TOM GROSS BLOG
May 25, 2014

Pope chooses to pray in front of large graffiti comparing Bethlehem to the Warsaw Ghetto.

Many Western media outlets have today highlighted the fact that the pope began his Middle East tour by praying at the small section of Israel’s security barrier that is actually a wall; the rest of the protective barrier is wire-mesh. (The security barrier, which has saved countless lives, was built to protect Israelis after some 1000 civilians were killed by suicide bombers.)

But none of the Western media I have seen have drawn attention to the exact spot that the Pope chose to pray: in front of large graffiti comparing Bethlehem to the Warsaw Ghetto.

The photo above is from the main EU-funded Palestinian media outlet, the Maan news agency.

A few comments:

(1) Comparing Israel with Nazi Germany forms part of the working definition of anti-Semitism formulated by the EU and others. Only yesterday, Israel’s prime minister was among those to point out that the atmosphere of incitement against Israel was a probable contributing factor in attacks such as the one in which four Jews (two Israeli tourists and a French woman, and a young Belgian man working at the museum) were shot dead at the Jewish museum in Brussels yesterday. Two other Jews were attacked and struck with metal objects outside a Paris synagogue last night, just hours after the Brussels shooting.

(2) Bethlehem is a relatively prosperous town where restaurants and juice bars are packed, and BMWs, Mercedes and Humvees compete for parking spaces in the center or town. By contrast, 400,000 Jews were herded into the Warsaw Ghetto and those who weren’t beaten or starved to death there, were taken to be exterminated at nearby camps…..

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