Doc's Talk: Israel to commemorate the Holocaust and its victims

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Israel to commemorate the Holocaust and its victims

Some 200,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel, 70,000 of whom survived concentration camps and ghettos • Government aid to Holocaust survivors increases to $60 million for 2012 • Official ceremony begins at 8 p.m. (Israel time).

Yael Branovsky, Yori Yalon, Shlomo Cesana, Danny Brenner, Zeev Klein, Nitzi Yakov and The Associated Press Israel marks Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day beginning Wednesday at sundown, with events scheduled across the country to memorialize the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The national day of commemoration – whose theme this year is "My Brother's Keeper: Jewish Solidarity During the Holocaust" – officially begins at 8 p.m. with the national ceremony at Warsaw Ghetto Square at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum. As in years past, six survivors will light six torches at the ceremony in memory of the 6 million who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and Supreme Court President Asher Grunis will attend the ceremony, in addition to 2,500 Holocaust survivors, public figures and Israeli youth. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Israeli television and radio.

Holocaust Remembrance Day events continue Thursday as the country grinds to a halt at 10 a.m., when sirens are set to wail across Israeli cities and citizens stand at attention in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Other memorial ceremonies are scheduled at additional sites in Israel, such as the Ghetto Fighters' Kibbutz and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, as well as schools, military bases, municipalities and other places of work. Throughout the day, both television and radio broadcast programs about the Holocaust.

Some 200,000 Holocaust survivors currently live in Israel, about 70,000 of whom survived concentration camps and ghettos. Many of them live in poverty and previous governments have been criticized for not doing enough to allow them to live out their lives in dignity.

However, the cabinet on Tuesday boosted its budget for assisting Holocaust survivors. The government said the basket of services for Holocaust survivors would rise to NIS 225 million ($60 million) for 2012, a 13 percent increase. An additional $13 million will be directed toward increasing monthly stipends for particularly needy survivors. Stipends currently range from $530 to $1,900 each month.

Netanyahu told the cabinet that it was urgent to help survivors, adding that as time passes fewer survivors remain alive.

"We want to remember those who perished, the 6 million brothers and sisters, and heed the lessons of the Holocaust in order to ensure the future of our people," Netanyahu said.

Deputy Minister for Senior Citizen Affairs Lea Nass said many of the remaining survivors had not even tried to claim their government benefits. She said that in recent years, government officials had "succeeded in reaching 120,000 survivors." In 50,000 cases, "we went to their homes in order to help them utilize their rights and receive the government assistance to which they are due," Nass said.

Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem, attended Tuesday's cabinet meeting, which was called to review the government's assistance to survivors and its efforts to commemorate the Holocaust and to showcase examples of private collectibles that the public donated to Yad Vashem over the past year. The personal items were donated as part of the museum's program "Gathering the Fragments," a national campaign to rescue personal items from the time of the Holocaust. Since the campaign was launched this time last year, more than 51,000 items have been collected.

At the start of the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu presented one of those items – a shirt belonging to 4-year-old Rafael Denty, who was murdered at Auschwitz. "These items are being collected into a single fabric that provides tangible documentation of the disaster that befell the Jewish people," the prime minister said.

As in other years, Jewish teens from Israel and elsewhere will take part in the March of the Living trip to Poland, where they will march from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and then travel to Israel for Israeli Memorial Day and Independence Day.

The march in Poland marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the educational journey, and this year will focus on allied soldiers who liberated the concentration camps 67 years ago. For the first time in March of the Living’s history, Israel Police Commissioner Insp. Gen. Yohanan Danino will take part in the event. He is scheduled to arrive in Krakow, Poland, on Wednesday and will officiate at the opening ceremony honoring the camps' liberators.

Danino is expected to tell them, "I stand before you, the liberators of concentration camps and the saviors of the survivors, and in the name of the state of Israel and its people, army, and police forces, I thank you and salute you."

On Thursday, Danino will lead a delegation of 200 Israel Police officers on the march. Some 10,000 people are to take part in the march on Thursday, including Holocaust survivors, Jewish youths from 48 countries around the world, Tel Aviv's Chief Rabbi Meir Lau, and hundreds of World War II veterans from different countries, who fought against the Nazis.

One of the participants from the Israel Police is Menachem Frenkel, 76, who was deported to a concentration camp from his home in Belgium when he was 4. Frenkel's father died at Auschwitz. "For me, marching in Auschwitz in an Israeli police uniform is like coming full circle," Frenkel said.

Frenkel has been volunteering with the Israel Police for 11 years. He was born in Belgium, and his family fled to France after the Nazi invasion. As his family did not have French citizenship, they had no protection against Nazi forces. "Because of the great hunger, my father had to sign us up for food stamps," Frenkel said. "It didn't take long for the Nazis to find us and send us to a concentration camp, from which my father was sent to Auschwitz where he was murdered."

Frenkel survived the war, as did his mother and sister, and they moved to Israel together. "The state has done a great deal for us and I decided I have to give something back," he said of his decision to volunteer for the police following his retirement. "I have already visited Poland since the war, but this year is different – I returned in a police uniform. I will march proudly to Auschwitz. It will be extremely powerful and emotional to arrive at the gas chambers in my uniform, knowing that my father was killed there."

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk