Leader of youth group tour to Auschwitz-Brikenau arrested because kids sang Ani Maamin (I believe in the Messiah coming)
Meet Rafi Ostroff, who was
arrested at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on Friday because a tour group he is leading sang Ani Maamin (I believe in the coming of the Messiah).
I am leading a group of Bnei Akiva from Australia and South Africa.
As usual the group sings holy songs of prayer during the visit. This
time the guards of the camp hounded us all the time, shouting at us not
to sing. Even in the gas chamber of Aushwitz 1, the guard came up to me
and shouted at me: "tell them immediately to shut up".
We then went
to Birkenau. In a secluded part of the camp the boys spontaneously
started singing "Ani Maamin". This was the song that prisoners sang on
the way to be murdered there.
A guard drove after us with his car and
demanded that they be silent. I told him that I don't have control over
this as they are singing from their hearts. He then threatened to arrest
me and called the police.
In my group were a few boys that their
grandparents were prisoners or were murdered in Aushwitz. We cried a lot
on that day when they shared their stories with us.
I was
threatened with 24 hours imprisonment or paying a 1000 zloty fine (about
$350). I opted to pay as it was 2 hours before Shabbat.
Read the whole thing.
The Poles: Once anti-Semites, always anti-Semites.
Labels: Auschwitz, European anti-Semitism, Poland
Stadiums of hate
How much anti-Semitism is there in eastern Europe? Here's a BBC special from two years ago (2012) about what goes on at 'football' (soccer) games in the Ukraine and Poland. It's not pretty.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip:
The Mad Jewess).
BBC Panorama - Stadiums of Hate - Euro 2012 by WWExChamp
Not that the UK is any better. I have a non-Jewish friend in London, who was a colleague from my New York days. He told me that he won't attend soccer matches anywhere in the UK. It's too violent in the stands.
Keep in mind also that FIFA - the international soccer governing body and parent of UEFA (the European body) -
supports Hamas.
Labels: European anti-Semitism, Poland, soccer, Ukraine
Who's opposed to blacklisting Hezbullah?
It seems that there are several European countries who are afraid to designate Hezbullah a terrorist organization. Some of them could even be
counted among Israel's friends.
Poland and the Czech Republic expressed “reservations” about
blacklisting Hezbollah at a discussion in Brussels earlier this month,
JTA has learned.
Both Poland and the Czech Republic are considered
more supportive of Israel than Western European nations that supported
blacklisting Hezbollah, the source said.
...
Joining Poland and the Czech Republic — both traditional Israeli allies in Europe — was Finland, the source said. The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Austria is opposed, while The Jerusalem Post, quoting unnamed Israeli officials, reported that Ireland was also against. The Irish embassy declined to comment .
On the other hand, some countries that we thought were opposed to designating Hezbullah are now said to be in favor.
Denmark, Sweden, Germany and France support blacklisting Hezbollah, the
source said. It has long been believed that France was blocking such a
move out of concern that it would diminish European influence in
Lebanon, a former French colony.
Decisions in the EU are made by consensus. I find it hard to believe they're going to get one on this.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, designated terror organization, European Union, France, Germany, Hezbullah, Poland, Sweden
Written by 'junior level officials at the National Security Council'?
Remember that statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday that sounded like it
came from Meretz's Zehava Gal-On? Well, Netanyahu is now claiming that he never read the statement and that it was written by '
junior level officials at the National Security Council.' What happened to 'the
buck stops
here' Bibi?
This is from the second link.
The prime minister reportedly took issue with a part of the
communique that referred to unilateral steps by both sides serving as
obstacles to a peace agreement.
"Unilateral steps by either party are counterproductive to achieving a
sustainable lasting peace," reads the statement. "We welcome the U.S.
government’s efforts in this regard, particularly those of the U.S.
Secretary of State [John Kerry]."
Both Netanyahu and his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, were to sign
the document but no specific time was ever set for that action.
Nevertheless, the Israeli prime minister’s perceived aboutface has
raised the spectre of a diplomatic faux pas in international circles.
Moreover, it has also opened the door to criticism from opposition
within Israel’s government. Meretz party chairwoman Zehava Gal-On
immediately issued a statement attacking the prime minister, saying,
"Netanyahu’s disavowal of the content of the joint statement with the
Polish prime minister only serves to expose the true face of the prime
minister who continues to mislead the public and prove once again that
he has no intention of making peace."
I don't think anyone knows for certain which of the Prime Minister's two faces is the true one. But here's a hint: He apparently did not have a problem with the part of the statement that said
One may never question the right of the 'Palestinians' to a state.
JPost adds:
Netanyahu’s
office released a preliminary copy of the main points in advance of the
trip, but a source told Channel 10 that the bureau erred in releasing
the contents of the statement to the press.
...
In
November, Poland was one of 41 UN member states that abstained from the
General Assembly vote to upgrade the Palestinian status to that of UN
non-member state.
As part of the original joint statement on
Middle East issues, Poland and Israel agreed that the latter’s
legitimacy, the security of its citizens, and the Palestinian right to a
state should never be in doubt.
Stop ducking responsibility, Bibi. Be a man and take credit for your mistakes.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Middle East peace process, Palestinian state, Poland, two-state solution
And you thought Joe Biden was gaffetastic....
And you thought it was Joe Biden who was gaffetastic....
In the Washington Post, Marc Thiessen lists
five Obama gaffes that are being exploited by Mitt Romney in Israel and Poland. The two that relate to Israel are:
Obama's announcement that "the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps," without any warning to Israel because Obama wanted to stick it to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Obama's open-mic conversation with with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in which he 'accidentally' told the world how much he loathes Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The other three gaffes deal with Poland (caving in to Russian demands to scrap missile defenses on the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Poland, telling Dmitry Medvedev to tell Vladimir Putin that he would have 'more flexibility' on missile defense after the 2012 elections, and the reference to 'Polish death camps' a few months ago). Mitt Romney has been showing a his administration would be different, without openly criticizing Obama. Thiessen explains:
In Poland, Romney is signaling that while Obama may have sacrificed Poland on the altar of his “reset” policy with Russia, as president, Romney will pursue a “reset” policy, not with Russia but with Poland and the United States’s other central European allies. It is a message that will resonate from Warsaw to Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio — swing-states with large Polish-American populations.
In Israel, Romney signaled that the days of trash-talking and back-stabbing Israeli leaders will end if he becomes president. Obama’s gaffes at Israel’s expense have helped cement the impression that, as one former Palestinian official recently told The Post, Obama has shown “a complete lack of an emotion-based relationship with Israel.” Indeed, when Obama met with Jewish leaders at the White House recently and was told that was told he was not being “evenhanded,” he admitted: “You are absolutely right and we are going to fix that … the sense of evenhandedness has to be restored.” Romney’s unspoken message this week is that if Israel’s supporters back home want “evenhandedness,” the best way to get it is to replace Obama in the White House. It is a message that will resonate with Jewish voters (whose support for Obama has dropped 10 points since 2008) and pro-Israel evangelicals in the United States.
No doubt Romney’s foreign trip got off to a difficult start in London. But in the annals of gaffes, which is worse: One slip of the tongue suggesting London might not be ready for the Olympics or five major gaffes that have severely undermined this country’s relations with two of its most important allies?
And it's the last part that's really key. The White House has been trying to paint a picture of Romney as incompetent when it comes to foreign policy. That picture is untrue, but in any event, Obama is worse than incompetent: He's downright dangerous.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Campaign 2012, Mitt Romney, Poland, US foreign policy, US-Israel relationship
Deja vu all over again?
When last we left '
Uri Brodsky,' the alleged procurer of a German passport for 'Michael Bodenheimer,' which was allegedly used by the liquidators of Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, had been extradited from Poland to Germany, where he was released on bail. Now, the Germans have decided that they want him back. This is from a Google translation of the German side of
Der Spiegel.
been a year after the assassination of the Hamas official Mahmud al-Mabhouh is a case against the alleged Mossad agents "Uri Brodsky" set: According to SPIEGEL information has a Cologne court condemned the Israeli to a fine of 60,000 €, because he a German passport was forged.
...
"Uri Brodsky" in March and June 2009 had helped to obtain a Cologne lawyer a genuine German passport. A legend in the Mossad had given, "Michael Bodenheimer" Coming from a family persecuted by the Nazis. Brodsky had been presented to the Cologne Bar as a crisis consultant named Alexander Varin. He was on 4 June 2010 was arrested at the Warsaw airport because of an arrest warrant. After his release on bail of 100,000 € he returned to Israel.
Because of the fine is paid off with only the participation in the passport affair, the German Federal Prosecutor looking Brodsky alias Varin still with a warrant.
Somehow, I don't think that anyone in Israel knows where Mr. Brodsky is anymore. Hmmm.
Labels: Germany, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Michael Bodenheimer, Poland, Uri Brodsky
Iranian weight lifter banned for life for appearing with Israeli
On Thursday, I showed you video of the
award ceremony for the 105 kilo category at the World Weightlifting Championships in Poland. The Israeli competitor came in first, an Iranian came in second and a German came in third.
The Iranian refused to shake the Israeli's hand, although he did stand at the podium while the Israeli national anthem - HaTikva - was played. I remarked that based on past precedent I was surprised that the Iranian didn't just forfeit the match with the Israeli.
Apparently, the Iranian government was also surprised. It has
banned the weightlifter and his coach from all sporting activities for life.
Jalal Yahya-Zadeh, head of Physical Education Committee for Youth Committee announced this news and and added: "The fact that an Iranian weightlifting veteran has competed against an Israeli during the worldwide competitions and has stood beside him during the distribution of medal is unjustifiable."
He added: "Unfortunately, those who supposedly had the primary responsibility in this regard did not see any problem in this matter, however did not see it fit to be distributed within the public, which itself is an obvious mistake on their end."
If the sporting community had any morals, it would pit Israeli competitors against Arabs and Muslims in every event until the Arabs and Muslims tired of forfeiting and either withdrew from competition altogether or decided to compete. But expecting that kind of courage of conviction from a community that insisted that 'the games must go on' at Munich nearly 40 years ago is probably asking too much.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Iranian weightlifter, Poland, unsportsmanlike conduct
