Vandals Mar Helipad Where Pope Is Scheduled to Land

JERUSALEM — On the eve of Pope John Paul II’s visit to the Holy Land, suspected right-wing Jewish extremists spray-painted swastikas and anti-pope slogans on the Jerusalem helipad where the papal helicopter is to land, police said Sunday.

The Vatican flag was defaced with red paint, and eight lights were smashed, police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. Swastikas and slogans such as “Pope Out” and “Where were you during the Holocaust?” were spray-painted on the helipad’s paved surface. Workers painted over the graffiti.

The helipad is located on Mt. Scopus, overlooking the walled Old City, where the pope will visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Al Aqsa mosque and Judaism’s holiest site, the Western Wall.

The pope arrives today in Jordan for a visit to the region.

Police suspect that the vandalism was the work of “right-wing Jewish extremists,” Ben-Ruby said. Although polls indicate a generally high level of public support in Israel for the papal visit, some extremist groups have expressed opposition to the visit and have called for demonstrations during the trip.

Mainstream Jewish groups are critical of the Vatican for what they say was the failure of Pope Pius XII to condemn the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Nevertheless, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who is a Holocaust survivor, will meet the pope and has urged Israelis to welcome him.

Last week, John Paul apologized for persecution of the Jews by Christians in the past, and he has made a number of statements promoting reconciliation between the two faiths. Lau said that the apology was a step forward but that the pope ought to have acknowledged the role of the church in the persecution.

Insisting again that his trip to the Holy Land is strictly religious, John Paul asked for prayers Sunday for his pilgrimage.

“May this visit, inspired only by religious motives, bring hoped-for fruits for the good of the entire church,” the pope said to about 40,000 people who turned out in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

The Holy Land itinerary will test the 79-year-old pope’s physical strength as well as diplomacy in dealing with officials of various political stripes and faiths.