31 January 2008
The chief rabbi of the Italian city of Naples has refused to meet with local mayor over comments he made on the Middle East. Rabbi Pierpaolo Pinhas Punturello said in a letter that he would not attend a city event commemorating the Holocaust after mayor Rosa Russo Jervolino had compared the Israel-Palestinian situation to the Nazi occupation when meeting with a delegation of Palestinian guests last October, the “ADN-Kronos” news service reported. "I want the dead to rest in peace: for this I cannot meet those who are capable of such statements," the rabbi's letter said. Following the rabbi's lead, Fabrizio Gallichi, adviser to the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, also absented himself from the event. The Naples City Council also sponsored two exhibits on Nazi atrocities to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day.