Israel in the News Oct/Nov 1992
Anti-Semitism Examined by Scholars at Prague Seminar
from Voice
A host of scholars gathered here for the first international seminar on anti-Semitism in post-totalitarian Europe were unable to agree on what has kept hatred of Jews alive for 2,000 years. But they all acknowledged that anti-Semitism did not die with the defeat of the Nazis and haunts the continent once again.
As Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel put it in an eloquent address to the seminar, “Anti-Semitism has re-emerged with a stubbornness, stupidity, and aggressiveness all its own.”
“To find a rational explanation for the irrational” was one of the seminar’s main goals.
Some lecturers sought the roots of anti-Semitism in ancient times, pointing to the schism between Judaism and Christianity some 2,000 years ago; the subsequent competition between Jewish and Christian messianism; and current attempts by anti-Semites to prove there is a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world.
Scholars pointed out that conspiracy theories and denial of the Holocaust appear mainly in societies with crises of conscience and feelings of shame for the deeds of the previous generations, in such places as Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
Israeli Aircraft Industry May Sell Drones to the U.S.
from Israel Line, LIKUD USA
HA’ARETZ reports that the Israeli Aircraft Industry was apparently the only bidder left for a major deal to sell drones to the U. S. Navy. This, after the Pentagon rejected the participation of McDonald Douglas to the bid, due to problems discovered in the American company’s flight experiments conducted to check the drones. The deal is worth an estimated 550 million dollars.
Head of IDF Intelligence on Potential Iranian Nuclear Capability
from Israel Line, LIKUD USA
HA’ARETZ quotes the Israel Defense Forces Head of Intelligence, Major General Uri Sagi who said recently, “At the end of this decade, Iran will be able to attain nuclear capability, and if this process is not interfered with, we’ll witness a substantial increase in its powers. This possibility may endanger the essence of our existence—if the process is not slowed down.” The Major General said that Teheran is conducting a nuclear development project of such magnitude that if and when it materializes, it can cause existential danger to Israel’s security.
Israel Beats 30 Nations in Environmental Standards
from Jerusalem Report
The Environmental Ministry recently presented several awards of distinction to mark National Environment Week. The week started on a positive note, as Newsweek magazine named Israel the country with the highest environmental standards among 30 examined.
One award winner, Technion Prof Gedalia Shelef, is “not someone who sits in an ivory tower,” noted ministry director-general Uri Marinov. Since entering the environment field more than 20 years ago, Shelef has won international acclaim for his work, including research on maritime pollution, sewage treatment, and the prevention of dysentery.
Bosnian Jews
from Jerusalem Report
Spain’s King Juan Carlos granted asylum to 57 Jews from Bosnia-Herzegovina, fleeing ethnic fighting that has claimed 2,200 lives since Bosnia’s Muslims and Croats voted for independence from Yugoslavia in February. Of the 1,500 members of the Sarajevo Jewish community, which has its roots in pre-Expulsion Spain, half have fled since the outbreak of civil war.
