Jewish scholar writes about Palestinian refugees in Vatican newspaper

Published: 2007-11-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican newspaper had one of Italy's most prominent Jewish scholars, Anna Foa, write an article about historical memory, focusing on a new book about the origins of the Palestinian refugee problem. Giovanni Maria Vian, the new editor of L'Osservatore Romano, said that since the Vatican newspaper is almost 150 years old he could not say for sure if the paper had ever published a Jewish author. "But it probably is the first time that a Jewish voice has been asked to make a cultural contribution," he told reporters. Foa told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that she was pleased to have been asked to contribute to the Vatican newspaper and seeing her name in the Nov. 9 issue "was moving." Vian told reporters he asked Foa to write as part of an effort "to open the newspaper to a lively and broad cultural discussion with an international scope. For that reason, authoritative voices from various areas will be included." Foa's article focused on the recent publication in Italian of "Bad Memories: The Debate in Israel Over the Expulsion of the Palestinians in 1948-1949" by Anita Shapira.

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