April 12, 2018
Israel: Holocaust Memorial Day commenced Wednesday evening
Events commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day began at sundown Wednesday (11th) throughout Israel.
The state ceremony was held at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum’s plaza, and hundreds of people marched in Tel Aviv as part of the “March for Life” along the city’s Rothschild Boulevard.
Places of entertainment and cafes closed down. TV and radio stations broadcast documentaries about the Holocaust and will do so until Thursday evening (12th).
On Thursday morning, Israelis came to a two-minute standstill to remember the dead when a siren wailed around the country. Pedestrians stopped in their tracks. Cars pulled over on highways and roads, and many exited their vehicles to stand in contemplation.
Also Thursday (12th) Holocaust victims’ names were read out in parliament.
(ynetnews.com)
At Holocaust memorial, PM warns Iran ‘not to test Israel’s resolve’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran Wednesday evening (11th) “not to test Israel’s resolve,” while speaking at the state ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu said that events in recent days “show that confronting evil and aggression is a mission that is imposed on every generation.”
There is no generation, he said, which is exempt from carrying out the mission, and “woe to the generation that evades it.”
After issuing his warning to Tehran, which is seeking to establish a military presence in war-torn-Syria in a bid to threaten Israel, Netanyahu turned to the people of Iran.
“Israel is not your enemy, but rather the tyrannical regime which represses you is, and when it disappears, our two ancient nations will be able to live again in cooperation and brotherhood.”
(ap.com)
President at Yad Vashem rally: ‘We will not extend hand to Holocaust deniers’
President Reuven Rivlin spoke at the state memorial ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum Wednesday evening (11th).
Speaking on rampant anti-Semitism in Europe and around the world, the president said, “We will never extend a hand to those who disavow the truth or who try to obfuscate it – not to individuals or organizations, heads of parties or heads of states.”
“The Jewish people will forever bear the standard of combating anti-Semitism and racism. No political or economic interest can cause us to turn the other way,” the president said.
(ynetnews.com)
Israel on highest alert as Iran threatens to attack
Israel’s military forces have been put on high alert after Iran threatened to retaliate over the bombing Monday (9th) of an air base in central Syria.
While Israel maintained its policy of ambiguity regarding the T-4 base bombing, Russia, Syria, Iran and the United States all said that Israeli aircraft had been responsible.
(israeltoday.co.il)
Senior security officials: If Iran acts against Israel, we’ll topple Assad
“If the Iranians act against Israel from Syrian territory, Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime will be those that pay the price.”
That is the clear message from senior officials in the Israel defense establishment and IDF after the top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called a strike on the Syrian T-4 base “Israel’s crime” and said the alleged act would “not remain without response.”
“Assad’s regime and Assad himself will disappear from the map and the world if the Iranians try to harm Israel or its interests from Syrian territory,” said the senior defense establishment officials.
(jpost.com; reuters.com)
World Health Organization: 500 people were poisoned in Syrian gas attack – Julian Robinson
The World Health Organization said “an estimated 500 patients presented to health facilities exhibiting signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals” after the Syrian gas attack that killed 43 people on Saturday (7th) in Douma. “There were signs of severe irritation of mucous membranes, respiratory failure and disruption to central nervous systems of those exposed.”
(dailymail.co.uk)
IDF shells Hamas posts after explosives target troops near border
An explosive device placed on the Israeli-Gaza Strip security fence was triggered on Wednesday morning (11th) as an IDF engineering force was working near the border. No injuries or damages were reported.
In response, Israeli tanks shelled several Hamas posts in Gaza.
(israelhayom.com)
What the New York Times isn’t telling you about Israel’s Gaza “blockade” – Ira Stoll
Nearly every New York Times dispatch about the recent violent pre-planned riots in Gaza has used the word “blockade” to describe Israel’s treatment of the territory. Some of the Times accounts mention Egypt’s participation in the “blockade,” while others omit it.
Webster’s Dictionary defines a blockade as an “action designed to isolate an enemy and cut off communication and commerce with him.” Yet in one week in March 2018, 2,728 trucks entered Gaza from Israel carrying 74,202 tons of supplies. In addition, Israel supplies electricity to Gaza via ten power lines. And Israel supplies water to Gaza via two pipelines. Some “blockade.”
Accusing Israel of a “blockade” of Gaza is inaccurate. It gives Times readers a false impression of what is actually happening, uncritically echoing Palestinian propaganda. Blame for the situation in Gaza lies with Hamas, not with Israel or some “blockade” imagined by Times journalists.
(algemeiner.com)
World Jewish population has still not recovered from the Holocaust
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics announced Tuesday (10th) that world Jewry numbers 14,511,000 people, some two million fewer than the 16.6 million Jews in the world in 1939 on the eve of the Nazi Holocaust.
In 2018 there are 6.45 million Jews living in Israel and 5.7 million in the U.S.
(cbs.gov.il)
Anti-Semitic graffiti on Jewish elementary school in Paris
Swastikas and the phrase “dirty Jew” were painted on the entrance to a Jewish elementary school in Paris.
The graffiti appeared Monday (9th) at the Gustave Leven School in the French capital’s 16th district.
Separately, unidentified individuals scrawled numerous swastikas in the northwest London district of Dollis Hill, the Board of Deputies of British Jews reported. The group’s chief executive Gillian Merron called the acts “disgusting” and said he hopes the offenders will be found and face the consequences of their actions.
(jta.org)
