Friday, September 11, 2020
Netanyahu on 9/11: We shall always stand with the United States
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commemorated Friday those killed during the September 11 attacks on the United States.
In a statement on Twitter, Netanyahu wrote that "Today we remember all those who perished in the greatest terrorist crime in history, committed on September 11, 2001."
He added that "We shall always stand with the United States and free people everywhere in fighting the evil of terrorism."
Alternate Prime Minister and current Defense Minister Benny Gantz also noted the solemness of the day, saying on Twitter Friday "Thinking about our friends in the US today, who are marking 19 years since the unthinkable attack that robbed 3000 innocent people of their lives and changed the world forever. Let the strength and faith of the American people remind us that love will always prevail over hate."
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi likewise released a statement, saying on Twitter "Today I, and all the people of Israel, join with our brothers and sisters in the #US to remember and mourn the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks carried out 19 years ago."
"The victims of 9/11 meant the world for their families and their beloved ones. I know that nothing can heal the wound or ease the pain. Our heart goes out to the families. Forever we will stand by our friend the #US," the statement concluded.
Some 2,996 people were killed in terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, which crashed after being thwarted by passengers on the plane.
Approximately 25,000 people were injured as a result of the attacks, while many more first responders also lost their lives in the years following due to the health effects involved in rescuing trapped survivors.
Remembering Tech Titan Danny Lewin, the Fighting Genius on Flight 11
By most accounts, Danny Lewin was the first victim of 9/11. Seated in seat 9B aboard American Airlines flight 11, he saw Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari, sitting just in front of him, rise and make their way to the cockpit. According to calls from flight attendants to air traffic officials, later documented in the 9/11 Commission’s report, Lewin wasted no time in acting. Having served as an officer in Sayeret Matkal, the Israel Defense Forces’ top unit, he moved to tackle the terrorists. The man in 10B, Satam al-Suqami, moved, too, producing a knife and slitting Lewin’s throat. Less than 30 minutes later, at 8:46 a.m., the plane crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower.Clifford May: The 9/11 anniversary and the 9/11 wars
Elsewhere, in America and all over the world, people desperate for accurate information turned to the Internet for news. Straining under the overwhelming demand of tens of millions of simultaneous requests, the web’s biggest news sites threatened to collapse. Very few did, thanks in large part to the technology that Lewin himself had developed years earlier: Although only 31 at the time of his murder, he was the co-founder of Akamai, a pioneering technology company whose content routing solutions enable the seamless flow of nearly 20 percent of the web’s traffic.
As a terrific new biography of Lewin—No Better Time, by Molly Knight Raskin, released this week—demonstrates, the tenacity that the young entrepreneur displayed in his last moments was the same intense force that propelled him to tech titanhood. Born in Denver, he moved to Israel with his parents at 14 and quickly found high school insufficiently stimulating. Frequently keeping just one step ahead of the truancy officer, he skipped classes to work out at a local gym, eventually winning the title of Mr. Teenage Israel in a coveted bodybuilding competition. When the time came to join the army, Lewin had no doubts about where he belonged—it had to be the best.
The Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor was a wakeup call. It led to a high-intensity armed conflict that, within a few years, defeated the fascists of Europe and Asia. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington were a wakeup call. They led to a low-intensity armed conflict that, 19 years later, remains inconclusive.
So it should be instructive to hear what President Trump and Vice President Biden say about this week's 9/11 anniversary. My best guess: Both will eulogize the victims, but say little about the policies and strategies necessary to prevent those who call themselves jihadists from achieving their goals over the years ahead.
Americans today face a complex threat matrix. We are menaced by China's ambitious and ruthless rulers; by a virus those rulers somehow let loose on the world; by a revanchist Russia; by a North Korean dictatorship that our diplomats failed to prevent from acquiring nuclear weapons; and by an Iranian regime vowing "Death to America!" Domestically, we are a deeply divided nation. Dazzled by this chaos, you could be forgiven for thinking jihadists are no longer a serious concern. But you'd be wrong.
My colleague, terrorism analyst Thomas Joscelyn, pointed out in congressional testimony in June: "The jihadists today are waging insurgencies across Africa, hotspots in the Middle East, and into South Asia."
Al-Qaida "has spread from South Asia into multiple other countries." Its official branches: "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, and al-Shabaab in Somalia."
The Islamic State, aka ISIS, "is waging an insurgency across parts of Iraq and Syria. It also has noteworthy 'provinces' in Khorasan (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of the surrounding countries), the Sinai, Southeast Asia, Somalia, West Africa, and Yemen. ISIS has terrorist networks in other areas."
These groups have not launched a catastrophic terrorist attack in the West in recent years but that's not because they wouldn't like to. It's in large measure because the US and some allies have taken the fight to them.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali (paywalled): On September 11, here's what Islamists and 'Wokeists' have in common
The two ideologies have distinctive rituals: Islamists shout “Allahu Akbar” and “Death to America”; the Woke chant “Black lives matter” and “I can’t breathe.” Islamists pray to Mecca; the Woke take the knee. Both like burning the American flag.Bahrain establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel, Trump announces
Both believe that those who refuse conversion may be harassed, or worse. Both take offence at every opportunity and seek not just apologies but concessions. Islamism inveighs against “blasphemy”; Wokeism wants to outlaw “hate speech.” Islamists use the word “Islamophobia” to silence critics; the Woke do the same with “racism.”
Islamists despise Jews; the Woke say they just hate Israel, but the anti-Semitism is pervasive. The two share a fondness for iconoclasm: statues, beware.
Both ideologies aim to tear down the existing system and replace it with utopias that always turn out to be hellish anarchies: Islamic State in Raqqa, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle. Both are collectivist: Group identity trumps the individual. Both tolerate — and often glorify — violence carried out by zealots.
This September 11, then, let’s dismiss the fairy stories about the enemies of a free society. Their grievances aren’t merely economic and they won’t be satisfied with jobs or entitlements. Their motivations are ideological and they will be satisfied only with power.
I cling to the hope that most Americans are still willing as a nation to fight and, if necessary, to die to preserve our freedoms, our rights, our customs, our history.
That was the spirit of Flight 93. It was the spirit that ultimately defeated al-Qa’ida and Islamic State. But it is not the spirit of today’s “woke” protesters. And it is time that we all woke up to that reality.
For Israel, after 2 peace treaties in 72 years, 2 in a month
Bahrain is establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel, US President Donald Trump announced Friday, making it the second Gulf country to do so in less than a month.
A joint statement released by the White House said Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Salman al-Khalifa spoke earlier in the day with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “and agreed to the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain.”
“Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain agree to a Peace Deal – the second Arab country to make peace with Israel in 30 days!” Trump tweeted.
Israel and the UAE announced they were normalizing relations on August 13, and a signing ceremony for their accord is being held at the White House on September 15. Bahrain will now join that ceremony, with its foreign minister Abdullatif Al Zayani and Netanyahu signing “a historic Declaration of Peace,” the joint statement said.
Netanyahu hailed the agreement as part of a “new era of peace” and predicted more accords would follow.
The Bahraini king’s senior adviser Khalid al-Khalifa said in a statement that the normalization deal “sends a positive and encouraging message to the people of Israel, that a just and comprehensive peace with the Palestinian people is the best path and the true interest for their future and the future of the peoples of the region.”
— Amb. Ron Dermer (@AmbDermer) September 11, 2020
Explainer: Bahrain, Israel’s new peace partner: A tiny country in the shadow of Iran
Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Bahrain’s rulers have blamed Iran for arming militants on the island. Iran denies the accusations, though weapons experts suggest explosives found there bear similarities to others linked to Iran. Israel and Iran view each other as top regional enemies.
Outside of those tensions, Bahrain’s Shiite majority has accused the government of treating them like second-class citizens. The Shiites joined pro-democracy activists in demanding more political freedoms in 2011, as Arab Spring protests swept across the wider Middle East. Saudi and Emirati troops ultimately helped violently put down the demonstrations.
In recent years, Bahrain has cracked down on all dissent, imprisoned activists and hampered independent reporting on the island. While the Obama administration halted the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain over human rights concerns, the Trump administration dropped that after coming into office.
Bahrain’s royal family and officials have come out in support of the Israel-UAE agreement. However, civil society groups and others have condemned the move and warned the monarchy not to follow in UAE’s footsteps — despite Bahrain’s yearslong flirtation with Israel and Jewish leaders. Unlike the Emirates, Jews had a historical presence on the island and some still live there.
A member of the Bahraini royal family visits the country’s small Hanukah celebration every year, and the regime makes a point of treating the tiny Jewish community well.
In 2017, two prominent US rabbis said Bahrain’s king told them he hoped the Arab boycott of Israel would end. An interfaith group from Bahrain that year also visited Israel, though the state-run Bahrain News Agency later said that it didn’t “represent any official entity” after an uproar erupted on social media.
Bahrain has increasingly relied on support from other nations as it struggles with its debts, particularly neighboring Saudi Arabia. In that way, Bahrain has followed in lockstep with Riyadh, meaning any normalization with Israel likely got the kingdom’s approval, though, Saudi Arabia has for its part remained silent since the Emirati announcement.
Same day. pic.twitter.com/lv87KLFmXb
— Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) September 11, 2020
Palestinians denounce Israel-Bahrain deal as another ‘stab in the back’
The Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terror group both condemned Friday’s Israeli-Bahraini normalization deal as another “stab in the back” by an Arab state and act of “aggression” against their people.Detroit Police Chief Slams Rashida Tlaib for ‘False Claims’ Against Department
The agreement was “a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people,” like the UAE-Israel deal announced last month, Ahmad Majdalani, social affairs minister in the West Bank-based PA, told AFP.
“This is another stab in the back of the Palestinian cause, the Palestinian people and their rights,” echoed Wasel Abu Yousef, a senior member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. “It is a betrayal of Jerusalem and the Palestinians… We see absolutely no justification for this free normalization with Israel.”
PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki recalled the Palestinian ambassador to Bahrain “for consultations on the necessary steps” in response to the normalization agreement, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news agency.
Wafa also carried a statement in the name of the “Palestinian leadership” strongly denouncing the deal.
“This step is a token of support for legitimizing the ugly crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people,” the statement said.
The statement said the move “blows up” the Arab Peace Initiative, a Saudi-backed proposal adopted by the Arab League in 2002. The proposal calls for full diplomatic ties between Israel and the entire Arab and Muslim world in exchange for a “full Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab territories occupied since June 1967,” the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a “just” and “agreed upon” solution to the Palestinian refugee question.
Detroit police chief James Craig slammed far-left congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) and other Democratic lawmakers, accusing them of making false claims against his police department.
Tlaib, who represents Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, coauthored a letter with three other Democratic legislators on Tuesday asking for an independent investigation into the Detroit police department's use of force on demonstrators this summer. The letter claimed that police actions to quell protests demonstrated "a dismissive attitude of the movement for racial justice."
But Craig said the claims made in the letter are not factually correct, and he blasted the legislators for ignoring protesters' violence aimed at police.
"It’s unfortunate that these representatives have chosen to repeat a number of false claims in their letter without verifying the facts," Craig said in a statement. "What really disturbs me is that when the protesters assaulted Detroit police officers with rocks, railroad spikes, and fireworks, never once did these representatives ask for an independent investigation into their violent criminal activity."
Craig told MLive that his department has only deployed forceful tactics, such as using tear gas or physically restraining protesters, in violent situations.
"Every time we’ve had to use less-than-lethal force, it’s been to address violence by protesters, resisting arrest, or when they’ve tried to take over an intersection in violation of the law," he said.
It’s interesting that for the purposes of this feature Justin Amash (Palestinian/Syrian Christian family) is white and Rashida Tlaib (Palestinian Muslim family) is a person of color. https://t.co/axYuRJrjd4
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) September 10, 2020
A bit hard to accept #Biden’s sincerity as a friend of #Israel, when he speaks for the extremist anti-Israel org #JStreet! https://t.co/LAGnrxdc2O
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) September 11, 2020
80 Jewish Groups Call for Newsom to Veto High School Ethnic Studies Bill
A coalition of 80 Jewish groups sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, on Sept.10 urging him to veto AB 331, a bill that would mandate ethnic studies as a requirement to graduate high school.UNRWA Communications Director to Address Pro-BDS Conference
The letter, which was spearheaded by the AMCHA Initiative, argued that the most recent draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) from the State Board of Education’s Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) suggests that the curriculum will focus on Critical Ethnic Studies. The letter describes Critical Ethnic Studies as “firmly rooted in Marxist ideologies that divide society into oppressed and oppressor groups based primarily on race and class, and, as part of its disciplinary mission, uses the classroom to indoctrinate students into narrow political beliefs and political activism.”
Additionally, the latest ESMC draft has “an anti-Jewish bias,” the letter stated, pointing to how the draft offers school districts the opportunity to teach a class on Irish and Jewish Americans where students have to write a paper about how Jews and the Irish have obtained “racial privilege” in the United States.
“At a time when anti-Jewish sentiment, hostility and violence has reached truly alarming levels, indoctrinating students to view Jews as ‘white’ and ‘racially privileged’ is tantamount to putting an even larger target on the back of every Jewish student,” the letter said.
The letter goes on to say that Critical Ethnic Studies has an anti-Israel bias, pointing to its promotion of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.
“Several empirical studies have shown strong correlations between faculty who use their classrooms to express support and advocate for anti-Zionist causes, including BDS, and anti-Semitic incidents that target Jewish students for harm, including physical and verbal assault, vandalism, bullying and harassment,” the letter stated. “That is why last summer more than 18,000 members of the Jewish and pro-Israel community submitted public comments decrying the overt anti-Israel bias and explicit promotion of BDS in the first draft of the ESMC. Many also noted that a majority of the ethnic studies experts hired or appointed by the California Department of Education to develop the first draft curriculum had publicly expressed support for BDS or other anti-Zionist sentiments.”
The communications director of the US office of the UN Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) is scheduled to address a conference next week hosted by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
Laila Mokhiber is scheduled to be part of a panel event at the conference in Washington, DC.
Organizers say it is an “in-depth course on legislative advocacy” in training activists to lobby Congress on BDS and other anti-Israel issues.
AMP is an anti-Israel group that supports the BDS movement and was founded by Hatem Bazian, who also co-founded Students for Justice in Palestine.
Mokhiber did not respond to a request for comment from The Washington Free Beacon, which first reported her upcoming appearance, regarding her ties to AMP and the anti-Israel BDS movement.
UNRWA, founded in 1949, provides various kinds of aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees and generations of their descendants, in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, as well as in Judea and Samaria.
.@PeterBeinart hosts a discussion on antisemitism. It’s one hour about the IHRA definition of AS and how it’s used as a trick to silence people.
— The Conspiracy Libel (@ConspiracyLibel) September 11, 2020
That’s it.
Here we have profound ignorance or an intentional disregard of history; Id be happy to go through the history with them. pic.twitter.com/zqQEsic2Al
As the UK faces a possible second Covid spike - children face further education disruption - and workers face job losses - you may be interested to know that our largest unions - like the National Education Union @neunion - think what matters is spreading lies about Israel. pic.twitter.com/CvBTHKdFs1
— David Collier (@mishtal) September 11, 2020
Leila Khaled will be speaking at @SFSU on Sep 23.
— The Mossad: Espionage at = 2 metres (@TheMossadIL) September 10, 2020
Facts about Leila Khaled:
1. She had more plastic surgeries than Carrot Top.
2. Still an active PFLP member (designated terror org)
3. She would have a lot of frequent flyer miles but she keeps blowing them. pic.twitter.com/7bCLBanDc3
Swedish Collaboration with the Nazi War Effort
The confiscation of books and the upcoming case against author and comedian Aron Flam has ignited a debate in Sweden about the value of freedom of speech. As Flam has pointed out, a Swedish writer who happens to be Jewish having his books, critical of Swedish-Nazi collaboration during the war, seized by the Swedish state is a bit ironic.BBC refuses to correct erroneous Oslo Accords claims
Uppsala, once a picturesque and peaceful university town, is now the town in Sweden with the most shootings per capita. "The gangs have been allowed to grow" Manne Gerell, a criminologist at Malmö University told SVT Nyheter in December 2019, adding that the police had "woken up" a little too late.
Perhaps it is time for Sweden's government to spend fewer resources on prosecuting the speech crimes of pensioners and comedians, and more on fighting violent crime.
CAMERA UK submitted a complaint to the BBC on those issues. Three weeks later we received the following reply:Group of 100 Orthodox Jewish rabbis calls on Bezos to stop using SPLC to ID alleged hate groups
“Thank you for writing and we are sorry to hear you have concerns about this report on Today on August 14th.
Yolande Knell was analysing the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalise relations and was asked whether the move was widely welcomed.
She said the Palestinians had rejected it, saying it was a free reward for Israel, and went on to explain in general how “previous peace plans“ contained the implicit promise that peace deals with other Arab countries would follow on from peace with the Palestinians on the terms of a two-state solution and “that’s something that came out of the Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative as well.”
You are of course right to say that the Oslo Accords do not specifically call for a Palestinian state – rather they promise to fulfil “the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination” – and while we agree that we could have clarified the specific point you raise, the peace process that built on this agreement does specifically seek an independent Palestinian state, including in 2016, UNSC resolution 2334.”
Coincidentally or not, that highlighted portrayal of the Oslo Accords is remarkably similar to the one found in the opening lines of the Wikipedia entry on the topic.
In other words, unlike other media outlets (see below), the BBC is clearly not interested in relieving its audiences of the repeatedly promoted misconception that the Oslo Accords stipulated a ‘two-state solution’ to the conflict. Likewise, it is obviously quite content to leave standing Yolande Knell’s entirely inaccurate claim that the Oslo Accords conditioned diplomatic ties with Arab states on “peace with the Palestinians”.
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has been urged by 100 prominent Orthodox Jewish rabbis across the U.S. to cut ties between the company's AmazonSmile charitable initiative and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News.Guardian article misleads on French antisemitism
AmazonSmile, launched in 2013, allows customers to select a charity to which Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible items. The company uses the SPLC to separate legitimate charities from so-called "hate groups" ineligible to receive donations.
The Sept. 1 letter from The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) describes the SPLC's "hate map" feature as "uniquely detrimental and even dangerous to the Jewish community."
The letter charges that the SPLC "frequently vilifies group based upon nothing more than their advocacy for biblically-based beliefs about sexuality and family ethics that were uncontroversial a generation or two ago." It adds that the SPLC map omits groups "which ally with international terror organizations, openly glorify murder under the guise of 'resistance,' and frequently descend into clearly anti-Semitic expression."
"According to the SPLC, Christians can only incite hate, and Muslims can only be its victims," the letter states. "Yet more Jews have been murdered in the past 50 years due to radical Islamic terror organizations than all those groups that the SPLC does mention — combined. This level of dishonesty directly endangers the Jewish community."
The fact that ‘anti-maskers’ would be more likely to accept an antisemitic conspiracy theory certainly seems intuitive, in that opposition to wearing masks is typically motivated by conspiratorial thinking. However, the correlation between anti-maskers and antisemitic conspiracy theories turns out to quite murky in light of a more general poll of French citizens conducted in 2018.Antisemitism ‘Doesn’t Stop at National Borders,’ German Interior Minister Tells EU Conference
That survey, by the Ifop polling company, showed that 53% of all French people believe Zionism is a Jewish conspiracy designed to manipulate Western societies to benefit world Jewry – a number that’s statistically in line with that of the anti-maskers.
The fact that a majority of French people embrace an antisemitic conspiracy theory – as well as the fact that Jews, who represent less than 1% of the population, are victims of more than 50% of all French hate crimes – suggests that polls showing most French citizens have positive feelings towards Jews are misleading.
As we saw in the Labour antisemitism scandal, and the existential fears it elicited in British Jews, warm feelings towards Jews in the abstract isn’t nearly as important as attitudes towards the values and defining characteristics of most actual Jews.
As Zionism for the overwhelming majority of Jews is intrinsically wedded to their Jewish identity, and the statistical correlation between hostility to Zionism and hostility to Jews is strong, the moral and political difference between the statements “Jews are our misfortune” and “Zionism is our misfortune” is essentially meaningless.
Germany’s interior minister affirmed on Thursday that the fight against antisemitism remained a central concern of the country’s current Presidency of the EU Council, telling a government conference in Berlin that animosity toward Jews was a continent-wide problem.‘Go beat up a Zionist’: NY hospital wants to fire doctor for anti-Semitic posts
“Antisemitism does not stop at national borders and is a challenge for all of Europe,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer declared in an address to the conference, titled, “Together Against Antisemitism in Europe — Structures and Strategies for a Holistic Fight.”
“Together we resolutely oppose antisemitic crimes such as denial of the Holocaust as well as agitation and hate speech,” Seehoffer said.
German government and EU officials attending the conference discussed the continuing spread of antisemitic conspiracy theories concerning the coronavirus pandemic, as well as improving methods for monitoring and recording antisemitic hate crimes.
Also speaking at the conference was Margaritis Schinas — the EU commissioner whose responsibilities include combating antisemitism.
“We are intensifying our efforts to ensure the security of Jewish communities in response to the increasing antisemitic conspiracy theories to counteract online, and to invest in education, awareness raising and research,” Schinas stated. “The struggle for the normality of Jewish life requires concerted efforts on the part of all member states. It is a litmus test for Europe when it comes to upholding our values and diversity.”
A yearlong battle between a doctor and a New York hospital trying to fire him over anti-Semitic and anti-gay posts will be back in court next week.
New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital has tried to dismiss Walid Khass from his position as a pediatric resident since 2019, the Forward reported Thursday. In recent years, Khass has written on separate posts on social media “Go beat up a Zionist,” “You trust the Jews — I never did” and “I hope only Israelis get ebola.” He also wrote that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s mother was Jewish, meaning that she belongs to a “higher group run the corrupt world.”
Khass was admitted to the hospital’s residency program, but then was informed he had been found unsuitable. He sued the hospital to be readmitted to the program and won.
The hospital, which treats many Jewish patients, appealed the decision and is due to argue its case at a Sept. 17 hearing in Brooklyn state Supreme Court, according to the Forward. It says Khass cannot remain because some of his posts condoned or encouraged violence.
“These posts would cause serious and extreme hardship on the Program because it would interfere with the Program’s ability to serve a patient population consisting of a large number of Orthodox Jews,” one filing said.
Disgraced former YouTuber and "comedian" Owen Benjamin made up a pandemic song with the lyrics "Corona was a stupid thing, invented by Masons & Jews. I bet they are all gay... I'm diagnosed with coronu [sic]. Because I always believe the Jews.”https://t.co/OS8oPj0Lcw pic.twitter.com/94sej5sqQw
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) September 10, 2020
Yad Vashem, University of Notre Dame to advance Holocaust studies
Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indiana-based University of Notre Dame and its global network to increase and encourage advanced Holocaust education and research across the world.Avi Nesher's movie halts production due to coronavirus lockdown decision
The agreement was signed on Wednesday by Yad Vashem Director-General Dorit Novak and University of Notre Dame Vice President and Associate Provost for Internationalization Michael Pippenger.
"Yad Vashem is pleased to sign the agreement with the University of Notre Dame," said Novak. "Yad Vashem is committed to ensuring that the history of the Holocaust continues to be relevant to us today and for future generations, and not just yet another chapter in human history. Our efforts aim to equip students and teachers alike with the necessary tools and materials to address the topic of the Holocaust and engage young scholars in the need for further research into the multifaceted nature of the Holocaust. Yad Vashem hopes that this agreement will open more opportunities to be active on many more universities and college campuses across the United States and the rest of the world."
The memorandum of understanding will create a basis for ongoing cooperation between these two internationally renowned institutions. Yad Vashem's International Institute for Holocaust Research and International School for Holocaust Studies will work together with members of the faculty, staff and students at the university.
With a heavy heart, director Avi Nesher announced Friday that due to the upcoming lockdown approved by the coronavirus cabinet, he had no choice but to temporarily halt production on his latest movie, Portrait of Victory, which had been shooting the Negev for several weeks.Film about rescuer of children from Nazis stars Anthony Hopkins
The film’s producers released a statement saying that they had made this decision “with no choice and great sorrow.”
Nesher said, "After all the careful preparations of the wonderful actors and creators who worked with us for many months on the cinematic texture of the film, it is of course a severe disappointment, but these are difficult times for all of us and we must abide by regulations designed to end the damn plague We will return to filming soon when this storm passes.”
Portrait of Victory, Nesher’s 21st film as director, is a fact-based epic set during the War of Independence and tells the story of Mira Ben-Ari, a fiercely independent young wireless operator, and Lt. Avraham Schwarzstein who emerged from the smoky ruins of Kibbutz Nitzanim in June 1948 to face Egyptian officers backed by tanks and cannons, and a young Egyptian journalist and photographer who had come from Cairo to document the Israeli surrender. The story is told both from the points of views of the Israelis and the Egyptians. The film stars Joy Rieger, who appeared in Nesher’s previous two films, The Other Story and Past Life, as Mira.
A feature film about the life of Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 children from the Nazis, is in production with Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins in the lead role.
“One Life” has Hopkins playing an older Winton, Deadline Hollywood reported. British actor Johnny Flynn portrays the young Winton.
Winton, who is nicknamed “the British Schindler,” died in 2015 at the age of 106.
The baptized son of Jewish parents, Winton was a 29-year-old stockbroker when he arrived in Prague in December 1938. He was planning to go on a skiing holiday in Switzerland, but changed his plans when he heard about the refugee crisis in Czechoslovakia, which had just been occupied by the Nazis. In the following nine months, he organized eight trains that carried children, the vast majority of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia to safety in Britain.
Winton’s heroism was unremarked until the 1980s, when his wife found evidence of the rescues. The discovery led to a surprise reunion with some of the children and a documentary. Winton received many honors in his later years, including a knighthood.
