FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)Relatives of victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack joined in a demonstration to mark the 16th anniversary of a Buenos Aires Jewish center bombing.
A car bomb in 1994 blew up the AMIA center, killing 85 and wounding hundreds.
Local Jewish organizations and the families of the AMIA victims were joined at last Friday’s demonstration by the families of the victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which allegedly were directed by al-Qaida, as well as Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, a member of the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
AMIA and DAIA, the central Jewish institutions in Buenos Aires, organized the demonstration with the Relatives and Friends of the AMIA Victims organization.
The bombing allegedly was carried out by Hezbollah agents with Iranian sponsorship and organization, but Argentina has not been able to bring anyone to justice for perpetrating the attack.
About 5,000 people attended the event, including Argentina’s vice president, Julio Cobos; its Cabinet chief, Alberto Fernandez; and Minister of Justice Julio Alpacas. Former President Nestor Kirchner also was on hand; his wife, current President Cristina Fernandez, was in China.
Garzon praised a letter sent by President Obama to President Fernandez congratulating Argentina on its fight against terrorism, and the judge urged the U.S. government “to provide a real support to demand the Iranian government’s answer” to the Argentinean request for extradition of the accused Iranian perpetrators.
“We accuse Iran of being behind the death of my brother, of your friends, of your neighbors; a country that denies the Holocaust, and even threatens to erase another country of the world with nuclear weapons, with the consent of Russia and Brazil; a country which shakes hands with Venezuela, which doesn’t show solidarity with our claim,” Marina Degtian, whose 21-year-old brother Cristian was killed in the AMIA blast, told the crowd.
Righteous Gentiles Honored in Warsaw
Some 50 Righteous Gentiles, non-Jews who risked their lives to rescue Jews in Poland during the Holocaust, were honored in Warsaw.
The luncheon Sunday in Warsaw was “one of the largest-ever gatherings of Holocaust rescuers and one of the last of its kind, as many of these rescuers are elderly,” a spokesperson for the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, which hosted the event, told JTA.
Poland’s chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, and the Israeli and U.S. ambassadors to Poland also attended.
All the honorees live in the Warsaw area, though during the war they had saved Jews in other Polish towns as well.
Stanlee Stahl, executive vice president of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, said the significance of the event was underscored by the fact that it took place just three days after vandals defaced the grave in Warsaw of Irene Sendler, who helped smuggle 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Polish television reported that the phrase “Jews Out” had been scrawled on Sendler’s tomb. Sendler died in 2008 at the age of 98.
“While we are taking this time to honor these Holocaust rescuers, anti-Semitism is still prevalent,” Stahl said.
She said she would visit Sendler’s grave on Monday and also scheduled a meeting with Sendler’s granddaughter.
The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous was created in 1986 to provide financial assistance to non-Jews who risked their lives and often the lives of their families to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. The organization supports more than 900 aged and needy rescuers in 23 countries, including providing monthly financial support to 471 people in Poland.
Queen Did Not Have Hebrew Book Offer, Jordanian Officials Say
Queen Rania of Jordan did not receive offers to publish her new children’s book in Hebrew, official Jordanian sources said.
The sources said Thursday that those offers would have gone directly to the U.S. publisher, Hyperion, following reports the previous day that Rania had rejected offers to publish “The Sandwich Swap” in Hebrew.
The book was published in English and Arabic and launched in the United States in April. The New York Times best-seller addresses dialogue and tolerance, and the Jordanian sources stressed that Jordan was committed to these messages.
The book’s main characters, Lily and Salma, allow the differences in their food to stand in the way of their friendship. Lily brings a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich to school, while Salma brings pita and hummus. After a schoolwide fight, they eventually work out their differences.
According to Rania’s website, proceeds from the sale of the book will go to an organization in Jordan that is renovating 500 schools there.
The book, directed at children aged 4 to 8, was co-written with Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Tricia Tusa.