The final stages in Bethlehem and Ramallah (on 3 and 4 March) of the pilgrimage to the Holy Land by the bishops making up the Permanent Council of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), led by Cardinal Karl Lehmann, aroused protests in Israel and Germany, owing to the comments made by some bishops on the situation of the Palestinians. In particular, in Bethlehem, the bishop of Eichstatt, Msgr. Gregor Maria Hanke, talked about a situation recalling the ghetto of Warsaw. The criticism and the requests for explanation coming from Israel were numerous. Among them, there were a letter by Avner Shalev, president of the memorial of Yad Vashem (visited on 2 March), and the declarations, made known on 6 March, by the Ambassador of Israel in Germany, Schimon Stein, as well as by the Central Council of the Hebrew. (To be continued)
