Both the Anti-Defamation League and The Simon Wiesenthal Center denounced statements made by Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah in his annual Christmas message on December 19th.The Simon Wiesenthal Center called on Pope Benedict XVI to reject statements made by Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah last week in Jerusalem. Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder and dean of the center, claims that Patriarch Sabbah is engaging in an "insidious campaign to de-Judaize the State of Israel". This came in response to the patriarch's call on Israel to "discard its identity as a Jewish State".
The leader of Latin-rite Catholics in Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, the West Bank and Gaza Patriarch Michel Sabbah said that where "there's a state of one religion, other religions are naturally discriminated against'' and that Israel should bring about a ''political, normal state." Furthermore, the prelate pronounced "There is discrimination linked to the nature of the state. Israel says simply 'I am a Jewish state' and that creates discrimination with regard to non-Jews."
Rabbi Hier's statement, which quotes the patriarch as having once said of Israelis, "In the end we will send them away just as we did to the Crusaders", went on to say that "Israel does not need lessons from Patriarch Sabbah on how to treat citizens of ohter faiths and religions," and He would better serve the Christians in the Holy Land by going to Gaza and defending the beleaguered Christian minority there from Hamas extremists".
Rabbi Hier's statement refered to Patriarch Sabbah's "ignorant and inflammatory remarks" while saying that "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 Midde East without a Jewish State." Furthermore, Rabbi Hier said that Patriarch Sabbah's "latest outburst" is a contradiction to a 1987 declaration by Pope John Paul II that stated "'Jews have a right to nationhood as do all other peoples according to international law'".
For its part, the ADL was "deeply disturbed" and also slammed the Latin Patriarch's pre-Christmas speech, saying "His comments are particularly ironic considering that he represents a Catholic state and a theocratic monarchy". The ADL expressed concern saying "Father Sabbah would politicize the holy season of Christmas by denying the Jewish people’s right to a Jewish state."
The ADL lauded Israel's political culture saying that "all of Israel’s citizens Jewish and non-Jewish enjoy the privileges of modern democracy, freely and openly practice their religions and are afforded equal rights under Israeli law".
A December 22nd editorial in the Jerusalem Post called the patriarch's Christmas message a "deep insult" and "hypocritical"; it also said that "It is impossible to escape the conclusion that Sabbah was not speaking as a Catholic, but as a Palestinian, drawing not from the declared position of the Holy See in Rome but of the PA (Palestinian Authority) in Ramallah". The editorial called on the Palestinian leadership "to recognize the compelling moral justice of Israel's claim to sovereign rights, and to educate their people accordingly".
The Jerusalem Post noted that Patriarch Sabbah had not denounced the Palestinian Authority's Basic Law that declares Islam the official religion of Palestine nor the fact that Islam is the official religion of numerous countries in the world where Christians and Jews are often persecuted.
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