Israel on Wednesday urged Pope Benedict XVI to cancel a planned meeting at the Vatican with the mayor of an Arab Israeli town, calling the latter a "terror supporter and warmonger."Sakhnin Mayor Mazen Ghanaim is due to meet the pontiff on this upcoming Sunday, a spokesman for Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov told AFP.
"This is a terror supporter and warmonger that acts against the national interests of the state in which he serves as mayor, and I call on the Holy See to abstain from meeting with him," Misezhnikov said in a statement.
Ghanaim organised a demonstration in his town against Israel's devastating war in Gaza earlier this year during which he spoke out against the operation that in the end killed more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
"During it he said, and I paraphrase, that 'I support the people of Gaza who are struggling against this cruel and oppressive occupation'," said Misezhnikov's spokesman, Amnon Lieberman.
"He said, 'long live shahids, long live Palestine with its capital in Jerusalem'... he said, 'this brutal occupation should be stopped'," Lieberman said.
"Which is breaking the rules of the state where you are serving as mayor and where you are getting your salary from," Lieberman said. "It would not be accepted in any other country."
Misezhnikov is a member of Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party, whose top party platform during the recent election was dealing with Israeli Arabs who do not show sufficient loyalty to Israel.
In his post as tourism minister, Misezhnikov is in charge of coordination for the pope's forthcoming visit to the Holy Land in mid-May.
Ghanaim told Arab news sites that Misezhnikov was "irresponsible. It seems that he forgot that the elections are behind us and he does not need to garner extra votes."
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Source (AFP)
SV (ED)