The President of Portugal addressed a special session of the Knesset last week, the start of his four-day official visit to Israel.
In his remarks Nov. 1, President Mario Soares praised Israeli and Palestinian leaders for their courage and vision to bring peace.
Soares also asked for forgiveness from the Jewish people for Portugal’s involvement in the Inquisition, during which many Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity or killed.
“I do not believe that it is possible to apologize for the unforgivable or to fix the unfixable,” he said. “My only desire is to raise the issue in the hearts of my people in order to repent.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
