke against a backdrop of continuing violence and of calls by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for a new summit to be held to discuss the causes of that violence.
A Palestinian was gunned down earlier in the day near the Bethlehem birthplace of Jesus in what Palestinians called an Israeli assassination, while Israeli tanks shelled a Palestinian security post near Jericho, wounding nine people.
Continuing Middle East tensions featured prominently in both speeches, as did the theological and cultural links between Christians and Muslims.
The pope said: "We all know that real peace can only achieved if there is a new attitude of understanding and respect between the people of the region, between the followers of the three Abrahamic religions" of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
He was speaking following welcoming remarks from Assad after arriving from Greece, the first leg of a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Saint Paul that will also take him to Malta.
His welcome in Greece was initially cool, though he struck a bid for peace between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox world, and brought applause from Greece's Archbishop Christodoulos when he asked forgiveness for past Catholic sins against the Orthodox.
In Syria, by contrast, the pontiff was warmly welcomed by Assad and a throng of well-wishers before listening to an impassioned speech by the Syrian leader.
"We know that in your prayers you remember the suffering of Jesus Christ," said Assad, urging his guest to "also remember the suffering of our people in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine," whom he said were victims of oppression.
"We expect that you will support them against oppression, so that they can recover what was unjustly stolen."
Assad said the Israelis tried "to kill religions in the same way they betrayed Jesus Christ, in the same way they tried to kill the Prophet Mohammed [SAW].
"They are killing the principle of equality when they speak of God creating people who are superior to others," he said. "We see them making aggression against holy places in Palestine - Muslim and Christian," such as the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
"The implementation of holy principles requires standing in the face of those who oppose those principles," Assad said, adding that, "justice means that rights should be returned to their original owners.
"Lands in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine belong to their original Arab owners ... the houses belong to their owners and the refugees should [be able] to go back to their places," he said, referring to the right of return for Arab refugees who lost their homes at, and since, the creation of Israel in 1948.
While not naming Israel by name, Assad added there are parties who "make our brothers in Palestine suffer and die.
"Love, is to quit the hateful killings of all that is Arab ... And sincerity is to stop lying about reality and history and pretending to have rights without any foundation," he said in a jab at the Jewish state.
Assad also reaffirmed Syria's commitment to a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict in conformity with U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The pontiff also read from a prepared text.
"As I have publicly stated on other occasions, it is time to 'return to the principles of international legality: the banning of the acquisition of territory by force, the right of peoples to self-determination, respect for the resolutions of the United Nations Organization and the Geneva conventions,' to quote only the most important," he said.
"As the word 'peace' echoes in our hearts, how can we not think of the tensions and conflicts which have long troubled the region of the Middle East," the pontiff asked, and praised the Syrian leader for confirming that "a just and global peace is in the best interests of Syria."
On Sunday, John Paul is due to meet Muslim leaders in of Damascus, becoming the first pope in history to enter a mosque. The Omayyad mosque was also the scene of St. Paul's conversion, in order to follow Jesus.
In his Saturday speech he called for a new dialogue with Muslims.
The BBC reports that in recent years, the Vatican has declared the relationship with the Muslim world as being of pivotal importance and has been putting increasing time and energy into improving relations.
"Today, in a world that is increasingly complex and interdependent, there is a need for a new spirit of dialogue and cooperation between Christians and Muslims," the pontiff said.
"Together we acknowledge the one indivisible God, the creator of all that exists. Together we must proclaim to the world that the name of God is a name of peace and a summons to peace," he continued.
Assad described the pope as "a very dear guest to people who believe in God and ask his help."
He described Syria as "a meeting place for all religions… that have spread around the world," noting that the country had produced a number of popes.
Pointing out that, "Christianity spread throughout the world via Syria through the Apostle Paul," Assad added that Syria had contributed "eight popes to the Vatican" and that "three eastern Churches [Greek Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Syrian Orthodox] have their patriarchal seats in Damascus."
The pontiff arrived at Damascus international airport at 2:00 pm (1100 GMT), and was greeted personally by Assad. Top government officials, as well as Muslim, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church leaders accompanied the president.
A local schoolboy presented the pope with an ornate wooden casket in national colors, containing Syrian soil for him to kiss, thus saving him from having to bend down to perform his traditional arrival gesture of kissing the ground.
The pope is due to travel Monday to the Golan Heights, where he will visit the ghost town of Quneitra, plant an olive tree and pray in one of the town's churches.
The town was taken by Israel in 1967, which destroyed it before evacuating it in 1974 after the disengagement agreements reached following the 1973 war.
Syria has preserved the town as it was left for it to testify to "Israel's barbarity".
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