by Cnaan Liphshiz
Until 2009, right-wing Portuguese politician Jose Ribeiro e Castro didn‘t have much interest in the expulsion of his country‘s Jewish community in the 16th century. That changed once Ribeiro e Castro opened a Facebook ac-count.
Online, the 60-year-old lawmaker and journalist connected to several Se-phardic Jews, descendants of a once robust Jewish community numbering in the hundreds of thousands, many of whom were forced into exile in 1536 during the Portuguese Inquisition. Eventually the encounters morphed into a commitment to rectify a historic injustice.
“The law is a commendable initiative,‖ said Nuno Wahnon Martins, the Lisbon-born director of Euro-pean affairs for B‘nai B‘rith International. ―It has economic considerations as well, which do not subtract from parliament‘s worthy decision.”
Until 2009, right-wing Portuguese politician Jose Ribeiro e Castro didn‘t have much interest in the expulsion of his country‘s Jewish community in the 16th century. That changed once Ribeiro e Castro opened a Facebook ac-count.
Online, the 60-year-old lawmaker and journalist connected to several Se-phardic Jews, descendants of a once robust Jewish community numbering in the hundreds of thousands, many of whom were forced into exile in 1536 during the Portuguese Inquisition. Eventually the encounters morphed into a commitment to rectify a historic injustice.
“The law is a commendable initiative,‖ said Nuno Wahnon Martins, the Lisbon-born director of Euro-pean affairs for B‘nai B‘rith International. ―It has economic considerations as well, which do not subtract from parliament‘s worthy decision.”
