Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

While in prison, Hitler wrote volume one of Mein Kampf (My Struggle) , which was published in 1925. This work detailed Hitler's radical ideas of German nationalism, antisemitism, and anti-Bolshevism. Linked with Social Darwinism, the human struggle that said that might makes right, Hitler's book became the ideological base for the Nazi Party's racist beliefs and murderous practices.

This site discusses many of the ideas contained within Mein Kampf.

After Hitler was released from prison, he formally resurrected the Nazi Party. Hitler began rebuilding and reorganizing the Party, waiting for an opportune time to gain political power in Germany. The Conservative military hero Paul von Hindenburg was elected president in 1925, and Germany stabilized.

Hitler skillfully maneuvered through Nazi Party politics and emerged as the sole leader. The Fhrerprinzip, or leader principle, established Hitler as the one and only to whom Party members swore loyalty unto death. Final decision making rested with him, and his strategy was to develop a highly centralized and structured party that could compete in Germany's future elections. Hitler hoped to create a bureaucracy which he envisioned as "the germ of the future state."

The Nazi Party began building a mass movement. From 27,000 members in 1925, the Party grew to 108,000 in 1929. The SA was the paramilitary unit of the Party, a propaganda arm that became known for its strong arm tactics of street brawling and terror. The SS was established as an elite group with special duties within the SA, but it remained inconsequential until Heinrich Himmler became its leader in 1929. By the late twenties, the Nazi Party started other auxiliary groups. The Hitler Youth , the Student League and the Pupils' League were open to young Germans. The National Socialist Women's League allowed women to get involved. Different professional groups--teachers, lawyers and doctors--had their own auxiliary units.

From 1925 to 1927, the Nazi Party failed to make inroads in the cities and in May 1928, it did poorly in the Reichstag elections, winning only 2.6% of the total vote. The Party shifted its strategy to rural and small town areas and fueled antisemitism by calling for expropriation of Jewish agricultural property and by condemning large Jewish department stores. Party propaganda proved effective at winning over university students, veterans' organizations, and professional groups, although the Party became increasingly identified with young men of the lower middle classes.

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Holocaust Timeline: The Rise of the Nazi Party

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Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

Approximately 11 million people were killed because of Nazi genocidal policy. It was the explicit aim of Hitler's regime to create a European world both dominated and populated by the "Aryan" race. The Nazi machinery was dedicated to eradicating millions of people it deemed undesirable. Some people were undesirable by Nazi standards because of who they were,their genetic or cultural origins, or health conditions. These included Jews, Gypsies, Poles and other Slavs, and people with physical or mental disabilities. Others were Nazi victims because of what they did. These victims of the Nazi regime included Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, the dissenting clergy, Communists, Socialists, asocials, and other political enemies.

Those believed by Hitler and the Nazis to be enemies of the state were banished to camps. Inside the concentration camps, prisoners were forced to wear various colored triangles, each color denoting a different group. The letters on the triangular badges below designate the prisoners' countries of origin.

This photo shows a chart of the prison badges used in concentration camps.

At first, the Nazis boycotted Jewish businesses for one day in April 1933. Then legislation excluded Jews from certain professions. The Nuremberg Laws created very detailed Nazi definitions of who was Jewish. Many people who never considered themselves Jewish suddenly became targets of Nazi persecution.

The world accessible to German Jews narrowed. Jews were no longer allowed to enter cinemas, theaters, swimming pools, and resorts. The publishing of Jewish newspapers was suspended. Jews were required to carry identification cards and to wear Star of David badges. On one night, Nazis burned synagogues and vandalized Jewish businesses. The arrests and murders that followed intensified the fear Jews felt. Next, Jewish children were barred from schools. Curfews restricted Jews' time of travel and Jews were banned from public places. Germany began to expel Jews from within its borders.

Germany's invasion of Poland in late 1939 radicalized the Nazi regime's policy toward Jews. Hitler turned to wholesale death of the European Jewish population. He swept Jewish populations into ghettos in eastern Europe. Simultaneously, mobile squads killed millions. The next step was to send Jews to squalid concentration and death camps. Approximately six million died for one reason: they were Jewish.

More information about Jewish victims of the Holocaust, with links to other Web sites and documentary materials.

Although the Nuremberg Laws did not specifically mention them, Roma were included in the implementation of the statutes. Like Jews, they were deprived of their civil rights. In June 1936, a Central Office to "Combat the Gypsy Nuisance" opened in Munich. By 1938, Sinti and Roma were being deported to concentration camps.

The fate of the Romani peoples paralleled that of the Jews after the beginning of World War II: systematic deportation and murder. First, western European Roma were resettled in ghettos. Then they were sent to concentration and extermination camps. Many Roma in the east--Russia, Poland, and the Balkans--were shot by the Einsatzgruppen. In total, hundreds of thousands of Sinti and Roma were killed during the Holocaust.

Further information about the Sinti and Roma, a photo, and links to other Web sites.

It is often forgotten that Christian Poles and other Slavs, notably Ukrainians and Byelorussians, were also primary targets of Nazi Germany hatred during World War II. To the Nazis, the Slavs were considered Untermenschen,or subhumans, and nothing more than obstacles to gaining territory necessary for the superior German race. This philosophy is apparent in Hitler's statement, "The destruction of Poland is our primary task. The aim is not the arrival at a certain line but the annihilation of living forces...."

The combination of a Nazi genocidal policy and the Nazis' thirst for more living space resulted in disaster for Polish, Ukrainian, and Byelorussian populations. Millions of Slavs were deported to Germany for forced labor. Intelligentsia, consisting of teachers, physicians, clergy, business owners, attorneys, engineers, landowners, and writers, were imprisoned in concentration camps or publicly executed. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians were executed by mobile killing squads, or Einsatzgruppen.

Those who were sent to camps had to wear badges, of course. There was not one badge designation for Poles and other Slavs. Rather, a Polish or Slavic person was categorized as a criminal, asocial, political prisoner, and so on.

Millions upon millions of non-Jews were slaughtered in the Slavic countries.

Further information about the Nazi treatment of the Polish people.

In 1933, the Roman Catholic Church signed a concordat or agreement with the new Nazi government, recognizing the legitimacy of the Third Reich. The Protestant Church was united into a single Reich Church under one bishop. In September 1933, Martin Niemller, a pastor of a fashionable church in Berlin, set up a Pastors' Emergency League which led to the formation of the anti-Nazi Confessional Church. This church wrote a memorandum to Hitler attacking the government's anti-Christian campaign, policies of antisemitism, and terrorizing tactics. Hitler responded with a crackdown on members of the Confessional Church. Hundreds of dissenting clergy were arrested, many were imprisoned, and also executed.

Further information about the Nazi treatment of political prisoners and dissenting clergy.

In 1934, forced sterilization programs sterilized 300,000 - 400,000 people, mainly those in mental hospitals and other institutions. Propaganda was distributed which helped build public support for these government policies. Persons who were mentally ill or physically disabled were stigmatized, while the costs of care were emphasized in propaganda campaigns.

In 1939, a Nazi "euthanasia program" began. This term is used as a euphemism for the Nazi plan to murder those with physical or mental defects. Unlike the sterilization program, the "euthanasia" program was conducted in secrecy. "Operation T4" was the code term used to designate this killing project.

As word leaked out about the "euthanasia" program, some church leaders, parents of victims, physicians, and judges protested the killings. Hitler ordered the end of Operation T4 in August 1941. However, the murders continued in a decentralized manner. Doctors were encouraged to kill patients with disabilities by starvation, poisoning, or injection.

Further information about the Nazi treatment of persons with physical or mental disabilities.

The Nazis did not tolerate the Jehovah's Witnesses' refusal, which was based on religious principles, to salute flags, to raise their arms to "Heil Hitler,"or to serve in the German army. The group was banned by national law in April 1935. Those Witnesses who defied the ban on their activities were arrested and sent to prisons and concentration camps.

Marked with purple triangular badges, the Witnesses were a relatively small group of prisoners in the concentration camps, numbering several hundred per camp. If Jehovah's Witnesses within the camps signed documents renouncing their religious beliefs, they would be freed. Very few, even in the face of torture, signed the declarations. In all, about 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned in concentration camps. Of these, approximately 2,500 to 5,000 died in Dachau, Belsen, Buchenwald, Auschwitz, and other camps.

Further information about the Nazi treatment of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Some homosexuals spent time in regular prisons, and an estimated 5,000-15,000 were sent to concentration camps. Even within the confines of the camps, homosexuals were mistreated and tormented by other inmates.

The Nazi regime claimed its concern about homosexuality related to keeping the Aryan birthrate high. German and Austrian gays were subject to arrest and imprisonment, but in German-occupied countries, Nazis did not deport homosexuals and send them to camps.

Memorial photographs, Web links, and a bibliography related to homosexual victims of the Third Reich.

Asocials were another category of people that Nazis deemed undesirable, and necessary for eradication. Nazis targeted numerous vagrants, prostitutes, alcoholics, and others who were considered unfit for society.

Interactive quiz on victims.

Lesson plans, discussion questions, term paper topics, reproducible handouts, and other resources for teaching about victims are available here.

| Victims| Perpetrators| Bystanders| Resisters| Rescuers| Liberators| Survivors| Children|

A Teacher's Guide to the HolocaustProduced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology,College of Education, University of South Florida 1997-2013.

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A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims

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Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

Donate to Keep Holocaust Memory Alive | United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ') }function updateRequiredFields(){var switchAddress = function(args) { if ((args.field_name === 'RecipientStreetAddress')) { if (mailCardRadio.checked === true) { if (args.val != null) { args.require_valid = true; } else { args.require_valid = false; } } else { args.require_valid = true; } } return args;}var switchPostal = function(args) { if ((args.field_name === 'RecipientPostalCode')) { if (mailCardRadio.checked === true) { if (args.val != null) { args.require_valid = true; } else { args.require_valid = false; } } else { args.require_valid = true; } } return args;}var switchCity = function(args) { if ((args.field_name === 'RecipientCity')) { if (mailCardRadio.checked === true) { if (args.val != null) { args.require_valid = true; } else { args.require_valid = false; } } else { args.require_valid = true; } } return args;}var switchState = function(args) { if ((args.field_name === 'RecipientStateProvince')) { if (mailCardRadio.checked === true) { if (args.val != null) { args.require_valid = true; } else { args.require_valid = false; } } else { args.require_valid = true; } } return args;}var switchEmail = function(args) { if ((args.field_name === 'RecipientEmailAddress')) { if (eCardRadio.checked === true) { if (args.val != null) { args.require_valid = true; } else { args.require_valid = false; } } else { args.require_valid = true; } } return args;}var switchCardDate = function(args) { if ((args.field_name === 'NotificationSendDate')) { if (eCardRadio.checked === true) { if (args.val != null) { args.require_valid = true; } else { args.require_valid = false; } } else { args.require_valid = true; } } return args;}nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid = nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid || [];// nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid.push(switchFirst);// nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid.push(switchLast);nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid.push(switchAddress);nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid.push(switchPostal);nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid.push(switchCity);nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid.push(switchState);nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid.push(switchEmail);nvtag_callbacks.alterRequireValid.push(switchCardDate);}

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Donate to Keep Holocaust Memory Alive | United States ...

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Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

From the use of the term grammar Nazi to PETAs comparisons of farming to concentration camps, Holocaust metaphors seem to be increasingly commonplace in our culture. Recently, the COVID-19 anti-vax movement has taken this rhetoric even further by comparing the enforcement of mask mandates and vaccine requirements to the Nazis treatment of Jews during the Holocaust.

This is absolutely not OK. By comparing the atrocious events of the Holocaust to minor political incidents, the genocide of millions of people becomes a cheap way to get your point across and discounts the impact of the Holocaust. It is dangerous rhetoric, used purely as a scare tactic, and should not be as commonplace as it is now. As antisemitism becomes more prevalent and neo-Nazis gain a voice in politics, the cavalier use of Holocaust metaphors has real-world effects and can lead to more hate and violence against Jews and others that the Holocaust affected.

While it may seem minor, the use of terms like grammar Nazi is extremely offensive. Someone correcting grammar shouldnt be compared to the Nazis, who inflicted actual damage on millions of people. Even the use of a phrase that may come off as harmless can make something as serious as the Holocaust into a joke, when it absolutely shouldnt be. Someone who corrects your grammar may be annoying, but they are not evil. Its important to make sure the language we speak reflects that.

Also, neo-Nazis are still around their hateful speech and xenophobia are no joking matter. These neo-Nazis can feel emboldened when antisemitic language and jokes around the Holocaust are normalized.

Social movements co-opting Holocaust metaphors is probably the most harmful and dangerous way these comparisons are used. Many animal rights organizations, such as PETA, frequently compare the treatment of animals in the factory farming industry to the concentration camps during the Holocaust.

During a 2003 advertising campaign, PETA put up signs comparing both the extermination and rounding up of Jews to the slaughtering and inhumane treatment of animals on farms. More recently, PETA called for an end to anti-animal language, comparing speciesism to racism, homophobia and ableism. These kinds of comparisons are extremely hurtful to marginalized communities.

Campaigns like these are purposely exploiting the suffering that the Holocaust caused as a way to gain media attention. There are other ways for animal rights organizations to get their points across, without invoking images of the Holocaust. It is hurtful to those with family members who perished in the Holocaust, and to survivors. The genocide of millions of people should not be used as shock value.

Anti-vaxxers are also using this kind of rhetoric and have even gone so far as to wear yellow stars similar to the ones that the Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust. Some anti-vaxxers have even made the comparison between vaccine passports and the documents that Jews had to carry around during the Holocaust, insinuating that anti-vaxxers will soon have to hide as many did during the Holocaust.

It is completely inappropriate to equate something such as wearing masks and getting the COVID-19 vaccine to the atrocities of the Holocaust. The government is not forcing people into concentration camps they are enforcing rules for public health. This comparison is even more of a slap in the face to the victims of the Holocaust because many people including Anne Frank died not from a gas chamber, but instead from diseases spreading because of the cruel and overcrowded conditions in the concentration camps.

These comparisons are even more outrageous and hypocritical because many of the anti-vaxxers additionally believe in the QAnon conspiracy, which is inherently antisemitic. In the same breath that these anti-vaxxers compare their freedoms being taken away to the Holocaust, they spread antisemitic hate speech and believe in harmful conspiracy theories about Jews. This contributes to the more than one billion people around the world who harbor antisemitic attitudes. The suffering of the Jewish people is not something that can be picked up or put down depending on whether it will help you win an argument.

Comparing social movements to the Holocaust, or people who are annoying about grammar to the Nazis, is unacceptable and immensely disrespectful in so many ways. The Never Forget sentiment means that we must teach future generations about the atrocities that occurred, and doing that starts with accuracy. These jokes come from a place of ignorance and improving our Holocaust education is the only way that we can fix this. When people learn what truly happened and why it is so important not to trivialize the events of the Holocaust as a political talking point, they will know the true impact these events had on people.

The Holocaust wasnt that long ago only 76 years and they have made a lasting impact in our collective history. If we act like these events were some abstract concept, something to compare other political events to, we take away from the real suffering that people dealt with.

When the events of the Holocaust are trivialized, it is absolutely dehumanizing. If we are to never forget the events of the Holocaust, then no one should ever place Jews in a dehumanizing position again. Words should be taken seriously we owe that to those who perished in the Holocaust.

Rachel Soloff writes primarily about the entertainment industry and social justice. Write to her at [emailprotected].

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Opinion | Stop comparing everything to the Holocaust - The Pitt News

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Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

The Holocaust is possibly the most extensively documented event in recorded history. The number of studies on the topic is such that no single researcher can possibly hope to keep abreast of every development. Collections of testimony also abound in number and form. We have written, audio, video and now even holographic collections of testimony. There is, indeed, no lack of history. The question is what we learn from this history and how we relate to it in the present.

These meanings are not self-evident. Whether reflection on the history of the Holocaust and other mass atrocities can ensure ethical action in the present remains open for debate. Yet that such histories should be studied to shake our ethical convictions to their foundations and demand that we consider them anew, is surely undeniable. If we can engage the stories of survivors to unsettle rather than simply affirm our worldviews, this history will continue to reverberate in the present.

Australia can seem so distant from such events and facile comparisons do nobody any good. We are not Nazi Germany, but nor are we a society free of racism, antisemitism, and profound structural inequalities. We need to learn about the Holocaust not because we fear its repetition, but because political and social forces that fuel inequity and discord remain with us today.

The survivor generation have given us their stories. What will we make of them?

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What to make of the legacy of Holocaust survivors - News - The University of Sydney

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Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

Pittsburgh will host global leaders this week at a summit that seeks to find a bipartisan response to the rise in extremist hate, nearly three years after a gunman killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue.

The first annual Eradicate Hate Summit will feature speeches from former President George W. Bush; Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas; Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt; and Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the United Nations special advisor on the prevention of genocide.

I want this city to be remembered for how it responded to hate not how it was victimized by hate, Laura Ellsworth, Jones Day partner and summit co-chair, told WESAs The Confluence. Hate is a multi-faceted, multi-discipline problem, and it is one whose solution resides in every single one of us.

The three-day summit will include conversations about how to stop the spread of extremism and prevent hate crimes. Panels will discuss the unique roles of technology, social media, cryptocurrency, gender and the pandemic in the rise of extremist hate.

Sessions will also focus on how to ensure justice for victims of hate and create new policies that prevent extremism from spreading.

The summit features a range of experts from anti-terrorism to law; religious and academic leaders; and intelligence and technology experts. Members of Pittsburghs Jewish community, including members of the Tree of Life Synagogue, will also speak.

But some Pittsburgh community groups are not impressed with the summits guest list of speakers. Bend the Arc Jewish Action: Pittsburgh a progressive Jewish social justice group and the Latino advocacy group Casa San Jose released a joint statement Friday condemning the inclusion of Bush, Mayorkas and former Homeland Security Secretary and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

It is gratifying that President Bush, Secretary Mayorkas and Mr. Ridge wish to lend their stature to the cause of eradicating hate However, the legacy of their work stands in stark contrast to lofty goals of the summit itself, the statement reads.

The groups criticized Bushs response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and related the administration's deportation policies to anti-immigrant sentiment.

The Bush administration and DHS exploited anti-Islamic fervor to justify an aggressive expansion of domestic surveillance, harassment, and entrapment of Americans who practice Islam, have Arab or Middle Eastern heritage, or fit a stereotype of these cultures, the groups said.

Bend the Arc and Casa San Jose acknowledged the participation of Bush, Mayorkas and Ridge raises the summits profile and could increase the attention given to other speakers, but they said they feel the legacy of the Bush administration must be noted.

We need to acknowledge that elevating the voices of Bush, Ridge, and Mayorkas in a conference against hate instead whitewashes their roles in racially-based human rights abuses, the statement reads, calling for organizers to call out the role of government in extremism.

Seamus Hughes, summit speaker and deputy director of the extremism program at George Washington University, spoke with WESA's The Confluence before those community groups voiced their opposition. But he said disagreement is to be expected during the discussions, and the point is to find common ground on which to move forward.

The goal is really: Whats the solution? Where are the common grounds? Were not going to solve all of the worlds problems in a [three-day] conference, but were going to try, he said.

Seamus acknowledged that the goal of the summit is a big one, but he argues the work must begin somewhere.

Its understandable that people want to take a step back after a mass casualty event, he said. But very few want to take the next step to try to prevent the next one.

According to Ellsworth, the summit will be an annual event with an aim to produce new laws and policies to prevent the spread of hate and ensure justice for those who are victimized by it.

Nothing is insurmountable, she said of the summits lofty goals. [If] we save one family, two families, three families, it will all have been worth it.

The summit begins at 8 a.m. Monday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The public can register to attend here. Some sessions will be livestreamed.

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Global leaders gather in Pittsburgh this week to discuss the rise in extremist hate, find solutions - 90.5 WESA

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Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

Israel and Sweden have a chance to strengthen their relations, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and his counterpart from Stockholm, Ann Linde, said in Jerusalem on Monday, during the first visit to Israel by a Swedish foreign minister in a decade.

Sweden is a friend of Israel, Linde said, adding: We both see a real opportunity to deepen our dialogue further and develop long-standing cooperation when it comes to innovation, culture and trade, as well as fighting antisemitism... I also learned Foreign Minister Lapid is a champion of womens rights, and as a feminist foreign minister in a feminist government with a feminist foreign policy, I see here more opportunity for cooperation.

Linde is the first Swedish foreign minister to visit Israel since Sweden recognized a Palestinian state in 2014, sparking a diplomatic row and downgrading relations below the level of foreign ministers.

Lapid commended Linde for making an effort to bring the countries back together.

In our conversations, we agreed [that] friends dont have to agree on everything, he said. I appreciated what you told me: that behind the criticism lies a deep support for Israels security and the right of Jews to establish a state in our historic homeland.

Lapid said he and Linde shared a common desire to develop, advance and realize the economic and social potential between the countries and cultivate and grow connections in technology and trade.

I believe that because of the page we are turning here today, there will be a whole new book of friendship and cooperation, Lapid said.

Linde reaffirmed Swedens commitment to the security of Israel, adding that she and Lapid had discussed the Iranian threat and other regional developments.

Linde congratulated Israel for the Abraham Accords, the peace and normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states.

Sweden supports efforts at dialogue and understanding in the region, she said. Normalization between Israel and Arab countries is truly positive for peace and security.

However, Sweden still wants to see a two-state solution and the end of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Linde said.

Lapid spoke about Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews from the Nazis in Hungary, including Lapids father, former justice minister Tommy Lapid.

Linde also visited Yad Vashem, which she said was painful but crucial.

On behalf of Sweden, I promise that we say Never again and mean it, she tweeted. We will continue to take actions to combat antisemitism in all its forms and to make sure we never forget.

Earlier, Linde visited Herzog at the Presidents Residence.

Herzog thanked Linde for hosting the Malm Forum, stressing the need for international unity in fighting antisemitism.

He emphasized the importance of the indisputable fact of Israels unique status in the family of nations as the state of the Jewish People, which maintains equality between all its citizens and is a liberal democracy, his spokesman said.

Herzog also highlighted the Abraham Accords and encouraged Sweden to actively support efforts for peace and normalization with more states in the region.

The 2014 diplomatic dispute between Israel and Sweden was exacerbated when Swedens foreign minister, Margot Wallstrm, accused Israel of extrajudicial killings of Palestinians. At a pro-Israel rally in Stockholm in 2016, Lapid, who was the leader of an opposition party, accused Wallstrm of antisemitism. Israel recalled its ambassador from Stockholm for a month, and there was no contact between the countries on the ministerial level until this year.

But over the past two years, Sweden has made an effort to improve relations, including speaking in favor of convening the EU-Israel Association Council and supporting Israeli candidacy to UN bodies.

Those efforts culminated with Lapid and Linde meeting on the sidelines of the EUs Foreign Affairs Council in July, where Linde expressed her willingness to improve relations between the countries.

Following the first official conversation between Israeli and Swedish foreign ministers in seven years in September, Sweden announced it would boycott the anti-Israel Durban IV Conference at the UN.

Relations between Israel and Sweden also fit with Lapids stated goal of strengthening Israels ties to liberal, democratic countries.

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Swedish FM in visit to Israel: Sweden is a friend of Israel - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

Israel will allow Russian tourists vaccinated with Sputnik V, the Russian-made COVID vaccine, to enter the country for the next two months.

The decision comes ahead of Prime Minister Naftali Bennetts scheduled Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia. The Sputnik V vaccine is not recognized by Israel, the World Health Organization, or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

LISTEN: The offshore accounts bankrolling Israeli settlements

Russians who received the Sputnik V vaccine will be able to enter Israel on the strength of a blood test showing sufficient antibodies to the virus, rather than a PCR swab test. People with an insufficient antibody count might be allowed to choose between immediate return to Russia or isolation in an Israeli hotel.

Israeli officials told Haaretz that the move is the result of recent pressure from Russian officials. One official said the arrangement will be limited to two months in order to permit Russia to obtain WHO recognition for its vaccine, after which Israel would recognize Sputnik V fully.

In September, Haaretz reported that Jerusalem and Moscow were working on a plan to allow people who received Sputnik V to enter Israel in a bid to renew bilateral tourism.

After Israel Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov met with Russias tourism and foreign affairs ministers, they formulated the plan to use blood tests rather than PCR tests. If the experiment is successful, it could be introduced to tourists from other countries who have received the Russian or Chinese COVID-19 vaccines.

Over 70 countries have authorized Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and is now being tested by the WHO and the European Medicines Agency.

After a meeting with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva earlier this month, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said the organization's authorization was in its final stages and that only a small amount of paperwork remains to be completed. "Russia's position on promotion and registration of the Sputnik V vaccine was heard, we have removed all the questions for today," Murashko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

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Russians with Sputnik V vaccine will be allowed into Israel ahead of Bennett-Putin meeting - Haaretz

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Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

Israel and the UAE are not only having photo opportunities but are moving forward in economic cooperation in concrete areas such as Fintech.

At a joint Israeli-Emirati conference in Abu Dhabi Monday on Fintech co-sponsored by Bank Hapoalim and the Israel Export Institute, officials from both countries delved deep into the details of how cooperation has already moved forward and how future investors can plug into the expanding growth.

The term encompasses a wide range of new products that allow consumers to receive loans merely on the basis of a streamlined online application, automate aspects of financial processes to speed them up and improve the ability of businesses and consumers to evaluate and determine their future financial strategies.

Summarizing Fintech trends between the countries to date, he said that there has been more money from Israel to the Emirates than the other way around. This is counterintuitive for people who see the UAE as [a] liquid. Israeli investors are comfortable with higher risk, the unknown and new markets. Emirati investors usually are far more patient and want to build a relationship" before they invest.

Binali urged Israeli investors to consider the Emirates as a path to raise funds and conduct Fintech business relating to East Asia and Africa.

In instances where Israelis need to raise funds beyond US investors, he said that the UAE can connect them to markets generating billions of dollars in remittances and other major businesses connected to India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Africa.

In addition, Binali pitched Israeli investors and Fintech operators at the conference, telling them that they have a unique opportunity to end Emirati inefficiencies in the banking sector.

In addition, he said that the right mix of Fintech companies and entrepreneurs can make a big difference, since the UAE currently has 20 banks and of them, 15 banks have to go. Fintech can help the five banks that will survive.

Yas Investments CEO Yagub Al-Serkal enchanted the Israelis in the audience with his properly accented Hebrew and proceeded to discuss how different parties from both sides come and speak with each other very easily.

He listed off specific venture debt funds and liquidity capital-related projects that are already underway, noting that deep technology exists in Israel and there is a need for that in the UAE.

Bank Hapoalim CEO Dov Cotler said that a year ago, we signed an MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] and we did not know what the future would bring. We followed through on the commitment and we are now here for our third time and now we have reached the point where it is time for you to come visit us in Israel.

Cotler added that many younger and highly creative Israeli start-up businesspeople had come to the UAE and had a lot to contribute to economic developments between the countries while cautioning the start-up officials that Fintech and start-ups [in the UAE] are like running a marathon and not like running the 100-meter dash.

The conference also gave an opportunity to several Israeli Fintech managers to directly pitch their products and companies from the stage to UAE officials.

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Israel, UAE jumping forward with Fintech cooperation - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on October 18, 2021

Polish-Jewish relations are a mess, the worst theyve been in decades. Israel expressed its disgust over Polands passage of a law that effectively bars Holocaust survivors and the families of murdered victims from reclaiming Nazi-looted property in Poland during the war. Poland says the law is vastly misunderstood. Diplomacy is in meltdown mode.

Israel recalled its ambassador from Warsaw and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said the law is antisemitic and immoral.

Poland responded by recalling its ambassador from Jerusalem. I recently heard from someone in Warsaw that all the senior Israeli staff have left the embassy and its now being run by a very young staffer.

On the other hand, some officials in Poland reportedly threatened to stop the March of the Living visits that brings tens of thousands of Jewish teenagers to Poland every year. Ive participated in a few, especially when Elisha Wiesel, son of Elie Wiesel, was the keynote speaker. They are moving and amazing beyond description.

What has led to this sudden collapse? The latest round of Polish-Israel fighting started when Polands president signed a new law that would set limits on the Jewish ability to reclaim property originally seized by the Nazi German occupiers which was later retained by Polands post-war Communist leaders.

Lapid said, The negative impact on our ties began the moment that Poland chose to begin passing laws aimed at harming the memory of the Holocaust and the Jewish people in 2018.

Gone are the days when Poles harmed Jews without consequence. Today, Jews have a proud and strong country of their own. We do not fear antisemitic threats, and have no intention of turning a blind eye to the shameful conduct of the anti-democratic Polish government.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki responded on Facebook: Israels decision to lower the rank of the diplomatic representation in Warsaw is groundless and irresponsible, and the words of Yair Lapid raise the outrage of every honest person.

As a rabbi who is extremely active in Holocaust memory and whose latest book, Holocaust Holiday: One Familys Descent into Holocaust Memory Hell, charts my visits with my young children to the Nazi death camps over three summers and all that Poland has done to preserve them, I am very upset at this Polish-Jewish rupture.

Israel has every right indeed a need to insist on factual Holocaust historical memory and on restitution for Hitlers victims. And Poland has every right to feel the gratitude of the world Jewish community for their extraordinary efforts to honor the memory of the millions of Jews murdered by the Germans on their soil, as well as honor the suffering and sacrifice of the Polish people themselves who were invaded by the Germans on September 1, 1939.

The Polish law that bars restitution is unacceptable, but Jewish objections should be voiced amid general gratitude to the Polish people for all they do for the preservation of the camps and Jewish cemeteries throughout the country. Most of all, Poland must recognize Jewish property claims and never-ending Jewish trauma over the Holocaust, and the Jewish community must similarly recognize immeasurable Polish suffering at the hands of the Nazis. Both premises seem logical but youd be amazed at how hard it has been to achieve this simple consensus.

I met during Sukkot with Polish President Andrzej Duda in New Jersey. The president and I had met on several previous occasions. I pleaded with him to take action to end the impasse. I thanked him for everything his country and government do to restore Jewish cemeteries, preserve the Nazi-German murder camps, and tell the story of the Holocaust. I told him I am genuinely grateful.

I also shared that the Jewish community has legitimate grievances, especially as it relates to the immoral anti-restitution law, and the Polish people have legitimate grievances of their own, especially against those who stupidly equate Poland with Nazi Germany, which is itself a moral outrage.

But why is no one talking? Why are Israel and Poland simply now ignoring each other instead of trying to work this out?

The Second World War started when Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The Holocaust was perpetrated not by Poland but by Germany. Anyone who says otherwise, and who speaks of Poland being just as responsible as Germany, is guilty of reprehensible Holocaust denial and historical revisionism.

Poland as a nation and as a government-in-exile never collaborated with the Nazis and fought them vigorously throughout the nearly six years of occupation. I can understand why Poles, who suffered unspeakably under the Nazi tyranny, would go ballistic at any equation between them and the Nazis.

Conversely, any suggestion that there were no Polish collaborators with the invading Germans is as big a whitewash of history as would be the denial of the fact that Poland has more Righteous Among the Nations identified by Yad Vashem than any other nationality. Many Poles collaborated. Poland as a nation never did.

It also follows that Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust and lost their property, or Jews who were deported but survived, should absolutely have their property returned to them and their heirs.

So how do we resolve this impasse? It starts with dialogue.

I know Yair Lapid and his wife, Lihi. She, like me, is a relationships expert and we have done public lectures together. Yair is himself the son of a legendary Holocaust survivor and I understand his deep feelings about the genocide of our people. But Yair is also Israels chief diplomat. A man of great eloquence and charisma, surely he can take the lead in engaging Poland with talks that might resolve the situation.

We are now three months away from the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, which took place on January 20, 1942. The meeting, convened by Reinhard Heydrich, the third most evil man that ever lived, and Adolf Eichmann, the fourth most evil, planned the complete coordination of the Holocaust and the use of poison gas for the Final Solution of European Jewry.

Surely a righteous God who was all too silent during the Holocaust is today ensuring that these two monsters are roasting in hell. The work they did, however, is undoable.

Our organization, The World Values Network, will be hosting our Champions of Jewish Values International Awards Gala on the 80th Anniversary, especially in light of how rapidly the Holocaust is being forgotten. In April of 2018, The New York Times reported, Forty-one percent of Americans, and 66 percent of millennials, cannot say what Auschwitz was.

Thats terrifying and all the more reason for Israel and the Jewish community to understand the centrality of Poland and its government to Holocaust memory, not to mention serving as reliable allies of Israel at the European Union.

Last week I attended the ceremony for the unveiling of the Elie Wiesel sculpture at the Washington National Cathedral along with Elies wife, Marion, and his son, Elisha, who delivered a masterful defense of Israel at Americas foremost house of worship.

Some complained that the worlds most famous Holocaust survivor should not have been sculpted at a church. Little do they realize that Never Again only has meaning if people actually Never Forget our six million martyrs. And sometimes you have to push your comfort zone to ensure that the Holocaust does not fade from memory.

Its a lesson that Israel and American-Jewish communal leaders should bear in mind as they mistakenly allow the relationship with Poland to rapidly deteriorate.

The author, Americas Rabbi, is the best-selling author of 30 books, including most recently Holocaust Holiday: One Familys Descent into Genocide Memory Hell. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @RabbiShmuley.

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Only talking will bring understanding in the Israel-Poland rift - The Jerusalem Post

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