SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
(Photo: Creative Commons/Catholic Church England and Wales)
A Challenge to Occupation? Pope Francis to Visit Palestinian Refugees in West Bank
"This visit will help us in supporting our struggle to end the longest occupation in history."
May 19, 2014
On an upcoming trip to the Middle East, Pope Francis is expected to prioritize his visit with Palestinians, including a refugee camp, in a move interpreted by many as a 'recognition' of a future Palestinian state.
The papal "pilgrimage of prayer" is set to begin in Jordan next Saturday. From there, Francis is expected to take a helicopter directly to Bethlehem before heading to east Jerusalem, both recognized by the international community as part of Palestine.
According to Father Jamal Khader of the Latin patriarchate in Jerusalem, the decision to visit Palestine before Israel is "a kind of sign of recognizing Palestine."
While in Bethlehem, the Pope will meet with the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, and then celebrate mass in front of the Church of the Nativity, before visiting a nearby refugee camp, AFP reports.
"He will have a lunch with Palestinians, with families suffering from the occupation... then he will visit Dheishe refugee camp to witness the suffering of Palestinian refugees," Ziyyad Bandak, Abbas's adviser for Christian affairs, told Voice of Palestine radio. "This visit will help us in supporting our struggle to end the longest occupation in history."
According to Shoruq, an independent Palestinian refugee rights NGO, the Dheishe refugee camp in the occupied West Bank was established as a temporary sanctuary during the expulsion of the more than 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe). Now home to the descedants of those expelled, the 13,017 refugees live on less than one square kilometer of land rented by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
"Knowing who he is, and his sensitivity for all those who suffer, I am sure that he will say something defending all those who are suffering, including the Palestinians who live under occupation," Khader added.
While in east Jerusalem, the Pope is planning to take "brief forays" into Israel and will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Vatican-owned Notre Dame complex, which stands on the disputed border of east and west Jerusalem.
"I know that Israeli officials are not happy with this decision," to begin his visit in Palestine and not Israel, Bandak added. "We welcome this visit and consider it as support for the Palestinian people, and confirmation from the Vatican of the need to end the occupation."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
On an upcoming trip to the Middle East, Pope Francis is expected to prioritize his visit with Palestinians, including a refugee camp, in a move interpreted by many as a 'recognition' of a future Palestinian state.
The papal "pilgrimage of prayer" is set to begin in Jordan next Saturday. From there, Francis is expected to take a helicopter directly to Bethlehem before heading to east Jerusalem, both recognized by the international community as part of Palestine.
According to Father Jamal Khader of the Latin patriarchate in Jerusalem, the decision to visit Palestine before Israel is "a kind of sign of recognizing Palestine."
While in Bethlehem, the Pope will meet with the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, and then celebrate mass in front of the Church of the Nativity, before visiting a nearby refugee camp, AFP reports.
"He will have a lunch with Palestinians, with families suffering from the occupation... then he will visit Dheishe refugee camp to witness the suffering of Palestinian refugees," Ziyyad Bandak, Abbas's adviser for Christian affairs, told Voice of Palestine radio. "This visit will help us in supporting our struggle to end the longest occupation in history."
According to Shoruq, an independent Palestinian refugee rights NGO, the Dheishe refugee camp in the occupied West Bank was established as a temporary sanctuary during the expulsion of the more than 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe). Now home to the descedants of those expelled, the 13,017 refugees live on less than one square kilometer of land rented by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
"Knowing who he is, and his sensitivity for all those who suffer, I am sure that he will say something defending all those who are suffering, including the Palestinians who live under occupation," Khader added.
While in east Jerusalem, the Pope is planning to take "brief forays" into Israel and will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Vatican-owned Notre Dame complex, which stands on the disputed border of east and west Jerusalem.
"I know that Israeli officials are not happy with this decision," to begin his visit in Palestine and not Israel, Bandak added. "We welcome this visit and consider it as support for the Palestinian people, and confirmation from the Vatican of the need to end the occupation."
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
On an upcoming trip to the Middle East, Pope Francis is expected to prioritize his visit with Palestinians, including a refugee camp, in a move interpreted by many as a 'recognition' of a future Palestinian state.
The papal "pilgrimage of prayer" is set to begin in Jordan next Saturday. From there, Francis is expected to take a helicopter directly to Bethlehem before heading to east Jerusalem, both recognized by the international community as part of Palestine.
According to Father Jamal Khader of the Latin patriarchate in Jerusalem, the decision to visit Palestine before Israel is "a kind of sign of recognizing Palestine."
While in Bethlehem, the Pope will meet with the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, and then celebrate mass in front of the Church of the Nativity, before visiting a nearby refugee camp, AFP reports.
"He will have a lunch with Palestinians, with families suffering from the occupation... then he will visit Dheishe refugee camp to witness the suffering of Palestinian refugees," Ziyyad Bandak, Abbas's adviser for Christian affairs, told Voice of Palestine radio. "This visit will help us in supporting our struggle to end the longest occupation in history."
According to Shoruq, an independent Palestinian refugee rights NGO, the Dheishe refugee camp in the occupied West Bank was established as a temporary sanctuary during the expulsion of the more than 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe). Now home to the descedants of those expelled, the 13,017 refugees live on less than one square kilometer of land rented by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
"Knowing who he is, and his sensitivity for all those who suffer, I am sure that he will say something defending all those who are suffering, including the Palestinians who live under occupation," Khader added.
While in east Jerusalem, the Pope is planning to take "brief forays" into Israel and will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Vatican-owned Notre Dame complex, which stands on the disputed border of east and west Jerusalem.
"I know that Israeli officials are not happy with this decision," to begin his visit in Palestine and not Israel, Bandak added. "We welcome this visit and consider it as support for the Palestinian people, and confirmation from the Vatican of the need to end the occupation."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.