OPINION:Petty politicking from Irish church leaders and an Israeli rabbi sends a terrible message about interfaith relations, write Ed Kesslerand Lucia Faltin
LEADERS OF Ireland's main Christian churches were barred from praying at Jerusalem's Western Wall on Thursday because they refused to remove the large crosses they were wearing. The Western Wall, known as the Kotel in Hebrew, in Jerusalem's Old City, is a surviving outer wall from the Second Temple which existed in biblical times and was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.
The security guards at the Kotel who stopped the delegation from reaching the area were supported by the Rabbi of the Kotel, Shmuel Rabinovitch who argued that the display of large crosses was provocative to Jews.
For Christians, the cross is a reminder of the triumph of Jesus over death, the establishment of God's will over the earth, the love of God as manifested in Jesus and God's presence revealed in suffering. For Jews, who were persecuted by Christians, the cross symbolised oppression and domination, notably in the context of Good Friday observances or passion plays.
The Holocaust intensified these negative connotations of the cross not only because of its occurrence in Christian Europe, but also because the Nazi swastika is a form of a cross (although with roots far back into antiquity).
Deriving from these different historical experiences, the contrasting emotions that the cross generates among Jews and Christians has often generated controversy, such as the erection of a 14ft cross at Auschwitz in 1988 and dozens of smaller crosses (removed a year later) in 1998. A similar incident occurred when Austrian bishops visited the Kotel last year.
This incident illustrates the powerful part that symbols continue to play in interfaith relations. Yet we would suggest that Rabbi Rabinovitch was overreacting and even playing power games. Rather than defending the sensitivities of his co-religionists, the Rabbi succumbed to petty politicking.
The same might be said of the bishops, for whom the pull of the symbol could not apparently be overcome. The bishops could have placed their crosses in their shirt pockets, as people often do with religious paraphernalia when they enter the house of worship of another religion.
They should also have noted that sensitivity levels were high on Thursday as Israelis were observing an annual day of remembrance, Yom ha-Shoah, for the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.
We could perhaps shrug our shoulders and content ourselves that no harm was done. For those of faith, this might be seen as a safer reaction, since such disputes and displays of what is relatively mild intolerance provide ammunition to increasingly ardent secularists, who are eager to see a dampening of public displays of faith.
To keep our heads down, however, is missing an opportunity for learning in the encounter between Christians and Jews. Both parties in this incident could be accused of insensitivity. It is regrettable that a better solution was not found.
The Western Wall represents an important symbol in interfaith relations, and the continuing journey to find peace in the Middle East. A positive meeting between the bishops and the Rabbi could have sent out a great public message.
What a pity, then, that those keen to improve interfaith relations must learn from what the leaders should have done, rather than what they actually did.
Dr Edward Kessler is executive director and Lucia Faltin is director of international relations at the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations, Cambridge and the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths, comprising the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations and the Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations