http://wcbstv.com/national/pope.palestinian.state.2.1006541.htmlTEL AVIV, Israel (CBS) ―
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Pope Benedict XVI delivers a speech before boarding an airplane at Amman's airport heading to Tel Aviv on May 11, 2009.
Khalil Mazraawi/AFP/Getty Images
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Pope Benedict XVI has called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, immediately plunging into Middle East politics upon his arrival in Israel.
That position could put him at odds with his Israeli hosts.
The pope also pledged to "honor the memory" of the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, speaking at the airport after he landed Monday.
Benedict has had to tread carefully on his Middle East visit after coming under sharp criticism from both Muslims and Jews for past statements.
He hopes his weeklong, emotion-charged trip to the Holy Land, which began with three days in neighboring Jordan, will improve relations with Jews and Muslims.
The pilgrimage is Benedict's first to the region as pope.
The Holy Father landed at Israel's international airport in Tel Aviv, where Israeli leaders, including President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had gathered for a welcoming ceremony.
During his five-day visit, the pope will tour Israel's national Holocaust memorial and visit holy sites in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The visit has generated some controversy in Israel because the pope spent time in the Hitler Youth corps as a youth. Benedict has said he was coerced.
The German pontiff will also have to tread carefully in Israel because he sparked outrage among Jews earlier this year when he revoked the excommunication of an ultraconservative bishop who denies the Holocaust.
In Jordan on Sunday, Benedict XVI praised the courage of Middle East Christians who cling to their faith despite war and adversity, addressing a crowd of 20,000 who filled a sports stadium where he celebrated the first open-air Mass of his Holy Land pilgrimage.
For years, the church has been alarmed by the declining presence of Christians in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East, ancient communities driven out by conflict and poverty.
"The Catholic community here is deeply touched by the difficulties and uncertainties which affect the people of the Middle East," Benedict said, speaking in English at the Mass. "May you never forget the great dignity which derives from your Christian heritage, or fail to sense the loving solidarity of all your brothers and sisters in the church throughout the world."
He said fidelity to the church's mission in the Middle East "demands of each of you a particular kind of courage" that requires building ties with people of other religions and cultures.
The pope was welcomed at the stadium in Arabic by the Latin rite patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, who recalled that Jordan has taken in more than 1 million Iraqi refugees since the start of the war, some 40,000 of them Christians. According to Vatican statistics, Jordanian Christians in a community that dates back nearly 2,000 years are less than 2 percent of the country's overwhelmingly Muslim population.
Many Iraqi Christians were forced to flee the sectarian violence following the 2003 U.S.-led war in Iraq. Muslim militants targeted Iraqi Christians, many who were killed, raped or kidnapped. Several churches across Iraq were bombed, and clergy were killed.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Palestinian Christians, squeezed between Muslims and Jews in the Holy Land, have been immigrating in high numbers - mainly to the West. In Egypt, which has the biggest Christian community in the region at about 10 percent of the country's 76 million, Coptic Christians have strained relations with Muslims. Violent clashes have erupted between the two sides in recent years.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Benedict was pleased with his Mideast trip so far and believed he had accomplished his objective of warming relations with Muslims, saying the dialogue had taken "new steps forward."
The pontiff angered many in the Muslim world three years ago when he quoted a Medieval text that characterized some of Islam's Prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."
During his trip, however, the Pope has stressed he has "deep respect" for Islam while at the same time denouncing what he called the "manipulation of religion" for political purposes that has led to violence, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth.
Sunday afternoon, Benedict traveled some 30 miles from Amman to Bethany beyond the Jordan river, the site of Christ's baptism. He got into a golf cart, with King Abdullah II seated beside him, and was driven a few yards from the riverbed.
He also blessed the foundation stones of Latin and Greek Melkite churches and kept up his theme, speaking of the contributions Christians can make to end violence and suffering in the Middle East "inspired by the example of Jesus, of reconciliation and peace."
Catholics from across the Middle East attended Sunday's Mass. Many held up flags from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and other countries and applauded the pope's words and shouted out his name. Forty Iraqi children making their first communion wore long white robes as they waved the Iraqi and Vatican flags.
In his homily, Benedict said he hoped Christians would always get the "material and moral assistance" they need. He also paid tribute to Christian women in the region, saying many have "devoted their lives to building peace and fostering harmony."
Father Raymond Mousalli, an Iraqi priest, said Iraqis of all faiths must sit together and find peace after years of war.
"The holy father speaks here, and his voice is heard in the Middle East especially by Iraqi Christians who are suffering a lot," Mousalli said.
Peter Samaan, a 15-year-old Iraqi dressed in a white communion robe, said he hoped Benedict could one day travel to Iraq.
"We Christians want to return. We are strangers in this country." Samaan said, adding that his family fled Iraq to avoid persecution.
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