For the first time, Israel has made available to tourists–on a daily basis, the site where Jesus is traditionally believed to have been baptized.

The move has raised the ire of Palestine, because the site lies along the West Bank. It also upsets Jordan, which the site borders.

A ceremony was held to mark the opening of Kasser al Yahoud Baptism Site, attended by Silvan Shalom, who is Israel’s minister of regional development, and delegates of Christian churches and organizations who are based in Israel.

A miracle

Shalom told Ynet News that the opening of the project, which cost some $3 million, is “a miracle,” adding, “After being closed and neglected for 44 years, we managed to meet this challenge with a lot of sources and despite the bureaucracy.”

The Baptism Site had been closed for 44 years since it was won by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel managed to wrest the site and the remainder of the West Bank.

Since then, the site was only open to visitors on specific days of the year, usually Christian holidays, and public viewing required careful coordination with Israel’s military.

Part of the effort for the opening ceremony involved removal of landmines in the surrounding area, although further from the site the area is viewed as a “no man’s land” still littered with landmines in what was hostile territory between Jordan and Israel until a peace treaty was signed in 1994.

Shalom expressed his thanks to the Israel Defense Forces and the Defense Ministry for their help and cooperation. He said the site “has a huge touristic potential, and the option of hosting hundreds of thousands of people who will come here and extend their stay in Israel,” Ynet News reported.

The number of tourists coming to Israel continues to rise. Last year some 3.45 million tourists visited Israel, 69 percent of them Christians. Some 38 percent said they came as part of a religious pilgrimage.

Illegal occupation

There were no representatives from Palestine or Jordan during the opening ceremonies.

Palestine’s tourism minister, Khouloud Daibes, said the move by Israel is “illegal,” adding, “This is a site in the occupied territories, and whatever Israeli authorities are doing on Palestinian sites we consider illegal and part of seizures related to the occupation and Israel’s monopoly over our historic and touristic resources,” according to the AP.

Jordan, on the other hand, insists that the true baptism site lies not on the portion of the Jordan River that falls under Israel’s control, but is actually 10 yards across, where the river runs along Jordan’s banks, placing both areas in competition for tourists.

Area of peace

“We have a request for the minister [of Israel],” Greek Orthodox Patriarch Metropolitan Isykhios said in his remarks during the opening ceremony, “that they clear the mines from the way in, and turn this into an area of peace, and not an area of occupation and mines,” the AP reported.

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Catholic bishops from the Middle East demanded last Saturday at a special synod in Rome that Israel “put an end to the occupation” of Arab lands.

The AP reported that the bishops released the statement on the final day of its two-week Vatican conference that was convened by Pope Benedict XVI. (See  http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/10/pope-urges-christians-jews-and-muslims-to-work-for-peace-14015).

The bishops said Israel should agree to U.N. resolutions for them to leave Palestinian territory, and added that it is wrong of Israel to employ the Bible as defense of “injustices” that were committed against the Palestinians, the AP said.

The special synod was called to thresh out the mass departure of Christians from the Middle East, which is the place where Christianity originated. The bishops also condemned all forms of terrorism and anti-Semitism, the AP reported.

The statement said, “The Palestinian people will thus have an independent and sovereign homeland where they can live with dignity and security,” the Jerusalem Post said. Furthermore,

“The State of Israel will be able to enjoy peace and security within their internationally recognized borders,” CNN reported.

The statement added that this would give Jerusalem its proper status as a holy place for Jews, Christians and Muslims saying, “We hope that the two-state solution might become a reality and not only a dream,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

The first time the pope publicly endorsed the two states coexisting was in May 2009 when he visited the region. The pope at that time expressed support for a sovereign Palestinian homeland, a suggestion that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed, CNN said.

Recently, peace talks had been revived between Palestinians and Israelis, but were scuttled because Israel embarked on the construction of 600 housing units in the West Bank. Palestine had said a freeze on Israeli settlements was a precondition for continuing with the talks, CNN reported.

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Pope Benedict XVI released recently a Vatican document that criticized Israel, Egypt, Islam and Christian fundamentalists.

The 46-page text, “The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness,” will serve as the working document for an October meeting at the Vatican about the Middle East, Fox News said.

Benedict held mass in a sports arena near the Cypriot capital where he prayed for the success of the October synod of Middle Eastern bishops, which will focus on the issues outlined in the document, according to the AFP.

This is the first time a pope has officially visited Cyprus, and is part of a continuing move to open communion with Orthodox and Catholics amid a post Christian and neo pagan age, according to Catholic online.

Benedict said he hoped the October synod “will help to focus the attention of the international community on the plight of Christians in the Middle East who suffer for their beliefs, so that just and lasting solutions may be found to the conflicts that cause so much hardship,” the AFP said.

The document said “Oftentimes, relations between Christians and Muslim are difficult, because Muslims make no distinction between religion and politics, thereby relegating Christians to …being considered non-citizens,” Fox News said.

It said, “The Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories is creating difficulties in everyday life, inhibiting freedom of movement, the economy and religious life,” Fox News said.

The document also claimed that Christian fundamentalist theologies use the bible to justify Israel’s occupation of Palestine, which makes the position of Christian Arabs more tenuous, the AFP said.

“In Egypt, the rise of political Islam, on the one hand, and the disengagement of Christians (forcefully at times) from civil society on the other, lead to severe difficulties,” the document said, adding that there is also an Islamic push taking place in Egypt through the media and through schools, Fox News said.

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