“Guido Reni 031” by Guido Reni – The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guido_Reni_031.jpg#/media/File:Guido_Reni_031.jpg
The scribes have only described the medallion — “an angel of peace destroying the spirit of war.”
I should have liked to have been treated to a photograph, for I do wonder how the “angel of peace” and the “spirit of war” look drawn, engraved, or stamped on that most precious of political keepsakes that is now an object of interest worldwide.
Close enough?
Bolded letters added by BackChannels.
“As is tradition with heads of State or of government, Francis presented presented a gift to the Palestinian leader, commenting: “May the angel of peace destroy the evil spirit of war. I thought of you: may you be an angel of peace.” Pope Francis had called Abu Mazen a “man of peace” when he visited Bethlehem in May 2014, just as he called the then Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, a “man of peace” during his subsequent visit to Jerusalem.”
Aye, that is as “Brian o’ London” transcribes it into his piece in Israellycool (May 17, 2015).
The problem: the pope did not call Abbas — aka the terrorist Abu Mazen — an “angel of peace.”
He did utter the words “angel of peace,” and he suggested that Abbas could or might be one. In the context of the pope’s complete statement about the meeting, the implication was that Abbas could be an angel of peace if he resumed direct negotiations with Israel.
Related: JTA. “Pope Francis presents Abbas peace medallion at Vatican.” May 17, 2015.
Unfortunately, the press screeches with AP parrots, and readers will find equivalents to this everywhere:
AP. “Pope Francis calls Palestinian leader an ‘angel of peace'”. New York Post, May 17, 2015.
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