Vatican stand on Mideast is "one-sided," ADL claims -CWNews

From CWNews:

Jul. 17 (CWNews.com) - The Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in New York has issued a statement protesting the Vatican's stand on the latest violence in the Middle East.

An ADL press release issued on July 17 charges that statements from the Holy See "seek to lend moral equivalency to the unprovoked terrorist actions of Hezbollah and Hamas with Israel's defensive actions to protect its civilian population."

Although the Pope and Cardinal Sodano criticized both Israel and Arab terrorists, ADL President Abraham Foxman says that statements by Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican Secretary of State, are "terribly one-sided."

The ADL statement says that Cardinal Sodano "condemned Israel for defending itself against repeated unprovoked attacks." However, the statement accurately quotes from the cardinal's statement, in which he acknowledges "a state's right to self-defense," but adds that this right "does not exempt it from respecting the norms of international law."