Pope lands in Bethlehem, nod to Palestinian state

BETHLEHEM, West Bank: Pope Francis has landed in the West Bank town of Bethlehem in a symbolic nod to Palestinian aspirations for their own state as he prepared for a busy second day of his Mideast pilgrimage.
Previous popes have always come to the West Bank after first arriving in Tel Aviv, Israel. Francis though landed Sunday at a Bethlehem helipad from Jordan and immediately headed into a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In its official program, the Vatican referred to Abbas as the president of the “state of Palestine.”
Francis is expected to repeat the Vatican’s call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his meetings with Abbas and later upon his arrival in Israel.
In Jerusalem, police arrested 26 Jewish extremists protesting at a holy site on Mount Zion outside the Old City which will be visited by Pope Francis, a spokesman said.
The arrests took place just hours before Francis’ arrival in Jerusalem.
“Demonstrators at King David’s Tomb threw stones and bottles at the security forces, lightly injuring two police,” spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, referring to a site revered as holy by Christians, Jews and Muslims where the pope will hold a mass on Monday.

Arms dealers
Pope Francis started his 3-day Middle East visit in Amman, Jordan, where he appealed for an urgent end to the Syrian civil war and denounced arms dealers during an emotional meeting with refugees from Syria and Iraq who have fled to Jordan.
Francis deviated from his prepared remarks to make a strong plea for peace during his first day in Jordan, praying for God to “convert those who seek war, those who make and sell weapons!“
“We all want peace, but looking at the tragedy of war, looking at the wounded, seeing so many people who left their homeland who were forced to go away, I ask, ‘Who sells weapons to these people to make war?’” he asked. “This is the root of evil, the hatred, the love of money.”
His tough words echoed the diatribe he delivered a few weeks ago against mobsters in Italy, denouncing their activities and praying that they turn away from evil to embrace a more dignified life.
The appeal during a meeting with war refugees came just moments after the pontiff bent down at the Jordan River, where some believe was the site of Jesus’ baptism, and touched the waters. And it capped an intense day at the start of his first visit as pope to the Holy Land.
Francis thanked Jordan for its “generous welcome” to Syrian refugees.
“I urge the international community not to leave Jordan alone in the task of meeting the humanitarian emergency caused by the arrival of so great a number of refugees, but to continue and even increase its support and assistance,” he said.
Jordan last month opened a third refugee camp for Syrians, evidence of the strains the conflict is creating for the country. It’s currently hosting 600,000 registered Syrian refugees, or 10 percent of its population, but Jordanian officials estimate the real number is closer to 1.3 million.
Francis saw the refugee exodus firsthand, meeting with some 600 Syrian and Iraqi refugees and disabled children at a church in Bethany beyond the Jordan.
Nazik Malko, a Syrian Orthodox Christian refugee from Maaloula who was on hand for the visit, welcomed the pope’s message.
“We hope that all parties will listen to His Holiness to leave weapons aside in order to restore peace in the whole world,” he said.