Solidarity visit

Hizbollah threatened Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, of Lebanon, for his decision to accompany His Holiness Pope Francis to Jerusalem, telling him that his planned trip would have “negative repercussions”.

The Pope is scheduled to visit the Holy Land, and Jordan, between May 24 and 26.

A newspaper loyal to the movement even called the projected visit of the Maronite patriarch a “historic sin”.

One could understand the controversy in Lebanon surrounding the patriarch’s visit, as this Arab country is technically still at war with Israel, but the cardinal’s gesture should be seen as stressing the Arab character of Jerusalem, whose demography Israel is trying hard to change, by evicting Palestinians, by making their lives miserable to force them to leave and by constantly enlarging settlements to bring in more Jews.

“I’m going to Jerusalem to say this is our city, and Jerusalem is Arab,” the patriarch was reported to have said last week.

Rightly so. And so should so many other Arabs and Muslims. 

Palestinians need all the help — including moral — that can come their way in the face of Israel’s onslaught on all fronts.

The Holy See is making a historic visit to the Holy Land, including East Jerusalem, for strictly religious purposes and to highlight the importance of this holy city to all monotheistic religions.

The Pope values the holy sites in East Jerusalem, against which Israel has declared designs, and his visit seeks to buttress this interest.

While Hizbollah’s defence of Lebanon is legitimate, it should refrain from interfering in issues that do not fall under its domain.

It is possible that the Shiite movement seeks to extend its influence across the region, but deciding who can and who cannot accompany Pope Francis on his visit falls beyond its reach.

Rai, a Catholic cardinal, is the leading official of the Maronite church. There are around 900,000 Maronites in Lebanon, forming about a quarter of the population, quite enough to decide and follow their own policies without interference.