In an indication of the kind of moral, religious and political maze the Pope is about to enter, his itinerary has changed by the day, as rival factions try to position themselves as favourably as possible for the vast media circus about to touch down in the Holy Land.
Israelis and Palestinians are trying to capitalise on the attention while at the same time doing their best to cast the other in a bad light.
The Palestinian Authority, which will play host to the Pope, pictured, at the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem — a shanty town for those displaced in past wars with Israel — had wanted to construct a stage for him right in front of the huge separation barrier Israel has built inside the West Bank to fend off attacks.
It announced yesterday that "after huge Israeli pressure" it had scrapped the plan, though the Pope will still pass close to the wall, which in places cuts Palestinian farmers off from their land and slices up areas of the West Bank.
Israel had ordered the construction of the stage to stop, saying that it posed a security threat because of its proximity to the wall. In any case, it added, the Palestinians did not have a building permit.
Israel’s powerful lobbyists are also gearing up for the tour. One prominent organisation, the Israel Project, is handing out press releases detailing "Christian Victims of Terror" — profiling Christians killed in Palestinian attacks and offering interviews with their relatives.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has raised objections to part of the Pope’s scheduled visit to Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem memorial to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. The Church asked that the pontiff be allowed to bypass an exhibit criticising Pius XII’s "neutral position" on the Nazi extermination of the Jews.
Muslim groups angered at the Pope’s perceived anti-Islamic remarks are also objecting to his visit to the north of Israel, home to a large Israeli Arab community. Pamphlets have been distributed in some Israeli Arab towns calling for protests, making the habitually jumpy Israeli security forces even more nervous.