JewishIsrael launches with a pope briefing

To coincide with the Pope’s visit,  JewishIsrael is launching its website and making our content available to the public.

There is a tremendous amount of disinformation and misinformation on the papal visit, and it's difficult to absorb and grasp the magnitude of the problem.  To help clarify matters, JewishIsrael here provides a comprehensive briefing on recent Israel-Vatican relations, with links to issues of concern and contention.

RABBINIC OPINIONS:
Chief Rabbinate: Holy Land assets cannot be turned over to Vatican
Rabbi Lau: No Need to Flatter the Pope -- or to Rebuff Him
Chief Rabbis Won’t Greet Pope at Airport
Pope asked to find Jews raised Catholic
Western Wall rabbi says pope should not wear cross at site

PROPERTY ISSUES:
There have been on going attempts by the Vatican to acquire property on the Diaspora Yeshiva Campus - including the Upper Room above The Traditional Tomb of King David . The Vatican is seeking and laying claim to a number a properties throughout Eretz Yisrael.

TAX ISSUES:
According to Israeli law, properties that are used as houses of prayer are exempted from paying property tax. But the churches, which own a vast number of properties in Jerusalem, are required to pay the city property tax for buildings they own that are not used for worship, including hostels, guest houses and schools. The Jerusalem Post reports that the total amount of unpaid property tax amounts to roughly NIS 300 million, with the Latin Patriarchate the biggest offender.

HOLOCAUST ISSUES:
Efforts underway to make”Hitler’s Pope” more beautiful
The Vatican has launched a campaign to whitewash the record of Pope Pius Xll ("Hitler's Pope") so that the Vatican can proceed with his beautification process without Jewish sensitivities getting in the way.

The Blind Bishop
There was a major scandal when the Vatican attempted to rehabiltate an excommunicated bishop who is on record for stating that historical evidence "is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed" during World War II.

The UN’s Cardinal
Cardinal Renato Martino, the head of the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace and a former Holy See envoy to the United Nations, caused an uproar when he compared Gaza to a "big concentration camp"

Hide and Seek in the convent
The counter missionary group Yad L'achim is calling upon the Pope to reveal the records of the “hidden Jewish children” of the Holocaust. Arutz 7 reports that "It is estimated that thousands of Jewish children were left with Christian monasteries or families by their Jewish parents during the Holocaust, in the hope that they would thus survive the war. However, many of these children were never claimed, returned or told of their Jewish background." The Jerusalem Post also reports on this issue.

THEOLOGICAL ISSUES:
On converting Jews:
Pope Benedict's recent restoration the Tridentine rite - a prayer for the conversion of Jews resulted in a threat to boycott a key Vatican event by the Chief Rabbi of Venice - who accused Pope Benedict of wiping out 50 years of dialogue.

Vatican puts Israeli late night TV host in cherem
The Vatican condemned a skit performed on a late night private television station in Israel (seems that “there’s something about Mary” that we Jews can’t laugh at any more). The Vatican demanded an apology from the State of Israel for the "blasphemy". And Olmert obliged.

POLITICAL ISSUES:
Pope falls to his knees
On Easter Sunday the Pope reportedly tripped as he climbed up to his gilded (golden) chair ...and then he proceeded with his speech calling for "Reconciliation... and sincere efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "

Pope endorses anti-Israel fest
The Pope hails Durban 2 conference, urges countries to take part. It appears the Pope feels that participation in the anti-Israel fest, would be "a fundamental step toward the affirmation of the universal value of the dignity of man and his rights."

Pope has relations with Arabs
Holy See signs agreement with League of Arab States
Pope accepts keffiyah as gift from Palestinian worshippers
Pope Benedict XVI receives a traditional Jordanian 'Kaffiyeh'

THE MT. ZION VAULTS:
Q: Is property on Mt. Zion on the line or not?
A: Some say "yes":
Israel’s control of Mt. Zion is in danger : Arutz 7
Israel considers giving holy sites to Vatican : Christianity Today
Peres wants to hand over Christian sites in Israel to Vatican: Haaretz
Christian holy sites in Israel 'could be controlled by the Vatican': The Telegraph
'Peres wants to yield sites to Vatican':the Jerusalem Post
But David Bedein Says, “No”. in his article, No Substance To Rumors Of A Mount Zion Transfer

What’s the truth on Mt. Zion?
Unlike the Vatican, we at JewishIsrael have no secrets. Deep inside cyberspace are hidden treasures which we happily expose. Here is a key to the archives which prove that Mt Zion has been perpetually on the line since time immemorial. If you don’t have the time, head or heart to peruse the files, take a look at this one letter (provided as a courtesy by the Committee to Save Mt. Zion) from the 2005 Mt. Zion records.

Whatever the case, JewishIsrael recommends that the Jewish people get smart , as anydeal will be couched in very clever language such as…. “…suggesting, to Israeli government officials, to simply allow the use of the Shrine by the Christian world, rather then any property turnover. This use will not disturb the Tomb of King David below or the Yeshiva on the ground level . This simple gesture will give a sorely needed boost to the decimated tourism industry in the Holy Land, by sending a signal to the Christian world, that they are welcome in Israel. This, gesture will in turn, help all the people in the region.”

GOVERNMENT GROVELLING:
Every Israeli Minister has his price:
“If we were certain this great gift would bring millions of Christian pilgrims to visit here we would have good reason to agree to these demands [Vatican demands for property]…”---- Tourism Minister, Stas Misezhnikov

The Israeli Trinity promotes the Pope
Ministry of Tourism Promotion
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Promotion
Jerusalem Municipality Promotion
[note: the mayor gets kudos for saying “Jerusalem is the heart and soul of the Jewish people and a special city to more than 3 billion people of faith around the world.” But he gets a kick for referring to the pope as “His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI”]

Laugh of the day from TIP: “The Israel Project is not related to any government or government agency”.

Be sure to check out the JI BLOG POSTS on Vatican related issues:
Ministry of Toursim sell Israel...down the tubes
Pope to Cross Kotel Lines
Olmert apologizes for Jesus and Virgin late night episode
Did you hear the one about the Jewish Knight, the Pope, the Rabbi, and Jesus?

ARTICLE LINKS:
Papal visit bad for us ( By the former head of the Israel National Security Council)
All for the Pope: Have we no red lines? (an investigative report by Toby Klein Greenwald)
Identity Impaired Jewish State (an oped by Yishai Fleisher)
The Obligation to Smash Idols ( a related oped by Ellen Horowitz) Keeping Our House in Order (a related oped by Ellen Horowitz)

AUDIO LINKS:
Tovia Singer: Audio: Christian Holy Places, the Pope, and Ancient Christianity

VIDEO LINKS:
Israel Ministry of Tourism Promotes jesus and the pope
Pope reinstates Holocaust-denying bishop
Jewish Efforts to Rehabilitate Pope Pius Xll
The Rebbe speaks to an apostate


IMAGE LINK: “I’m Kosher, I’m Kosher” (read your Rashi)

PROTESTS:
JewishIsrael has been informed that at 18:00 exactly this coming Monday May 11, 2009, while the Pope is speaking at Yad Vashem, pro-Israel activists have asked that everyone honk their car horns for 1 full minute, making a protest heard, wherever you are in Israel.

JewishIsrael is not advertising the protest associated with Bob Kunst - addressed to “Dear ‘Chosen’ activists” - at this time, because his organization has had a missionary association in the past. We don’t know at this time if his connection has ended with the particular party in question.

A FINAL NOTE:
DO CATHOLIC’S MISSIONIZE? Not as well as evangelicals…but...