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World Jewish News
Pope visiting Western Wall in Jerusalem
12.05.2009
Pope Benedict continued his historic pilgrimage through the Holy Land on Tuesday, visiting the most sacred site in Judaism.
The pontiff appeared at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Tuesday, one day after his much talked-about appearance at Israel's Holocaust Memorial at Yad Vashem.
Earlier, he appeared at the Temple Mount, where he shook hands with the mufti of Jerusalem and senior Islamic Waqf officials. Balloons were later released over Jerusalem's Old City in the colors of the Palestinian flag while the Pope was at the Western Wall.
The speech by Pope Benedict XVI yesterday at Yad Vashem drew criticism from staff members of the Holocaust memorial, who described it as disappointing and lukewarm.
The chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Avner Shalev, said he expected the pope, "who is a human being, too," to draw on his personal experience to issue a stronger condemnation of Nazis and Germans, who were not directly mentioned in the speech. The pope grew up in Nazi Germany and served in both Hitler Youth and the Wehrmacht, before deserting from the army in 1944. Shalev, however, said the speech was "important," especially in its criticism of denial of the Holocaust.
Источник: Haaretz
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