Thieves steal Auschwitz concentration camp sign

 

(AFP) – 6 hours ago

WARSAW — Thieves on Friday stole the infamous Nazi German "Arbeit macht frei" sign from the entrance to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, police said.

The sign, which means "Work Will Set You Free", has become a symbol of the horror of the camp where about 1.1 million mainly Jewish prisoners died during World War II, most in the notorious gas chambers.
An Israeli deputy prime minister called the theft "an abominable act" while a leading Israeli holocaust memorial group said it was "a declaration of war."

Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum spokesman Jaroslaw Mensfelt told AFP that thieves carried out an expert operation to take the metal sign just before dawn on Friday.  "It's a profanation of the place where more than a million people were murdered. It's shameful," he said. The five-metre (16-foot) long sign was forged by prisoners on the orders of the Nazis, who set up the camp after invading Poland in 1939. It was not hard to unhook from above the entrance gate "but you needed to know how," Mensfelt said.

A police dog team tracked the thieves while detectives combed through video surveillance footage from the site and neighbouring areas.
Poland's ex-president Lech Walesa called the theft "unthinkable". "I hope this turns out to be a sick joke by scrap-metal thieves who didn't know what they were doing," the Nobel prize winner told the TVN24 news channel.

In Israel, Avner Shalev, director of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial said "this act constitutes a true declaration of war." "We don't know the identity of the perpetrators but I assume they are neo-Nazis," Shalev said in a statement."I am certain the Polish government will do everything possible to track down those criminals and put them on trial," he said.

JFNA Hails Conviction of Seattle Gunman

 

The Jewish Federations of North America Hails Conviction of Seattle Gunman

 

 December 15, 2009  NEW YORK – The Jewish Federations of North America today stands with the families and the surviving victims of the 2006 shooting at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle following the murder conviction of Naveed Haq.

 

Naveed Haq was convicted on Tuesday for the shooting spree at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on July 28, 2006, where he injured five individuals and killed one, Pamela Waechter.  Another of Naveed Haq’s targets was 17 weeks pregnant.  Today’s verdict came at the conclusion of his second trial after the first ended in a mistrial.

 

“Today, a jury served justice for the families and victims of this tragic attack,” said Jerry Silverman, president and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America.  “Although this decision does not erase the past, it does bring to close a sad chapter for the Jewish Federation movement.”

 

Since 2005, The Jewish Federations of North America has led program and funding efforts behind the Department of Homeland Security Nonprofit Security Grant Program initiative.  The program has provided resources to bolster the physical security and preparedness training of hundreds of Jewish and other nonprofits organizations around the country. 

 

The Jewish Federations of North America represents 157 Jewish Federations and 400 Network communities, which raise and distribute more than $3 billion annually for social welfare, social services and educational needs. The Federation movement, collectively among the top 10 charities on the continent, protects and enhances the well-being of Jews worldwide through the values of tikkun olam (repairing the world), tzedakah (charity and social justice) and Torah (Jewish learning).

 

 

 

US House passes Iran sanctions legislation

 All five of the Iowa congressmen voted for this legislation.  They deserve our thanks.

House passes Iran sanctions legislation

December 16, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA)  -- The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed sanctions against Iran's energy sector.

The Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act was approved Tuesday by a vote of 412-12, with four voting present.

The bill will strengthen the president's authority to sanction companies that help Iran import or produce refined petroleum, which is seen as potentially having a large impact on Iran's economy because the country imports 40 percent of its refined petroleum. The measure also requires the White House to report 90 days after passage, and every six months thereafter, on any person who has provided Iran with refined petroleum or engaged in any activity that would assist them in acquiring it.

A Senate version of the bill is unlikely to pass before the beginning of next year, after the Obama administration urged the body to slow down progress on the legislation as it attempts to garner backing for multilateral sanctions. The Obama administration also wants to see some changes to the measure.
The House bill's sponsor, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), noted that the Senate bill is more expansive in its provisions and said he was "always open" to changes in a conference committee that would make the legislation "equally effective."

"The big question is how soon will the international community conclude that without rigorous sanctions, the diplomatic approach gets nowhere," he said.

Virtually every major Jewish organization backed the legislation; Americans for Peace Now appears to be the only organization that opposed it.

"This measure sends a strong message to Iran, and to our friends in the international community, that the United States has the will to act to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability," AIPAC said in a statement.

Israel op ed calling for Arab world to join in defeating extremism printed in Arab daily.

Today, 15th December, Asharq Alawsat, one of the largest pan-Arab daily newspapers printed an op-ed in Arabic by the Deputy Foreign Minister of the State of Israel, Danny Ayalon. The op-ed was titled "An Open Letter to the Arab World".

The Deputy Foreign Minister calls on the Arab world to step forward and join with Israel to defeat the forces of extremism and destruction in the Middle East.

An Open Letter to the Arab World
By Danny Ayalon    excerpt
 

Since the reestablishment of our state, Israeli leaders have sought peace with their Arab neighbors. Our Declaration of Independence, Israel’s founding document that expressed our hopes and dreams reads, “We extend our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help.” These words are as true today as when they were first written in 1948. Sadly, 61 years later, only two nations, Jordan and Egypt, have accepted these principles and made peace with the Jewish State.


Recently the Israeli government has made significant steps to restart negotiations with the Palestinians and reach out to the Arab world. In his Bar-Ilan speech in June, Prime Minister Netanyahu clearly stated his acceptance of a Palestinians state living side by side in peace and security with the State of Israel. My government has removed hundreds of roadblocks to improve access and movement for Palestinians and has assisted the facilitation of economic developments in the West Bank, through close cooperation with international parties to expedite projects and remove bottlenecks.

Secret document exposes Iran’s nuclear trigger
Catherine Philp in Washington. The Times [London] December 14, 2009

Confidential intelligence documents obtained by The Times show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb.

The notes, from Iran’s most sensitive military nuclear project, describe a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion. Foreign intelligence agencies date them to early 2007, four years after Iran was thought to have suspended its weapons programme.

An Asian intelligence source last week confirmed to The Times that his country also believed that weapons work was being carried out as recently as 2007 — specifically, work on a neutron initiator.

The technical document describes the use of a neutron source, uranium deuteride, which independent experts confirm has no possible civilian or military use other than in a nuclear weapon. Uranium deuteride is the material used in Pakistan’s bomb, from where Iran obtained its blueprint.

“Although Iran might claim that this work is for civil purposes, there is no civil application,” said David Albright, a physicist and president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, which has analysed hundreds of pages of documents related to the Iranian programme. “This is a very strong indicator of weapons work.”

The documents have been seen by intelligence agencies from several Western countries, including Britain. A senior source at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that they had been passed to the UN’s nuclear watchdog.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said yesterday: “We do not comment on intelligence, but our concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme are clear. Obviously this document, if authentic, raises serious questions about Iran’s intentions.”

Responding to The Times’ findings, an Israeli government spokesperson said: “Israel is increasingly concerned about the state of the Iranian nuclear programme and the real intentions that may lie behind it.”

In France: antisemitic incidents double over last year

As reported in Le Figaro, 12/ 13/09


Forte hausse des actes antisémites en France [links via israelmatzav.blogspot.com]

Selon Brice Hortefeux, 704 faits ont été recensés sur les neuf premiers mois de 2009 contre 350 à la même période en 2008. Un préfet chargé de la lutte contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme va être nommé.

704 incidents were registered during the first 9 months of 2009 compared to 350 during the same period of 2008. The government appointed a special envoy (or Czar, if you will) to combat Antisemitism specifically.

Le ministre de l'Intérieur, Brice Hortefeux, a annoncé dimanche soir à Paris une forte hausse des actes antisémites au cours des neuf premiers mois de l'année 2009. «704 faits ont été recensés : 123 'actions' et 581 menaces, qu'il s'agisse d'agressions verbales, de dégradations de bâtiments ou d'inscriptions», a souligné Brice Hortefeux qui s'exprimait devant l'Union des patrons et des professionnels juifs de France (UPJF).

According to the Interior Minister, there were 123 acts of antisemitism and 581 threats (adding up to 704).

Cela représente plus du double des manifestations d'antisémitisme recensées lors des neuf premiers mois de 2008: «350, dont 99 actions et 251 menaces», selon les chiffres communiqués par le ministère de l'Intérieur.

This represents a more than double the figure of manifested antisemitism from the first 9 months of 2008 when there were 99 acts and 251 threats, again reported by the Interior Ministry.

Zionist Israeli rabbis condemn vandalization of WB mosque.

Rabbi of Tekoa Menachem Froman said halacha prohibits doing harm to religious sites. "This deed was a serious religious crime," he said, adding that mutual respect between Jews and Muslims could bring peace. "If we keep hiding our heads in the sand and denying that the conflict (with the Palestinians) is religious, we will never get anywhere," Froman said. (Ynetnews, 12/13/09)