GERMANY:The Israeli ambassador to Germany has criticised German bishops for drawing a comparison between the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw
The bishops made their remarks during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial site in Jerusalem on a tour of Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"This morning we saw pictures of the Warsaw ghetto at Yad Vashem and this evening we are going to the Ramallah ghetto," said Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke of Eichstätt.
"It's infuriating. Israel has the right to exist, but this right cannot be realised in such a brutal manner."
Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, described the security measures at checkpoints into East Jerusalem and the 8m (26ft) security barrier Israel is building within the West Bank as "something done to animals not people".
"For me, it is a nightmare," said Cardinal Meisner, who was born in East Germany. "I didn't think I would see such a wall again in my life. But this wall will fall like the Berlin Wall. It will not endure."
Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg said the situation bordered on racism.
The Israeli embassy in Berlin, the director of Yad Vashem and leaders of Germany's Jewish community issued critical statements yesterday.
Israeli ambassador Schimon Shtein accused the bishops of "demagoguery". He said that anyone who connected the Warsaw Ghetto or racism to current Israeli-Palestinian politics "has either forgotten everything or never learned anything and failed morally".
"The preservation of life has priority over the quality of life, that's something the bishops should never forget," said Mr Stein.
"A fence or a wall built by people as a security measure can, when the political conditions change, be dismantled. The victims of terrorists cannot be brought back to life."
Dieter Graumann, deputy leader of the Committee of Jews in Germany, said the statements had "an anti-Semitic character".
"With friends like these, who needs enemies?" he asked.
The German Bishops' Conference said yesterday that no comparison was intended and that the bishops' remarks were "personal", but issued no apology. Several commentators agreed with their stance.
"One cannot be shaken by Yad Vashem and then close your eyes to the misery in Ramallah," said Walter Brandmüller, chief historian of the Vatican, on German radio.
"Sadly, it is no longer possible to undo the Warsaw Ghetto, but things in Ramallah can be changed."