Pope speaks of Palestinian right to homeland

The Palestinians say they could not have hoped for a sweeter gift in the year they hope to establish their state.

With the world watching, Pope John Paul II kissed a golden bowl of Palestinian soil Wednesday in a highly charged gesture normally reserved for sovereign states. In the presence of a proud Yasser Arafat, the pontiff also reaffirmed the Palestinians' "natural right to a homeland."

Just a day earlier, during his overflight of the West Bank en route from Jordan to Israel, the pontiff had sent a telegram of good wishes to Arafat - again a papal recognition normally awarded only heads of state.

The Vatican has said the pope's weeklong Holy Land tour was a spiritual journey and that he wanted to stay above the political fray. However, from the start this has turned out to be a nearly impossible task.

On Tuesday, upon the pope's arrival in Israel, Israeli leaders made repeated references to disputed Jerusalem as the eternal Israeli capital.

The Palestinians demand the eastern sector of the city as their capital. Arafat on Wednesday referred in his welcoming speech to "occupied Jerusalem" and claimed the city as the eternal capital of Palestine.

After being flown by an Israeli Blackhawk helicopter from Jerusalem to Palestinian-run Bethlehem just a few miles to the south, the pope was offered a small golden-colored bowl with soil. The pontiff's lips briefly touched the rim.

The speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Ahmed Qureia, said the gesture was powerful recognition of Palestinian independence. "This is no doubt an act that says he recognizes the sovereignty of Palestinians over this land," said Qureia, touted as Arafat's possible successor.

Vatican officials were quick to play down the event. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls suggested the gesture was religious in nature. "Why wouldn't he kiss the earth of the land where Jesus was born?"

However, in another politically sensitive visit, in 1989 to Indonesia, the pope had declined to kiss the soil of East Timor, then an Indonesian-annexed territory with independence aspirations.

Palestinian officials said the pope's arrival speech was a clear endorsement of their cause. Strong applause greeted the pope's remarks that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved "on the basis of international law and the relevant U.N. resolutions and declarations."

The Palestinians have argued that under U.N. resolutions 242 and 338 which call for an Israeli withdrawal from lands occupied in the 1967 and 1973 Mideast wars, Israel must hand back all of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

Israel has a different interpretation, saying the resolutions do not refer to all war-won land.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami played down the pope's remarks, saying the pontiff was reiterating the Vatican's traditional position.

"This is a known stance of the Vatican for many years and we didn't expect the pope to change his positions in the Israeli-Arab conflict," Ben-Ami said.

The Vatican has expressed support for a Palestinian homeland and is expected to be sympathetic if and when a Palestinian state is declared.