FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)Libya will allow two Italian Jewish women to visit their ancestral homes.
Al Hayat, a Saudi-owned daily based in London, reported that Libya granted permission for the trips during an official visit this week by Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi to Italy.
Gaddafi, long a pariah in the West, in recent years has traded concessions and humanitarian gestures for signs of acceptance from major industrial nations.
Most of Libya’s ancient Jewish community fled in 1967, when persecution of Jews in Arab nations intensified following Israel’s Six-Day War victory.
Uruguayan President Awarded Jerusalem Prize
Uruguayan President Jose Mujica was awarded the Jerusalem Prize.
The annual prize, awarded by the Zionist Organization of Uruguay, recognizes the defense of human rights, promotion of peaceful coexistence among peoples and solidarity with the people of Israel.
Ex-Uruguayan presidents Julio Maria Sanguinetti and Luis Alberto Lacalle, both recipients of the prize, joined other former recipients and government officials, and community members at the public ceremony Sept. 2.
Mujica said he accepted the award as a tribute to all the people of Uruguay.
He said he had a deep admiration for the history of struggle and suffering of the Jewish people, noting that they also “have participated in the building of our nation. How could I not respect them and love them?”
Venezuelan Jews Request Meeting with Chavez
Venezuelan Jewish leaders have requested a meeting with President Hugo Chavez to discuss the increase in anti-Semitic attacks in the state-run media.
The presidential palace said a meeting would be arranged in about 10 days, Haaretz reported.
Assertions that Jews are damaging the country’s economy are among the verbal and written attacks in the media.
“We are not saying this is the government policy,” David Bittan Obadia, deputy chairman of the Jewish community of Venezuela, told Haaretz last Friday. “However, [the government] is capable of putting a stop to the phenomenon. It has the tools. We will be very direct and adamant in the things we will tell the president.”
Chavez has attacked the Jewish community of Venezuela in speeches during his 12-year tenure in office. He also has attacked Israel.