In the wake of the Catholic Church's chief cleric in Jerusalem declaring that Israel's identity as a Jewish homeland discriminates against non-Jews, the Simon Wiesenthal Center called on the Vatican to reject Patriarch Michel Sabbah's demand for Israel to "discard its identity as a Jewish State".Sabbah, the first Palestinian Latin Patriarch and a harsh critic of Israel, once said of the Israelis, "In the end we [Arabs] will send them away just as we did to the Crusaders."
"Patriarch Sabbah's denial of the State of Israel as a Jewish State is nothing less than a campaign to de-legitimize her and is fodder for those with a long-held dream of a Middle East without a Jewish State," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center.
Further, Sabbah's latest outburst contradicts both Pope John Paul II's 1987 declaration that, 'The Jews have a right to nationhood as do all other peoples according to international law' and the United Nations Declaration of 1947 that called for an Arab and Jewish State.
"Israel does not need lessons from Patriarch Sabbah on how to treat citizens of other faiths and religions," said Hier.
"He would better serve the Christians in the Holy Land by going to Gaza and defending the beleaguered Christian minority there from Hamas extremists. We call on Pope Benedict to reject Sabbah's demand and all those supporting this insidious campaign to de-Judaize the State of Israel," Rabbi Hier concluded.
The Wiesenthal Center stopped short of calling on the Vatican to de-Catholicize itself.
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