Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 23:32:48 -0500

Subject: VATICAN: "JERUSALEM ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED"

EXCERPTS: "East Jerusalem is illegally occupied."

"The situation today has been brought about by force and is maintained by force. The Holy See has spoken out on this and will continue to speak out clearly, without mincing words..." MORE BELOW

 VERY insightful document from Israeli Journalist Barry Chamish.

VATICAN CITY, OCT 27, 1998 (VIS) - Made public yesterday afternoon was the speech given earlier in the day in Jerusalem by Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, at the start of a two-day conference on the city of Jerusalem, in which he suggested that the Holy See participate in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the status of this city.

The secretary for Relations with States remarked at the start that "this cause of the Holy City has long been at the center of the Holy See's concerns and one of its top priorities for international action." He highlighted the "universally accepted uniqueness" of Jerusalem as a city "holy to the adherents of three religions," Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The archbishop pointed out that "it is important to clarify from the very start that when we speak of Jerusalem the distinction often made between the 'question of the Holy Places and the question of Jerusalem' is unacceptable to the Holy See."

 He then turned to the "political dimension" of Jerusalem and the questions regarding territorial control. 

"The situation today has been brought about by force and is maintained by force. The Holy See has spoken out on this and will continue to speak out clearly, without mincing words and consistently adhering to the position of the majority within the international community, as expressed above all in the pertinent United Nations Resolutions. Since 1967, a part of the City has been occupied militarily, and subsequently annexed. In that part of the City are to be found most of the Holy Places of the three monotheistic religions. East Jerusalem is illegally occupied. It is therefore wrong to claim that the Holy See is only interested in the religious aspect or aspects of the City and overlooks the political and territorial aspect. ... Obviously, the Holy See's immediate and practical concern is with religious questions, while in other matters - political, economic, etc. - it interest itself inasmuch as they have a moral dimension."

Reiterating Pope John Paul's words about the importance of finding "an adequate solution to the question of Jerusalem," Archbishop Tauran stated: "The Holy See continues to ask that (Jerusalem) be protected by 'a special internationally guaranteed Statute'" which would preserve the historical, material, religious and cultural aspects of the City, give "equality of rights and treatment" to adherents of the three faiths, "preserve the Holy Places and the rights of freedom of religion and worship, and of access."

He said that, in seeking a solution to the status of Jerusalem, Israelis and Palestinians "will not be able to avoid giving due consideration to the efforts and demands of all legitimately interested parties."

 In concluding remarks, the secretary for Relations with States, affirmed: "Any possible solution (to the Jerusalem question) should have the support of the three monotheistic religions, both at the local level and at the international level. Besides, as they are being proposed, the negotiations are expected to include the participation of the sponsor of the Peace Process and other parties could also be invited to contribute. The Holy See believes in the importance of extending representation at the negotiating table in order to be sure that no aspect of the problem is overlooked."

DELSS/JERUSALEM/TAURAN VIS 981027 (540)

END VIS BREIF

By Barry Chamish

Barry Chamish is an Israeli journalist.

JERUSALEM - Shimon Peres made very weird deal with the Vatican. Consider the evidence:

* On Sept. 10, 1993, just three days before the signing of the Declaration of Principles in Washington, the Italian news magazine La Stampa reported that part of the peace deal was an unwritten understanding that the Vatican would receive political authority over the Old City of Jerusalem by the end of the millenium. The newspaper reported that Shimon Peres had promised the Pope to hand over the holy sites of Jerusalem the previous May and that Arafat had accepted the agreement.

* In March 1994, the Israeli newsmagazine Shishi published an interview with Mark Halter, a French intellectual and close friend of Shimon Peres. He said he delivered a letter from Peres to the Pope the previous May, within which Peres offered the Vatican hegemony over the Old City of Jerusalem. The article detailed Peres's offer which essentially turned Jerusalem into an international city overseen by the Holy See.

* In March 1995, the radio station Arutz Sheva announced that it had received a cable sent by the Israeli Embassy in Rome to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem outlining the handover of the Old City of Jerusalem to the Vatican. Two days later Haaretz published the cable on its front page. The Foreign Ministry explained that the cable was genuine but someone had whited out the word "not." ie We will not transfer authority to the Vatican. Incredibly, numerous Bnei Brak rabbis who had cancelled Passover meetings with Peres over the issue of the cable accepted the explanation and reinvited him to their homes.

Once Labor was in power, negotiations with the Vatican began immediately with Foreign Minister Peres sending his Deputy Yossi Beilin to Rome to hammer out an agreement. When it was announced in late 1993, the public was told that many of the clauses were to remain secret. However, some clauses were leaked, leading to the following conseqences.

1. The Foreign Ministry's Legal Affairs Spokesperson Esther Samilag publicly complained about "various capitulations" to the Vatican. She was immediately and suspiciously transferred to a post at the Israeli Embassy in Katmandu, Nepal.

2. MK Avraham Shapira announced in the Knesset that he had information that all Vatican property in Jerusalem was to become tax exempt and that large tracts of real estate on Mount Zion were given to the Pope in perpetuity.

3. Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor Shmuel Meir announced that he had received "information that properties promised to the Vatican would be granted extra-territorial status." Perhaps unconnected, Meir died later at the hands of a Palestinian truck driver who was never prosecuted for even dangerous driving.

4. Beilin was forced to answer the accusations. He admitted, "Included in the Vatican Agreement is the issue of Papal properties in Israel that will be resolved by a committee of experts that has already been formed." If so, this committee has not since released any proof of its existence.

With all this in mind, how do we interpret the Vatican's current position on Jerusalem? The following report was circulated by MSANews.

VATICAN CITY, June 14, 1997 (VIS) - Archbishop Renato Martino, apostolic nuncio and Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations, spoke June 9 on the status of Jerusalem at the New York headquarters of the Path to Peace Foundation.

The archbishop addressed members of this foundation as well as U.S. members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

He began by briefly summarizing the "well-known and long-standing position of the Holy See with regard to Jerusalem. He stated that Jerusalem "for us, of course, along with the rest of the Holy Land, is that special link between heaven and earth, that place where God walked and ultimately died among men. And of course we recognize that others revere Jerusalem as the city of David and the prophets and the city known to Mohammed. ... It is a spiritual treasure for all of humanity, and it is a city of two peoples, Arabs and Jews, and of the three monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam."

Archbishop Martino added that "in recent years it has been increasingly difficult to break through the political and media-imposed stranglehold on the question of Jerusalem." he recounted Jerusalem's recent history, recalling in particular the UN's General Assembly Resolution 181 of 1947 calling for Jerusalem to be considered a 'corpus separatum' under the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations," a resolution which Israel accepted.

He pointed out that, in addressing the gridlock which has resulted from the 1967 Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, "the Holy See has therefore advocated the granting to Jerusalem of an 'internationallyguaranteed special statute. That is the phrase used by Pope John Paul II in his 1984 Apostolic Letter 'Redemption is Anno'."

This statute "asks that regardless of how the problem of sovereignty is resolved and who is called to exercise it, there should be a supra-national and international entity endowed with means adequate to insure the preservation of the special characteristics of the City, its Holy Places, the freedom to visit them, its religious and ethnic communities, a guarantee of their essential liberties, and its city plan'."

The apostolic nuncio recalled the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Israel in 1993, when both signed the 'Fundamental Agreement." He noted Article 4 of this agreement where "both the Holy See and Israel affirm their continuing commitment to the 'Status quo' in the Christian Holy Places."

He also spoke of the problems sparked by Israel's recent authorization of "a project for the construction of settlements in occupied territory in East Jerusalem" for which "there was wide-spread international condemnation." This issue, he reminded those present, was brought before the UN Security Council on March 7 and March 21 of this year, but without resolution "because the sole country on the Security Council which opposed the Resolution was the United States."

An Emergency Session of the General Assembly, "organized only nine other times in the history of the United Nations" was held on April 24-25. The Holy See delegation was contacted and asked for suggestions for a Resolution, Archbishop Martino said. And he recounted the meetings, rough drafts of proposals and negotiations which followed.

The approved texts of the eventual Resolution, he underlined, contained "those points championed by the Holy See. ... The General Assembly has here called for 'internationally guaranteed provisions' - the equivalent of the 'internationally guaranteed special status' called for by Pope John Paul II. This is particularly noteworthy because in this case, the Arab delegations all voted for this Resolution and therefore for this provision."

The Holy Places within Jerusalem," concluded Archbishop Martino, "are not merely museum relics to be opened and closed by the dominant political authority, no matter who that might be at any given moment. They are living shrines precious to the hearts and faith of believers."

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Barry Chamish is an Israeli journalist.