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In what has been called by some as a complex game of “papal propaganda poker”, commentators have said that Pope Francis’ prayer at the West Bank separation barrier has handed the Palestinians a decisive victory over Israel.
According to the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, “One image from the pope’s visit has already become history”. The newspaper admitted that the picture of the Pope’s spontaneous stop to rest his forehead and his hand on the wall had immediately become “a Palestinian PR achievement”. Hanan Ashrawi, senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), said that “the Palestinians were touched” by the Pope’s gesture and that he was also “clearly moved by the experience”. The pope’s decision to fly directly to Bethlehem from Jordan, instead of starting the trip from Israel, was seen as an “active recognition of the state of Palestine”, she said.
During his trip, the pope had met with children in the Dheishe refugee camp, and presented with a mock-up refugee card with the name of Jesus on it and a key symbolizing Palestinians’ yearning to return to their homes. During the open-air mass in Bethlehem, the Pope stood in front of a mural of the nativity scene depicting infant Jesus clothed in a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.
The Pope’s activities were not well received in Israel. Yigal Palmor, spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said, “Obviously the Palestinians laid well prepared traps for the pope which were used as part of their instrumentalisation of this visit for propaganda purposes”. Israel quickly made movers to counter the blows of the image, with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly having made a personal request to the Pope to visit a national memorial for the victims of the attacks on Mount Herzl.
As the Pope touched the marble plaque bearing the victims’ names, Netanyahu explained Israel’s thought-process behind the barrier. “We don’t teach our children to plant bombs. We teach them peace. But we have to build a wall against those who teach the other side. After it was set up, the terror stopped”, he said.