Posted on 05/09/2008 6:36:51 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano opened the prestigious Turin book fair Thursday amid opposition from Muslims and the Italian Left over the choice of Israel as the event's guest of honor.
"No dialogue is possible if there is a refusal to recognize Israel," Napolitano said at Israel's stand at the fair, the European Jewish Press reported. Napolitano added that there can be no "rejection of the reasons for [Israel's] birth or of its right to exist in peace and security."
Like the Paris book fair in March, the Turin fair is honoring the modern state of Israel on the 60th anniversary of its creation. Israel's stand was swamped by hundreds of people, many draped in the Israeli flag, with one group holding a banner that read: "I feel Jewish today."
"A special thank-you, with all my heart, goes to President Napolitano for his strong position this year, after the calls over recent months to boycott the Book Fair because of Israel's presence," Israel’s new ambassador to Italy, Gideon Meir, said at the fair's opening. Meir said the calls for a boycott were “an attempt to undermine the state of Israel.”
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Nor the Italian Left.
If literate, "Joe Jihad" reads only one book.
(As an aside, this neat pic for aviation buffs).
Nice to see the adults are back in charge in Italy.
Life is much better now that the liberals are being tossed out around the globe.
Yes and as an offset to the Italian judiciary's mistreatment of Oriana Fallaci.
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