Thursday, August 02, 2012
AJC Urges Strategic Link Between Greece and Israel
Peres Visit to Athens Highlights Relationship,
Importance of Eastern Mediterranean Region
As to the steps taken by the Jewish-American community to stand by Greece in these difficult times, Harris says it encourages more tourism and investments, while at the same time urging governments and multilateral institutions to do all they can to help create the conditions for a turnaround.
Read more.Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Most Wanted Nazi War Criminal Arrested in Hungary
No Statute of Limitations for Mass Murder
Csatary, who is 97 years old and living in Budapest, was charged with unlawful torture related to his role in the 1944 deportation to Auschwitz of 15,700 Jews from the city of Kassa and its environs (Kassa was formerly in Hungary; it is now Kosice, in Slovakia).
In 1948 Csatary was convicted in absentia for war crimes in Czechoslovakia and sentenced to death. He lived in Canada beginning in 1948, became a Canadian citizen in 1955, and worked as an art dealer there. His Canadian citizenship was revoked in 1997 for concealing his past history of war crimes. According to Zuroff, since 1997 Csatary has been living in Hungary.
Last year an anonymous informant notified the Wiesenthal Center of Csatary’s whereabouts in Budapest, seeking the reward offered by Operation Last Chance. Zuroff then alerted Hungarian prosecutors in September 2011. The July 2012 arrest came after Zuroff enlisted the assistance of the British tabloid The Sun, which published shirtless photos of Csatary answering the door—the story was widely picked up by international media, which put pressure on Hungary to act.
“It’s a great victory and a very important one,” says Zuroff. “The passage of time in no way diminishes the guilt of the killers, and old age should not afford protection for Holocaust perpetrators.” Zuroff also wrote an open letter to the Hungarian president, Janos Ader, asking that Hungarian authorities “do everything possible to help bring this criminal to justice.” Zuroff notes that Csatary is currently in a good state of health and able to stand trial.
“Efraim Zuroff is to be commended for his persistence in tracking down Nazi war criminals,” says Aryeh Rubin, director of Targum Shlishi. “But decades after the Holocaust we continue to struggle with the legacy of inaction on the part of the Jewish community, which was preoccupied and squandered the opportunity to catch many of the major Nazi war criminals when they were in the prime of their lives. After failing to mount any vigorous opposition to the Holocaust, the failure to pursue the murderers of our people is yet another legacy of inaction. That is why the arrest of Csatary is a major event.”
About Operation Last Chance
Operation Last Chance was originally launched in 2002 by the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office together with Targum Shlishi. “Operation Last Chance was our attempt to respond proactively to the reality of the diminishing opportunity to bring Holocaust perpetrators to justice. Time was running out and we sought to maximize justice while it was still possible to do so,” says Zuroff. Operation Last Chance was launched in Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Austria, Croatia, and Hungary.
Operation Last Chance II launched in December 2011 in Berlin in the wake of the conviction of death camp guard John Demjanjuk, found guilty of thousands of counts of accessory to murder. Its launch was inspired by the legal precedent set by Demjanjuk's case, which has led to the reopening of hundreds of investigations--Demjanjuk was the first Nazi war criminal to be convicted in Germany without evidence being presented to the court of a specific crime with a specific witness. The objective of Operation Last Chance II is to revitalize the search for the remaining death camp operatives and mobile killing unit squad members in Germany and elsewhere.
Operation Last Chance/the Wiesenthal Center is asking for tips related to Nazi war criminals alive today and has established a mobile hotline (+49-1573-494-7307). For more information about Operation Last Chance, visit its website.Syria Destroys Long Maintained Palestinian Refugee Camp
Al-Yarmuk Lies in Ruins; Refugees Flee to Neighboring Arab States
Palestinians are fleeing the Syrian civil war following the destruction of a Damascus district that was built up and purposely maintained for decades as a refugee camp. The camp reportedly lies in ruins as a result of internal fighting between rival Palestinian Islamist groups and interventions by a secular, regime-backed Palestinian terrorist organization (which is also supported by Iran) and regime thugs.
In Lebanon, too, Palestinian camps are threatened; in fact, the whole, UN-supported structure that was used to exploit the refugee problem in order to keep alive the dream of "return" could collapse as a result of the complex conflict on Israel's northern border.
Another first-rate analysis by Pinhas Inbari. Click here to read it.Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Power Largely Restored in India After Grid Fails
Power has largely been restored in India after a second, unexplained grid collapse, a manmade disaster that has embarrassed the government. Read more.Romney's Policy Speech in Jerusalem
Thursday, 2 August 2012
In sharp contrast with President Obama's address to "the Muslim world" from Cairo, which emboldened the Muslim Brotherhood and signaled the abandonment and betrayal of the pro-American, peace-preserving Mubarak government, comes Mitt Romney's powerful Jerusalem policy speech. Click below. There can be no denying that the presumptive Republican Presidential candidate is a genuine friend and supporter of Israel and the Jewish people. He has an emotional connection with Israel's purpose and history that Obama clearly lacks.
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