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October 6, 2008
Toben to be Held until Bail Hearing
JTA Wire Service
Frederick Toben, wanted in Germany on charges of Holocaust denial, will be held in a London prison until his bail hearing. Toben was picked up at Heathrow Airport on Oct. 1 on a stopover en route from the United States to Dubai. The bail hearing is scheduled for Oct. 10. A hearing on whether to extradite Toben to Germany is scheduled for Oct. 17, according to news reports. The dates were announced Friday at the City of Westminster magistrates’ court. Toben and several of his supporters, among them David Irving, reportedly attended the hearing. Irving several years ago lost a lawsuit against U.S. historian Deborah Lipstadt for having described him as a Holocaust denier. He told reporters that he might disagree with some of Toben’s views, but “he has the right to express them. This case is about the right to say what you think and the right to be wrong.” Toben, 64, was born in Germany but lives in Australia, where he founded the radical anti-Jewish Adelaide Institute. He was jailed for nine months in 1999 in Mannheim Prison, convicted of “defaming the dead” by denying or questioning the Holocaust. A Federal Court of Australia ordered him in 2002 to remove anti-Jewish material from his Web site.
French Panel to Probe al-Dura Shooting
A French committee will investigate a TV report on the controversial shooting of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy. The French public broadcasting authority will convene a panel to examine the accuracy of a French television report on the death of Mohammed al-Dura on the first day of the second intifada in September 2000, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported. The investigation comes after repeated claims that the footage was falsified. French media watchdog Philippe Karsenty was sued for libel by France 2 TV for making such a claim, but a Paris appeals court overturned a judgment against him this spring. The original report claimed that al-Dura had been shot by Israeli soldiers, but a subsequent investigation by Israel and additional footage that appears to show al-Dura lifting his head and opening his eyes after being pronounced dead have raised huge doubts about its validity.
Jews Mark Babi Yar Massacre
Ukrainian Jews held a ceremony in Kiev to remember the Jewish victims of the Babi Yar massacre. Holocaust survivors, other Ukrainian Jews, diplomats and rescuers of potential Babi Yar victims attended Sunday’s ceremony memorializing the more than 100,000 Jews killed there. The ceremony took place near the Menorah monument marking the site, located just outside Kiev. Zina Kalay-Kleitman, the Israeli ambassador to Ukraine; Rabbi Yakov Dov Bleich, one of two chief rabbis of Ukraine; Felix Mindel, chief of Nativ in Ukraine and Moldova; Jewish leaders and students of Jewish schools were among those who participated in the event. Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and other Ukrainian officials marked the Babi Yar anniversary on Sept. 29 at a nearby monument to all the victims of Babi Yar.
Pensions Hiked for Babi Yar Righteous
Kiev authorities will increase city pensions for the righteous of Babi Yar. The leaders of the Kiev city administration made the announcement last week at a reception for the Righteous of Babi Yar, non-Jews who assisted Jews in escaping the mass murder of about 33,700 Jews over several days in September 1941. Those eligible will receive a larger bonus in addition to their pensions. An initiative of Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, the bonus will take effect next year. “But the amount of the bonus is not fixed yet and will be discussed in November-December during the budget building process for 2009,” Chernovetsky said. Since 2006, each Righteous of Babi Yar has received quarterly aid of $40, a representative of the Kiev city-state administration told JTA. President Victor Yuschenko has bestowed state awards on 100 Righteous of Babi Yar.
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.