May 6, 2001
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s official speech of welcome yesterday to Pope John
Paul II contained clearly anti-Semitic clauses. The speech shows that
anti-Semitism in the official Syrian press is not of an incidental nature, but is
rather part of a consistent government policy. Excerpts from Assad’s welcome:
“ the summit of responsibility for maintaining those
values , especially
there are those who invariably attempt to subject all people once and
again to the journey of ailments and agony. Therefore, our brethren in
Palestine are being murdered and tortured, justice is being violated, and as a
result territories in Lebanon, the Golan and Palestine have been occupied by
those who even killed the principle of equality when they claimed that God
created a people distinguished above all other peoples. We notice them
aggressing against Moslem and Christian Holy Sites in Palestine …
They try to kill all the principles of divine faiths with the same mentality of
betraying Jesus and torturing him, and in the same way that they tried to
commit treachery against Prophet Mohammad…”
“The application of heavenly tenets requires taking a stand against those
who oppose them. Equality means that dealing with other peoples should not
be governed by psychological complexes or claims of distinction above other
peoples. Justice means restoration of rights to those who deserve them.
Land and houses in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine belong to their owners.
It also means return of the refugees to their homeland. Love means refraining
from killing Arabs out of hatred, and to teach children not to bear malice
against others. Truth is realized by refraining from distorting current and
historical facts and from claiming rights and history which have no basis.”
“Islam spread throughout the world advocating justice, love and equality
among human beings with no distinction between one and another except by
God fearing.”
Addition, May 8, 2001
Pope John Paul II is on his way to Malta, following his three-day visit in
Syria that featured his failure to respond to what the International
Christian Embassy Jerusalem termed the “anti-Semitic invective and
political manipulations of youthful dictator Bashar al-Assad.”
The ICEJ today expressed “complete rejection” of what it called Assad’s
“vicious anti-Semitic statements,” as well as its “disappointment at the
Vatican’s failure to timely rebut this immoral attack on the Jewish
people.”
ICEJ’s Executive Director Rev. Malcom Hedding said, “It was clear from the start
that the Syrian Government was determined to exploit the Pope’s visit for devious political
purposes. The Vatican has no excuse for failing to foresee this and then
remaining silent to Assad’s pernicious charges against the Jews concerning
the sufferings of Jesus. This repeats the Church’s mistakes of the past.”
Regarding yesterday’s papal visit to Kuneitra, which was destroyed
during the Syrians’ attacks on Israel in the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars
and which the Syrians purposely left in its desolation, Hedding stated,
“The setting negates the message , since the ruins of Kuneitra
are primarily a testimony to Syria’s undying animosity towards Israel.”
