Latest update: 11/05/2009 

- Benedict XVI - government - Holocaust - Israel - Jacob Zuma - Palestinian Territories - South Africa - UK


In the papers
No Flash warning
To take advantage of all the features on FRANCE24.COM, please click here to download the latest version of Flash Player.
France 24 journalists present a daily round-up of the world's papers.
By Marian HENBEST (text)

Ynet news.com (Israel)

Rabbai: Pope visit contradicts Judaism
 
Ynet news.com, the English-language version of Israeli paper Yediyot Aharonot, reminds its readers that Pope Benedict XVI begins his five-day trip to Israel on Monday.  The pontiff is to visit numerous sensitive sites including Jerusalem and the Holocaust museum Yad Vashem.  A rabbi quoted in the article urges his fellow colleagues in Israel not to meet with Pope Benedict because “the Catholic Church tortured and murdered Jews and helped the Nazis…”.
 

Le Figaro explains that the context of Pope Benedict’s visit has drastically changed since former pope Jean-Paul II visited Israel in 2000.  According to the paper, hopes for a peace process have collapsed and tensions in the region have risen.  The pope will have to tread carefully, especially given his somewhat mixed status. Spiritually, he supports the Holy Land’s Christians though many of these are Palestinians.  As a theologian, he has an interest in the Jewish divine vocation but it is as a German that he will visit the Holocaust memorial.
 

Jerusalem Post (Israel)
Mission Possible
 
The Jerusalem Post features the pope’s visit on its front page and devotes pages inside the paper to various organisations, including the information campaign group Just Peace for Israel.  The group outlines Israel’s historical and spiritual importance in the world and calls on the pope to speak out against the renunciation of Israel, whether this be from “Hamas and Fatah…Tehran…or the sanctimonious corridors of the UN”.
 
Over the weekend it was British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Labour Party who came under fire from the world press over the MP expenses scandal.  This week, however, the tables seemed to have turned and David Cameron’s opposition Conservative Party is facing the music.  The Telegraph reveals the names of numerous high-profile Conservative ministers who are also implicated in the affair. 
 

Al Sharq al Awsat (Saudi Arabia)
 
South Africa’s Jacob Zuma made his inauguration speech as the country’s new president on Sunday.  For weeks, the international press has been speculating which of his three wives will be chosen as his first lady.  Al Sharq al Awsat believes it has the answer – the paper singles out Zuma’s first wife, Sizakele Khumalo, in a photograph alongside her husband.
 

 

Related Content
Close