Italia e Santa Sede di fronte ai disordini del 1929 in Palestina

The Arab Revolt of August 1929 constituted a turning point in the history of mandatory Palestine. This revolt is interesting if one considers it in order to evaluate the attitude of Catholicism towards Zionism. In Italy, where these facts were widely reported, there was an attempt to revive a national role in the region by exploiting the religious factor. This kind of attempt, even if it was upheld by the Government and by important Catholic circles, did not find support in the Vatican. The Arab Revolt was seen by the Holy See trough a different lens, Barlassina and Valeri, major Vatican officials in the region, developed different evaluation. Barlassina understood the Pogrom to be a reaction of the Arabs against the arrogance of the Zionists. Valeri, though he was against the goals of Zionism, believed that any resumption of radical Arab nationalism was dangerous for Catholic interests. The 1929 the revolt became a crucial event that showed the differences in understanding inside national fringes of Italian Catholicism and the politics of Holy See; even more it was helpful in order to evaluate the different positions towards the ‘Question of Palestine’ that was held by Catholic Church’s Hierarchy.