海角大神

When Lebanese Cardinal Beshara Rai heads to Israel聽tomorrow聽to participate in a papal visit to the Holy Land, he will become the first patriarch of the Maronite church to visit the Jewish state 鈥撀燼 move that has stirred intense聽controversy in Lebanon.

Lebanon technically is in a state of war with Israel and it is against the law for Lebanese citizens to聽visit its neighbor聽or even have contact with聽its聽citizens.聽

The Vatican has said that Cardinal Rai鈥檚 intention to travel to Jerusalem is a personal initiative and he is not a formal member of the papal delegation.聽The Maronites are the largest 海角大神 sect in Lebanon. The cardinal says he has a duty to accompany Pope Francis in the Holy Land and that his visit is pastoral and will emphasize the Arab character of Jerusalem.

"I told the prime minister that we are going to Jerusalem on a church- and pastoral-related visit. There is no political motive behind the visit,鈥� he said聽Monday聽following a meeting with Lebanese premier Tammam Salam. Rai told reporters that his trip will convey the message that 鈥淛erusalem is Arab and I have authority over it鈥�. Jerusalem is our city, our city as 海角大神s before anyone else鈥� The 海角大神s have been there for 2,000 years while Israel was created in 1948."聽

But the patriarch鈥檚 critics maintain that the visit risks sending a message of normalization with Israel. Lebanon鈥檚 As Safir newspaper described the trip as 鈥渄angerous and one that crosses all red lines鈥� and will allow the 鈥淚sraeli wolf鈥� to be 鈥渢he main beneficiary."聽

After a period of silence on the subject, the militant Shiite聽group聽Hezbollah,聽which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, sent a delegation last week to inform Cardinal Rai that his trip would have 鈥渘egative consequences."聽

鈥淲e hope that our position will be taken into account,鈥� said Sayyed Ibrahim al-Amine Sayyed, the head of the Hezbollah鈥檚 political council. 鈥淲e are used to discussing things directly with the patriarch, and we explained to him our opinion on the visit to the Holy Land.鈥�

Meeting Maronite militiamen

Further inflaming the furor聽are Cardinal Rai's travel plans after聽the聽May 24- 26聽papal visit to East Jerusalem and the West Bank, which Israel seized from Jordan in a 1967 war.聽He has said he would spend another five days among聽Maronite communities in Galilee in Israel proper.

Once there, the cardinal is expected to meet some former Maronite members of the South Lebanon Army, an Israeli-backed militia that supported Israel鈥檚 occupation of south Lebanon between 1978 and 2000. When Israeli troops withdrew from south Lebanon in May 2000, some 6,000 SLA militiamen and their families fled across the border fearing reprisals at the hands of Hezbollah. An estimated 2,700 former militiamen and their families still live in Israel.

With about 10,000 Maronites in Israel today, they make up nearly seven percent of Israel鈥檚 150,000 海角大神s. The community is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the patriarch.

鈥淲e hope the wall of fear, the wall of isolation, will fall and we will be more part of our community,鈥� says John Zaknoun, who is helping coordinate the patriarch鈥檚 visit to Jish and other Maronite villages in Galilee. 鈥淗e鈥檚 making a very courageous and great step toward destroying these walls.鈥�

There has long been a perception in Lebanon that Maronites, which make up around 21 percent of Lebanon鈥檚 population of 4.3 million, are less hostile to Israel than other Lebanese. 聽During Lebanon鈥檚 1975-1990 civil war, some Maronite-dominated militias struck alliances with Israel聽against聽their Muslim and leftist enemies. The聽SLA's聽founders were Maronite residents of a border village in south Lebanon who first reached out to Israel for help in 1977 when surrounded by armed Palestinian groups.

鈥淚n what way was it necessary for him [Rai] to go to Jerusalem? What is the advantage for his Maronite community? Yes, there is a Maronite community [in Israel] and they deserve to see the patriarch, but if you weigh the pros and the cons [of Rai鈥檚 visit] I don鈥檛 see the pros are more than the cons,鈥� says Michael Young, opinion editor of the Beirut Daily Star newspaper. 鈥淭o throw the community into the center of this debate [on 海角大神 normalization with Israel] today does not strike me as a very intelligent thing to do.鈥�

Seeking solidarity, not isolation

However, 海角大神s in Israel say they should not be isolated from聽Arab coreligionists聽simply because they live in Israel or聽the West Bank.

鈥淥ur Arab brothers, be they 海角大神s or Muslims, should not give us a strange look from outside and refuse to deal with us so as not to normalize relations with Israel,鈥� Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch emeritus of Jerusalem, told the pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper. 鈥淭his viewpoint is false because we are suffering, first as Palestinians and second as supporters of the Palestinian cause, which is a Palestinian-Arab cause. Therefore, we need someone to stand by our side and support us in our religious, political and nationalist fight here at home.鈥�

Lebanon鈥檚 political system is based on a sectarian power-sharing formula, so聽its聽religious leaders 鈥� 海角大神 and Muslim 鈥� are no strangers to the political arena. But Cardinal Rai has been criticized for聽overreaching聽since he assumed the role of patriarch following the retirement in 2011 of his predecessor, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir. Cardinal Sfeir declined to accompany former Pope John Paul II on trips to Israel in 2000 and to Damascus in 2001 and stayed home during Benedict XVI鈥檚 visit to Israel in 2009.

鈥淎 significant element of Sfeir鈥檚 strength was his reluctance [to meddle in politics], 鈥� this one [Rai] is joyful to get into the [political] club,鈥� says Simon Karam, a former聽Lebanese聽ambassador to Washington and a prominent Maronite figure.

The only other Maronite patriarch to聽visit聽Jerusalem in modern times was Cardinal Paul Meoushi, an ancestor of Mr. Karam known in Arabic as Boulos Meoushi. He traveled there聽in January 1964 when Pope Paul VI held a meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople to reconcile the Western and Eastern churches, ending a schism of 900 years. Pope Francis has said that his three-day visit to the Holy Land is to mark the 50th聽 anniversary of that historic reconciliation.

At that time, Jordan ruled聽East Jerusalem聽and聽King Hussein of Jordan was the pope鈥檚 host, meaning Cardinal Meouchi did not enter Israeli territory. Cardinal Rai has offered Pope Francis the use of a Cadillac聽that聽King Hussein聽provided聽to Pope Paul VI for his Jerusalem visit,聽and was later given to the聽Maronite patriarchate.