Israel has been accused of issuing orders to demolish a stage built to welcome the Pope to a Palestinian refugee camp next week so as to avoid images of the pontiff in front of the controversial Israeli barrier surrounding Bethlehem, The Media Line has learned.
The dispute over where, exactly, the pope should be received when he visits the ‘Aida Palestinian refugee camp next week centers around whether or not the refugee camp's reception for the pope should be held at a spot at which a walled section of Israel's separation barrier, including a military control tower, are easily visible.
The spot originally slated for the event - often used by the camp's residents for public gatherings, parties and demonstrations - sits along the barrier, a sight it is believed Israel would prefer not serve as a backdrop to photos of the pope's pilgrimage to the region.
‘Aida refugee camp sits just over a mile north of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. The camp, home to more than 5,000 residents, is almost entirely surrounded by a walled section of the barrier, which runs hundreds of miles around the West Bank, parts of it manifesting as a fence and parts of it as a tall concrete wall. The wall manifestation has become a symbol of anti-Israeli sentiment by the Palestinians and has attracted considerable international criticism of Israel. Completed in the area just a few years ago, the barrier has sealed off the Bethlehem region from neighboring Jerusalem and is a major source of grievance for the camp's residents, who say it has all but killed the local economy.
Palestinian officials began working months ago to prepare the camp for the pope's visit by removing graffiti and political messages from the walls of the camp and constructing the necessary facilities in the original reception area.
"We prepared an amphitheater and heated area around an outdoor stage we usually use for outdoor events such as film screenings," said Dr Abdel Fatah Abu Srour, director of the camp's A-Ruwwad Cultural and Theater Training Center and a member of the local committee arranging the Pope's visit. "We covered it with stones, decorated it and made a proper space to receive his holiness."
Palestinian organizers of the pope's visit say Israeli soldiers entered the camp and issued an order for the demolition of the stage.
"We were told that the Israelis don't want the wall in the background," Abu Srour said, adding that the committee also received pressure from the Palestinian Authority to move the event.
Israel seems to have won the dispute after turning to the Vatican with a request to move the site for the pope's reception at the camp. The Vatican complied and passed the request on to the camp's committee setup to receive the Pope.
The organizers were forced to relocate to an open area in front of a UN school adjacent to the original site. While the wall and the military control tower are still visible from the square, neither will appear directly behind the pope in photos. "It is just on the other side of the street from the original site," explains Abu Srour, "but the Pope will stand with the houses in the background, not the wall."
Israel denies the claims it is attempting to minimize the appearance of the highly contentious barrier in press images of the pope's visit to the region.
"Every aspect of this visit has involved close cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," said Yigal Palmor, a spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "They built a stage right on the wall, on the margins of the camp, without permits and in a totally uncoordinated manner so they were ordered to dismantle it."
"The real question," Palmor added, "is why they chose to build it specifically there. Why did they think that the Holy Father should be pushed with his back to the wall and try to sneak it in without coordinating it with us?"
Palestinian officials in the camp claim the stage has existed for two years. "The stage is near the separation wall," Abu Srour said, "but the camp is almost completely surrounded by the wall."
What is clear is that Israel is not eager to publicize the refugee camp portion of the pontiff's pilgrimage through Israel and the Palestinian territories, and indeed the event does not appear on a detailed itinerary of the pope's visit put out by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
While ‘Aida refugee camp falls entirely on the Palestinian side of the wall, Israel has determined the camp falls within 'Area C', which under the provisions of the Oslo Accords means all construction permits must be issued by Israel. Palestinians retort that Israel should not retain such controls after building a wall to keep Bethlehem residents, including those in the camp, out of Israel.
"The people in the camp are very angry," Abu Srour said. "We have worked hard to receive his holiness in a friendly manner... This wall exists. If the Israeli's are ashamed of it then they should demolish it."
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