BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt Monday defended Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai’s recent visit to occupied Jerusalem and Israel, saying regional developments affecting Christians required such a trip
.
“Although I did voice my reservation with regard to the visit ... I wonder why there’s all this commotion? And more importantly, why some politicians who abandoned Rai without defending him are so questionably silent,” Jumblatt said.
He said the prelate’s visit aimed at giving hope to Arabs and Palestinians living in dire circumstances in Israel, adding that Rai refrained from saying anything that Israel could have used in its favor or that could be interpreted as an attempt by him to normalize ties with the Jewish state.