My skepticism is fueled by the fact that for several years there was a "Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend" allegedly written by Martin Luther King, jr. which eventually was proven to be bogus.
I ask all FReepers to pray for the safety of my son in the IDF, who is on duty in the Jordan Valley.
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Lots of controversy above..
some thoughts:
Ha'aretz is usually a very reliable source (Not their Radical Editorialists, like Amira Hass/Gideon Levy etc)
It is not known yet just how 'Official' these scholars were and at whose behest they were there.
But offical doctrine often starts with small less official ties.
Earlier this year, the Vatican semi-offically changed their position on Islam. (it's violent history against Christianity etc)..
It was done through the semi-officail 'Civita Catolica/ .. not an official publication.. but nothimng gets in, it is said, without the approval of the Vatican.
This conference hasn't even yet rose to this/the above status yet as far as I know.
I will wait and watch for further info on this.
abu afak
(1) The Catholic-Jewish organization referenced here is the Angelo Roncalli Committee of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
Angelo Roncalli was the birth name of Blessed Pope John XXIII.
This Committee is endorsed by the Vatican and I believe that the Pope traditionally sends messages of support to their annual meeting.
(2) The Vatican is currently negotiating details of its 1993 Fundamental Agreement with Medinat Yisrael regarding the status of the Church in Israel.
The Israeli diplomat assigned to the Vatican, the appropriately-named Oded Ben Hur, has made several comments recently about how sympathetic the Vatican is to Israel's current plight and how constructive and cordial the discussions are.