A group of visiting anti-Israel German Catholic bishops likened their Sunday visit in the Palestinian Authority to a visit to Nazi-occupied Poland, among other provocative analogies. On Tuesday, the left-wing civil rights organization B'Tselem called on the government to raise the number of PA Arabs allowed into pre-1967 Israel for work.


German Bishops Against Checkpoints
This morning we saw pictures of the Warsaw Ghetto at Yad Vashem and this evening we are going to the Ramallah ghetto,” said German Bishop Gregor Maria Franz Hanke after entering PA territory. His remarks were widely reported in the German media.


Cardinal Joachim Meisner, the Archbishop of Cologne, added, as the group crossed an Israeli counter-terrorism checkpoint into eastern Jerusalem, “This is something that is done to animals, not to people." He said the security fence sparked memories of the Berlin Wall.


"This evening we are going to the Ramallah ghetto." - German Bishop Gregor Maria Franz Hanke



The 27 members of the German Bishops Conference visited Israel’s Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem, toured Christian holy sites in the capital, and met with politicians and church groups in Israel and the PA during their stay. It was the first such official tour by the German Catholic Church organization. During their time outside the PA jurisdiction, their comments were balanced and diplomatic; however, once they were in the PA, the public statements of the bishops took a turn towards Holocaust imagery and harsh anti-Israel sentiment.


Following their visit to Israel and the PA, the German dioceses are considering altering a message they were intending to send to all of Germany's Catholic churches in honor of Easter. The German Catholic Church may now include a political message regarding the situation in the Palestinian Authority.


B'Tselem for More PA Employment Permits
B’Tselem (Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories) also had critical words regarding Israel's policy in issuing permits for Palestinian Authority Arabs seeking work with Israeli employers.


According to B'Tselem, tens of thousands of PA residents currently working illegally in pre-1967 Israel are victims of Israeli policies in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.  In its latest report, “Beyond Legal Boundaries,” released Tuesday, the organization blames Israel for the poor economic situation in the Palestinian Authority. The report claims that

B'tselem places responsibility for employment and job creation in the PA on Israel.

underdevelopment in the PA is a result of directed Israeli policy and of on-again, off-again closures imposed on Judea, Samaria and Gaza since 1991.


B'Tselem places responsibility for employment and job creation in the PA on Israel. However, barring such Israeli investment, the B'Tselem report says, "As long as the Palestinians are dependent on Israel for their livelihood, and there are no alternative sources of income in the West Bank, Israel is obligated to ease its closures policy and allow more Palestinians to enter its borders, subject to appropriate security checks."