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Jewish Journal

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May 26, 2011

Britain giving $3.4 million to Auschwitz site preservation

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

Britain will contribute about $3.4 million to help preserve the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp memorial.

The donation to the foundation for the preservation of the former death camp site will be used for restoration and preservation.

“I am determined that the government should take an active approach to preserving the memory of the Holocaust,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday. “Auschwitz-Birkenau is a searing reminder of the horrific consequences of intolerance and hatred. It should never be forgotten.

“I am proud that the UK is able to play a part in commemorating the millions of victims who died there, educating future generations of the evils of that period in history and ensuring its preservation for many years to come.”

More than 3,000 British students visit Auschwitz-Birkenau each year through the British Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz project.

“Just as we collect and preserve the stories of eyewitnesses, it is our collective responsibility to ensure that Auschwitz-Birkenau stands as a perpetual reminder of the pain and destructive force of hate,” Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said Thursday at the Jewish Museum in London, which he toured with the Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and the Polish ambassador, Barbara Tuge-Erecinska. “We must ensure that the lessons from the Holocaust are taught today and to future generations.”

More than 1 million people visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau site each year.

Britain giving $3.4 million to Auschwitz site preservation Read More »

This week in power: Netanyahu’s visit, DSK, Von Trier, Bear Jew

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized /

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Netanyahu vs. Obama
The prime minister’s U.S. visit was highlighted by an ongoing tension between him and President Obama as they repeatedly squared off on the ever-contentious subject of Middle East peace. “t was Netanyahu, not Obama, who electrified Washington,” ” title=”http://www.thenation.com/blog/160936/netanyahus-boorish-performance-gives-obama-edge” target=”_blank”>said Robert Dreyfuss at The Nation, but “Netanyahu didn’t help his case by displaying a stunning set of bad manners. He was rude, boorish and recklessly arrogant.” Netanyahu left in good favor with his supporters for refusing to back down, while at the same time Obama showed he’d like to get the “peace process moving again,” ” title=”http://www.forward.com/articles/138035/” target=”_blank”>reported The Jewish Daily Forward. Why’s it matter so much? Well, a majority of French citizens believe that Strauss-Kahn was brought down by a plot because he “was well on track not just to become France’s president but its first Jewish president,” ” title=”http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/opinion_groping_in_the_dark_20110524/” target=”_blank”>said Erica Brown in the Jewish Journal. Even before this scandal arose, Strauss-Kahn’s Jewishness mattered. “Reporters and editors were talking about his very good chances to defeat President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s presidential election, when he said there were three hurdles in his way: women, money and Jewishness.,” ” title=”http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/22/ED8M1JIUGM.DTL” target=”_blank”>San Francisco Chronicle editorial. The measure has obviously upset Jews in the area. The American Jewish Committee has called it a “direct assault on Jewish religious practice in the United States…unprecedented in American Jewish life.’’ “Talk about blatant violations of the First Amendment,” ” title=”http://www.care2.com/greenliving/should-san-francisco-ban-circumcision.html” target=”_blank”>said Lissa Rankin at Care2. “I don’t believe we should be imposing our own plastic surgery notions on young boys without their consent.” Now, opponents are rallying Californians to stop the bill from passing. “When San Franciscans vote this fall, the disgraceful anti-circumcision initiative deserves a decisive defeat,” ” title=”http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/von-trier-apologizes-again-for-hitler-remarks_1221459″ target=”_blank”>issued an apology saying he was “unintelligent, ambiguous and needlessly hurtful.” But some are slow to forgive the director. “It is often assumed that comments like those made by Von Trier are perfectly normal among many European intellectuals. Anti-Semitism, we are told, has made a strong comeback among them,” ” title=”http://www.jewishjournal.com/hollywood_jew/article/not_mel_gibson_20110524/” target=”_blank”>said Danielle Berrin in the Jewish Journal. “But unlike his anti-Semitic-spewing brethren, von Trier’s prattle was not hostile; he used no slang nor slurs, nor threatening language.” Yeah, let’s move on and forgive Von Trier for saying he understands Nazis, ” title=”http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northnorthwest/ct-x-n-jewish-bear-20110525,0,3121698.story” target=”_blank”>reported the Chicago Tribune. “My Judaism is important to me — I make it work. I fasted on Israeli time, so I could begin my fast earlier, from noon to noon the next day. That way, I was able to be true to my religion and play the best for my team,” ” title=”http://jewishworldnews.org/2011/05/18/the-great-rabbino-the-bear-jew-gabe-carimi/” target=”_blank”>said Jeremy Fine at Jewish World News. “I respect a man who stands for something,” This week in power: Netanyahu’s visit, DSK, Von Trier, Bear Jew Read More »

U.S. to help Israel buy more Iron Dome systems

Leave a Comment / Israel /

The United States will help Israel buy four more Iron Dome short-range anti-missile systems, a Pentagon official said.

Lt.-Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, the head of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, told the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee Wednesday that the agency has included in its budget a proposal to pay for four more of the protection systems, which each cost about $50 million.

The system, which has been deployed near Beersheba and Ashkelon, has intercepted rockets fired from Gaza on southern Israeli communities.

Israel’s state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. developed the Iron Dome on its own, but the United States reportedly believes its troops could benefit from a similar system.

U.S. to help Israel buy more Iron Dome systems Read More »

Raise restitution issue in Poland, group asks Obama

Leave a Comment / Worldwide /

President Obama should raise the issue of restitution of private Jewish property during his meeting this week with Polish officials, a Jewish group has urged.

The World Jewish Restitution Organization made the request two days before Obama meets Friday with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The request follows a similar one contained in a letter to Obama from U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) and U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), chairs of the Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission).

“A country that has not properly addressed its past is not truly free to move into the future,” said David Peleg, the director of the World Jewish Restitution Organization. “We ask President Obama to raise this issue of profound and basic justice with the Polish government. Stolen property must be returned. We call on Prime Minister Tusk to resume the legislative process for restitution, as he has promised.”

Poland remains the only major country from the former Soviet bloc that has no law providing for the restitution of or compensation for private property stolen during the Holocaust.

Tusk said recently that Poland’s difficult economic position would prevent the legislation proposed by the government from receiving support.

Raise restitution issue in Poland, group asks Obama Read More »

Israeli lawmakers dedicate eastern Jerusalem Jewish homes

Leave a Comment / United States /

Israeli lawmakers attended the dedication of a Jewish apartment complex in a Palestinian neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem.

The ceremony Wednesday marked the completion of apartments for 110 religious Jewish families in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood of Jerusalem, located on the Mount of Olives.

The Speaker of the Knesset Reuven Rivlin, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, and the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, attended the dedication. Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan and Education Minister Gideon Saar of the Likud Party also attended.

The recently completed apartments are the second phase of a project that began eight years ago with the dedication of 50 apartments in the Maale Hazeitim enclave.

The project reportedly is funded by American millionaire Irving Moskowitz.

“Israel without Jerusalem or Zionism without Zion are like a body without a soul. We, as the government of Israel, are committed to strengthening Jerusalem and keeping it whole and united, and continuing to build in all parts of the city,” Erdan said in a speech at the dedication.

The Palestinians claim eastern Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, which it plans to ask the United Nations General Assembly to declare in September.

Israeli lawmakers dedicate eastern Jerusalem Jewish homes Read More »

J Street to remain on Boston Jewish council

Leave a Comment / United States /

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston voted to retain the membership of J Street, despite a challenge on technical grounds.

The council voted Wednesday night to retain its 41 active groups as members, including J Street and Boston Workmen’s Circle, which some members of the council said are not pro-Israel enough, the Boston Globe reported.

Workmen’s Circle angered some in the Boston Jewish community when it rented out space for a panel discussion by activists who favor boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

J Street’s membership was opposed by the media watchdog group CAMERA. While CAMERA objects to J Street on ideological grounds, saying that the groups accepts money from critics of Israel and associates with activist who support divestment, it opposed J Street’s membership on the council based on what it said was a violation of bylaws, since J Street took over the seat of its allied organization, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom .

CAMERA has threatened to leave the council over the vote to retain J Street, according to the Boston Globe.

In an unscientific poll on the website of the Boston weekly newspaper the Jewish Advocate 1,653 people voted that J Street should be expelled from the council and 1,005 voted that the group should be allowed to remain.

J Street to remain on Boston Jewish council Read More »

U.S. visit “important” and Americans supportive, Netanyahu says

Leave a Comment / Israel /

Benjamin Netanyahu called his visit to Washington “important,” and said he found “broad American support for Israel’s fundamental claims.”

The Israeli prime minister made his comments upon his return to Israel following a visit to Washington, where he addressed both Houses of the U.S. Congress, as well as 10,000 participants in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and met at the White House with President Obama.

“We found broad American support for Israel’s fundamental claims especially the recognition of Israel as the national state of the Jewish People, and the need for secure borders and the complete repudiation of Hamas,” Netanyahu said.

“The great majority of people in Israel are united around the broad diplomatic outline that I proposed in the U.S.  The time has come for the Zionist parties to unite around these principles.  The time has also come for the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel’s just claims.”

Netanyahu’s outline included a military presence along the Jordan River of a demilitarized Palestinian state, excluded repatriation of Palestinian refugees to Israel, and called for leaving Jerusalem as Israel’s united capital. He also said that Israel would give up some settlements under a peace agreement.

U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Wednesday that Netanyahu’s warm welcome by Congress showed that ” Israel is a close partner with the United States,” and said that the ” rousing reception that Prime Minister Netanyahu received in addressing Congress was in keeping with the strong relationship that many in this government, in this Administration and on the Hill feel towards Israel.”

He also said that the United States would work to get the Israelis and Palestinians back to face-to-face negotiations, where they could discuss the principles that President Obama outlined in his Middle East policy speech at the State Department last week.

U.S. visit “important” and Americans supportive, Netanyahu says Read More »

Egypt to permanently open border with Gaza

Leave a Comment / Israel, Lead Story /

Egypt will permanently open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza by the weekend.

The Egyptian border with Gaza will be opened daily beginning on May 28, the Egyptian state MENA news agency reported.

The decision is “part of Egyptian efforts to end divisions among Palestinians and to finalize their reconciliation.” Egypt brokered the recent reconciliation between the Fatah party, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and the Islamist Hamas organization.

The opening takes the steam out of Israel’s land and sea blockade of Gaza, which began after Hamas took over power in Gaza in 2007. The Egyptian border closed at the same time.

It is not clear if only people, or also goods, will be allowed to cross the Rafah border. Israel limits the kind of goods that enter Gaza in order to prevent weapons-making material from falling into the hands of Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

“This is a dangerous development that may allow for the entrance of weaponry, explosives, and al-Qaeda agents into the Strip,” Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said Thursday, saying that Israel must do everything in its power to stop the opening of the Rafah crossing without international supervision.

Egypt to permanently open border with Gaza Read More »

Reflecting on AIPAC: Applause. Tears. Repeat.

Leave a Comment / News /

Among 10,000 friends and comrades, I stood and applauded, as the Prime Minister forcefully stood in the breach. The State of Israel would never accept borders that cannot be defended, or allow itself to be undone as a Jewish State through the return of generations of refugees, or negotiate with the cult of death that even now explicitly calls for Israel’s destruction. I stood and applauded for the Prime Minister.

And I did so, even as the faint scent of death began to enter the room. Even as the inescapable reality of deadlock, the unavoidable trajectory of conflict, the inevitable prospect of bloodshed, descended hard upon at least one more generation. It was difficult to fault the Prime Minister for then proceeding to hammer nails into the coffin of the search for peace. After all, the President of the PA had already nailed the coffin shut in deciding to partner with Hamas. So I kept on standing and applauding. The applause that would be the prelude to tears.

The day is over, and the dusk is deepening. The path of peace, if it was ever more than an illusion, is sunk beneath the sea, disintegrating into the undifferentiated bottom. The choices have been made, the die has been cast. Our tears will soon flow again. May it be God’s will that it not be so.  If only God could be so kind as to shield us from the inevitable.

We applaud today, but will cry for the next Fogel family of Itamar, God forbid, tomorrow. We applaud today, but will cry, God forbid, for lost sons tomorrow. And then we will rally, and vow “Am Yisrael Chai!”, and then applaud again. And a month later, cry again. And this is the path.

Another generation at least. Applause as the prelude for tears. Applause. Tears. Repeat.

 

Reflecting on AIPAC: Applause. Tears. Repeat. Read More »