In an action that spoke far louder than words, Pope Benedict yesterday walked out of an interfaith meeting in Jerusalem after the chief Islamic judge of the Palestinian Authority launched into an anti-Israeli diatribe.
The pontiff, on his first day in Jerusalem, did not realize at first that Sheikh Taysir al-Tamimi, speaking in Arabic, was condemning the “crimes of the Jewish state” and accusing Israel of having “slaughtered women, children and senior citizens.”
But as soon as he was told the nature of the sheikh’s tirade, he stood and left the meeting, which took place at Notre Dame church, before it had concluded.
It’s not as if the organizers shouldn’t have seen this coming: Back in 2000, Tamimi did the same thing during a visit by the late Pope John Paul II.
A spokesman for the Holy See later condemned the remarks, saying that “in a meeting dedicated to dialogue, this intervention was a direct negation of what dialogue should be.”
Thus, Benedict learned first-hand the true nature of Palestinian hatred of Israel — and responded precisely as one would expect a messenger of peace to react.
Hopefully, the message of his silent but powerful rebuke will not be lost on the people of the Middle East.
And the rest of the world, too.