Friday, May 02, 2014
Binyamin Netanyahu: Learning the lessons of the past
Today, we are unafraid to speak the truth to world leaders. As is written in the Bible: "I will speak of your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed… listen, for I will speak the truth." Unlike the Holocaust, when the Jewish people were like a wind-tossed leaf and utterly defenseless, we now have great power to defend ourselves, and it is ready for any mission.Irwin Cotler: 70 years since the Hungarian Shoah, Am Yisrael Hai
This power rests on the courage and ingenuity of the soldiers of the IDF and the men and women of our security forces. It is this power that enabled us, against all odds, to build the State of Israel. Look at the remarkable achievements we have made in the 66 years of our independence.
All of us – scientists, writers, teachers, doctors, entrepreneurs, employees, artists, farmers – the entire people of Israel, each one in their own field – together we have built a glorious state. The spirit of the people of Israel is sublime, our accomplishments tremendous. Seven decades after the destruction of the Holocaust, the State of Israel is a wonder of the world.
On this day, on behalf of the Jewish people, I say to all those who sought to destroy us, and to all those who still seek to destroy us: You have failed, and you will fail again. The State of Israel is stronger than ever. It is a state that seeks peace with all its neighbors and it pulsates with an iron will to ensure the future of our people.
"The people will arise like a lion cub and raise itself like a lion...and Judea will dwell securely". (Numbers 23:24; Jeremiah 23:6).
I write at a historical yet painful moment of remembrance and reminder: the 70th anniversary of the Shoah of Hungarian Jewry, when some 600,000 Jews, three-quarters of that country’s Jewish population, perished in 1944. It has also been 70 years since the rescue of the remnant of Hungarian Jews by Raoul Wallenberg, the disappeared hero of the Holocaust, who demonstrated that one person can confront evil, can resist, can prevail, and thereby transform history.Israel prepares to mourn 23,169 casualties of war and terrorism
I write also having participated in the March of the Living in Budapest this past Sunday, and then on Monday in Auschwitz. In Budapest, I joined tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews and their supporters in reenacting the death march from the Danube River to the eastern railway station. In a period of 10 weeks, 430,000 Hungarian Jews were herded onto cattle cars at that station and deported to Auschwitz.
Those 10 weeks represent the fastest and most brutally efficient extermination of the Shoah.
Israel is set to pay tribute to 23,169 casualties of war and terrorism who have fallen since 1860.
On Sunday evening, events marking the Day of Remembrance for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism will be held around the country.
The Defense Ministry said 57 newly fallen had been added to the casualty count since the last Day of Remembrance in 2013, and that an additional 50 disabled IDF veterans died due to their disability.
The number of bereaved family members stands at 17,038, of which 2,141 are orphans, and 4,966 are IDF widows.
Ads to Add Zionism to US Media on Independence Day
The Helmsley Charitable Trust will fund full-page ads of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in the New York Times and USA Today on Monday, in time for Israel's Independence Day.Are Truth-Tellers Enemies of the Palestinian People?
The ad, which will run in the major American papers and features the declaration's opening words "the Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people," can be seen here.
“The Declaration of Independence, with the rights it guarantees for all of Israel’s citizens, is unique among Middle Eastern countries and much of the world," said Helmsley trustee Sandor Frankel.
"What happens when a Palestinian doesn’t hate Israel enough?"J Street: The Pro-War Group
That’s the question Luke Moon, a researcher at the Washington, D.C. based Institute on Religion and Democracy, asks in light of the angry and vituperative response to Christy Anastas’ April talk in Uppsala Sweden. During the talk, Anastas spoke openly about the corruption of the Palestinian Authority and about the hostility shown toward Christians and women in Palestinian society.
This was too much for many of her fellow Palestinians and for “human rights” activists in the West. Christy was denounced by her family, demonized by her fellow Palestinians and portrayed as a victim of a Zionist kidnapping plot (and worse) by “peace and justice” folks in Europe. Palestinian Christians are simply not allowed to speak openly about what is actually going on in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – unless of course they blame the suffering on Israel.
BU’s J Street U club and their parent organization, J Street, seem to misunderstand the concept of following one’s own values. J Street prides itself on “opening up our community” by calling for more openness and debate within the Jewish community. The organization does not, however, respond in kind because it will not listen to criticism of its own group, making the “open” nature of their existence preach and no practice.Jewish Students Tell University Administrators: Time to Stop Hiding
The BU J Street U club agreed to participate in an event with JUMP (previously known as UP), a pro-Peace group at BU that I am fortunate enough to be the founder of. I planned a screening of the J Street Challenge and then a panel discussion on the movie and the difference between the J Street and JUMP organizations. Unfortunately, less than two weeks before the event, the president of BU’s J Street U informed me they had to pull out of the event.
Being raised as a liberal with a strong belief in equal rights, justice, and the perpetuation and support of democracy means I cannot in good faith support J Street. It also means I cannot support their endeavors on my campus or inside my Hillel. Why? They simply don’t mesh. J Street is neither pro-Peace, pro-Human Rights, pro-Democracy, nor even pro-Israel.
The impact of this academic Israel-bashing on students has been enormous. Students have reported feeling emotionally and intellectually harassed and intimidated by their professors, to the point that they are reluctant or afraid to express a view that is not anti-Israel in their classes. They are often afraid to come forward and confront the professor or complain to the university for fear of retaliation.'Honor Diaries' to be screened at Brandeis University; naturally, CAIR cries 'Islamophobia'
Sadly, Jewish students who have spoken out have been vilified and attacked for even trying to call attention to the anti-Semitic behavior they are experiencing. For example, at a University of California, Davis anti-Israel “occupation” rally last November, a student who expressed concern about the anti-Semitic banners displayed at the protest was physically assaulted by a protestor who screamed in his face, “You are racist and you should die in hell.”
Who bears the most blame for the tsunami of campus anti-Semitism? University administrators. Distressingly, administrators routinely turn a blind eye to this long-standing and pervasive anti-Jewish bigotry and ignore Jewish students’ pleas for help. Language and behavior that would never be tolerated from students or faculty when directed against other campus minorities goes unchallenged by administrators when directed against Jewish students. The primary responsibility for addressing campus anti-Semitism rests with university administrators. Unfortunately, they are missing in action when it comes to protecting Jewish students rights and ensuring their safety.
Administrators: It’s time to stop hiding.
Critics of the film “Honor Diaries” are informing followers that the film, which is to be screened at Brandeis University on Wednesday, is nothing more than “anti-Islam propaganda.”Tell the truth about terrorism and Islamic charities
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which has been protesting the film since its release, announced on its Facebook page Monday morning that the film would be screened at Brandeis University, and warned of the film's supposed Islamophobia.
CAIR previously attacked Brandeis for trying to award human rights advocate Ayaan Hirsi Ali with an honorary degree. Ali is an executive producer of "Honor Diaries."
Following CAIR’s insistence, Brandeis eventually pulled the honor from Ali.
Oxfam International, which showed such courage in trying to prevent the powerful Scarlett Johansson from taking a job with the Israeli company SodaStream, appears naïve and politically inept in not grasping this link. In January 2014 Oxfam was about to cosponsor an exhibit on Gaza in the East London Mosque together with Ibrahim Hewitt, a trustee of Interpal, officially the Palestine Relief and Development Fund, a so-called charity organization.UN nominee mocks Canadian Prime Minister
Oxfam, though now universally famous for its acute knowledge of the precise conditions in Israeli settlements, did not know, as every schoolboy in London does, that the East London Mosque is a notorious cauldron of anti-Western and anti-Semitic hatred.
Oxfam understood that Hewitt was due to speak at the Mosque in conjunction with the Gaza exhibition it was cosponsoring. But then it cancelled the event not because of the hatred expressed in Hewitt’s remarks about Israel but because of his comments about homosexuality about which Oxfam had been previously unaware.
For reasons that are unclear, and despite UN Watch’s online petition, no country has opposed the planned appointment next week of Hilal Elver — wife, co-author and close collaborator of 9/11 Truther Richard Falk — as a top U.N. human rights investigator.CiF Watch prompts Guardian correction. Robert Serry DID attend Easter ceremony in Jerusalem
As we documented here, Elver is as dangerous as Falk. She spouts virulent anti-Western and anti-Israel invective, and celebrates the works of 9/11 Truther David Ray Griffin.
During a recent lecture of hers in Hamilton, Ontario, about the perils of Islamophobia, Elver mocks Canada’s Prime Minister:
Last week we posted about an extraordinarily dishonest article in the Observer (sister publication of the Guardian) by Peter Beaumont, the paper’s new Jerusalem correspondent. Beaumont pulled off quite a feat. He managed to turn a few security delays which occurred in the midst of thousands of Christian pilgrims freely attending Easter celebrations in Jerusalem last weekend into a story suggesting that Israel was abrogating the rights of Christians to freely worship.Arab airlines that ban Israelis should be punished: Schumer
The brief delays were caused by security and crowd control measures designed by Israeli security personnel to keep masses of worshipers from surging into the church. Indeed, such measures are likely the main reason why there were no reports of violence despite the incredibly large number of visitors, and why Christian officials reportedly thanked Israeli police for their professional handling of the event.
Arab-operated airlines that don’t allow Israelis to board flights from the United States should be punished, Sen. Charles Schumer said in a letter obtained by The Post.Brussels mayor seeks ban on ‘anti-Semitic summit’
The letter from Schumer (D-NY)New York’s senior senator blasted a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx urges him to fine airlines such as Kuwait Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines for violating US federal laws by discriminating against Israeli passport holders who are not allowed to board.
“I believe the Department of Transportation must require any airline to take any person from America on any flight where they have a legal means (i.e. a visa or some other status) to enter that country,” Schumer said in the letter.
“If an airline refuses, that is discrimination, and should be fined and enjoined under our laws.”
The event is being organized by Laurent Louis, a Belgian lawmaker with a record of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements. In January, he said in parliament that “the Holocaust was set up and financed by the pioneers of Zionism.”Neo-Nazis Honor Ukrainian SS on Holocaust Memorial Day
Last year he posed for pictures outside parliament while standing on an Israeli flag.
As the March of the Living commenced Monday in Poland, in honor of Holocaust Memorial Day, another type of march commenced in Ukraine: a march of Neo-Nazis supporting the Waffen, the Ukrainian version of the SS.In Italy, al-Aqsa Mosque imam urges destruction of Israel
Around 500 neo-Nazi supporters marched in Lvov to commemorate the creation of the 14th SS-Volunteer Division ‘Galician’ on April 28, 1943, according to RT.
Many of the demonstrators bore the SS Galician divisional insignia - a yellow lion and three crowns on a blue background - and wore nationalist shirts with the Ukrainian colors.
An imam from Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque last week called for Israel’s destruction while on a visit to Italy, urging Arab armies — including those of Egypt and Jordan, with whom Israel has signed peace agreements — to “liberate” the land.Czech politician resigns over anti-Semitic video
During an Islamic conference in the city of Milan, the cleric, Raed al-Danna, said Israel would soon “vanish,” enabling the Palestinians to return to Jaffa, Haifa and other cities within the Green Line.
“In Gaza, there are great and proud men, whose feet are firmly planted in the ground, who have realized that darkness and the Jewish state would vanish, and that the morning sun will rise on Palestine,” he said in comments filmed by al-Jazeera and translated by media monitoring group MEMRI.
A Czech politician withdrew his candidacy in the European Parliament elections over a video which showed him making Nazi, anti-Semitic statements.18 Israeli inventions that could save your life
Milan Zavada, 23, gave up his bid Tuesday, the Tyden weekly reported, in connection with the appearance of the film, which was taken several years ago when Zavada was a teenager.
Every day, ISRAEL21c reports on Israeli innovations that are making life easier and better across the globe, from medical and agricultural advances to social-action initiatives and high-tech wonders.Israeli Tech Companies Raise $643 Million in First Quarter 2014, Up 53% From 2013
To celebrate the 66th Israel Independence Day on May 6, we bring you 18 innovations from Israel specifically designed to save lives – some already on the market and some coming soon. In Hebrew, the number 18 corresponds to the word “chai” (“life”). We’re sure you will share our pride in Israeli ingenuity benefiting humankind everywhere.
The capital was raised by 160 Israeli companies. The investment volume was the second-highest quarterly amount ever, exceeded only by the fourth quarter of 2013, when $801 million was raised.Israeli lab develops blood test to detect breast cancer
“This is the third quarter in a row that capital raising exceeded $650 million. These are great figures that show a sustained, positive momentum for the Israeli high-tech industry,” said Koby Simana, an author of the report.
Investments by Israeli venture capital funds in the first quarter was $106 million, the lowest quarterly share ever, 16%, down from 25% the preceding quarter and 33% from a year earlier, as foreign investment grows.
The Octava tests, which measure cancer-specific antibodies produced by the immune system in response to the growth of tumors, can be used both to quickly diagnose breast cancer before tumors become visible in mammogram, as well as identify false negative and false positive mammogram results.1482 Torah book fetches record $3.87 million at Paris auction
The president of the company, Dr. Mavin Rosenberg, said the tests could be used by women with dense breast tissue who received normal mammogram results, or by women hoping to detect tumor cells without exposing themselves to radiation. Rosenberg said over 30 percent of breast cancer cases in women with dense breast tissue are missed by mammograms — a gap Eventus’s technology aims to address.
Christie’s, which organized Wednesday’s auction, listed the buyer as “anonymous” and said the sale broke the mark for the most expensive Hebrew-language book. Three buyers attempted to outbid each other over the telephone, the news website actualitte.com reported Thursday.Israel Daily Picture: On Israel Independence Day, Israel Salutes the Women of Israel. We Present Here their Grandmothers who Built Israel. Part II, The New Yishuv
The book was printed in Hebrew in Bologna in January 1482, according to Christie’s.
“The volume represents the very first appearance in print of all five books of the Pentateuch as well as the first to which vocalization and cantillation marks have been added,” the Christie’s website said.
The Aliya movements -- encouraging young Jewish Zionists to move to Palestine -- were launched when the Turks ruled Palestine, but immigration increased after the British captured the land in 1917-1918. The stream of Jews escaping an increasingly hostile Europe became a fast-flowing river until 1939, when Britain shut the gates.IDF Blog: The Last Descendant – The Story of Those Who Can’t Speak
The young, often secular, Jews were usually not attracted to the seminaries of Jerusalem or Bnai Brak. They were drawn by the socialist dreams of the kibbutz, moshav, and workers industrial cooperatives. Universities were established, factories were built, and large tracts of land were purchased and cleared for agriculture.
Into this socialist and egalitarian society women were welcomed.
European Jews who were able to miraculously survive the barbarity of the Holocaust later immigrated to Israel. Unfortunately, many of these survivors’ families were not so lucky. Parents, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters were all lost, leaving behind a single family member: the last descendant.
The Last Descendants are those who came alone to Israel – the only place where they could live their lives without fear – because the rest of their family perished in the Holocaust. Later, these individuals lost their lives defending the State of Israel and the Jewish people, leaving behind no family and effectively ending their family legacy.
The following is the story of two “last descendants” who fought together in Israel’s War of Independence, and died together in the same battle.
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