Recognition of a Palestinian State – Premature, Legally Invalid, and Undermining any Bona Fide Negotiation Process
The acts of recognition of a Palestinian state in 1967 borders by Brazil, Argentina, and possibly other Latin American states have no significance other than as a political expression of opinion.
The unceasing efforts among states by the leadership of the Palestinian Authority to attain recognition of unilateral statehood within the 1967 borders and thereby bypass the accepted negotiation process, runs counter to their commitments in their agreements with Israel, as witnessed and guaranteed by
King Abdullah’s Illness and the Saudi Succession
If King Abdullah, who is 87, dies, Prince Nayif, 77, will most likely becoming crown prince after current Crown Prince Sultan, 86, assumes the throne. Although every ruler brings his own nuance, the West can be assured that Saudi Arabia will experience no major upheavals as a result of a succession to the throne.
International Framework Documents on Combating Anti-Semitism: Berlin Declaration, FRA Working Definition of Anti-Semitism
Ottawa and London Interparliamentarian Statements, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Speech at Ottawa Conference
The Palestinian Refugees on the Day After “Independence”
According to the Palestinian consensus, non-implementation of the right of return will leave open the gates of the conflict with Israel. This implies justification for the continued armed struggle against Israel even following the establishment of a Palestinian state. Furthermore, the Arab Peace Initiative does not envision the Palestinian refugees being resettled in a West Bank and Gaza Palestinian state.
“Shaking the Dust Off” The Story of the Warsaw Ghetto’s Forgotten Chronicler, Ruben Feldschu (Ben Shem)
Ruben Feldschu (Ben Shem) (1900-1980) was one of the best known and most prolific figures of the Zionist Right in interwar Poland. A proficient Hebraist, he kept a detailed journal of events in German-occupied Warsaw. That diary is a meticulous and excruciating chronicle of daily life and death and a poignant work of literature. Miraculously, Feldschu managed to preserve more than eight hundred pages of notes through his escape from the ghetto, more than a year in hiding, and during a difficult
Holocaust Remembrance in the Council of Europe: Deplorable Victims and Evil Ideologies without Perpetrators
The current European politics of Holocaust remembrance, with its interplay of multiple perspectives of Holocaust history, is marked by the hijacking of the Jewish perspective by including numerous other real and self-claiming victim groups under the Holocaust definition, very general and superficial feelings of shame, and the ascription of a role-model character to the righteous among nations for present-day good citizenship behavior.
The “Sajmište” (Exhibition Grounds) in Semlin, Serbia: The Changing of Memory
In 1937 a national exhibition site opened in Belgrade. Originally intended to represent indigenous advancements, in 1941 it became a Nazi concentration camp called Sajmište and its main use became the extermination of Jewish women, children, and elderly. This was not recognized until the 1980s; until then the climate was one of socialism. During the nationalist era, history was propagandized by the state to suit its own purposes, and truth was concealed.
Watching the Pro-Israeli Academic Watchers
Although anti-Israeli activity on campus was evident in the 1980s and 1990s, the resolutions at the notorious World Conference against Racism in Durban in August 2001 led to an upsurge in such efforts and also to the founding of three academic watch organizations in 2002. The largest of these organizations is the U.S.-based Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, which is run by the academic community itself. Campus Watch, also U.S.-based, is part of the well-established Middle East Forum and foc
Anti-Zionist Expression on the UK Campus: Free Speech or Hate Speech?
The last few years have witnessed an explosion of anti-Zionist rhetoric on university campuses across the United Kingdom. Encouraged by the University and College Union’s annual calls for discriminatory measures against Israeli institutions and academics, the rhetoric has become even more strident since Operation Cast Lead. A recent boycott-divestment-sanctions campus tour explicitly invoked anti-Semitic tropes. The consequently hostile environment for Jewish students has jeopardized their educ
Wolfgang Schwanitz on The Jewish Factor in the Relations between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union 1933-1941, by Yosef Govrin
Nazis, Jews, and Soviets
The Jewish Factor in the Relations between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union 1933-1941, by Yosef Govrin, Vallentine Mitchell, 2009. Reviewed by Wolfgang G. Schwanitz
Judith Tydor Baumel-Schwartz on The Abuse of Holocaust Memory: Distortions and Responses, by Manfred Gerstenfeld
The Holocaust and Its Denial
The Abuse of Holocaust Memory: Distortions and Responses, by Manfred Gerstenfeld, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Institute for Global Jewish Affairs, Anti-Defamation League, 2009. Reviewed by Judith Tydor Baumel-Schwartz
Tossavainen on Skyldig till skuld: En europeisk resa i Nazitysklands skugga
Pertinent Questions for Germany’s Allies
Skyldig till skuld: En europeisk resa i Nazitysklands skugga (Guilty of Guilt: A European Voyage in the Shadow of Nazi Germany), by Henrik Arnstad, Norstedts, 2009, 200 pp. [Swedish]
Reviewed by Mikael Tossavainen
Avi Lehrer on Globalising Hatred: The New Antisemitism, by Denis MacShane
Disappointing and Deficient
Globalising Hatred: The New Antisemitism, by Denis MacShane, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008. Reviewed by Avi Lehrer
Michelle Mazel on La nouvelle propagande anti-juive, du symbole al-Dura aux rumeurs de Gaza
The New War against the Jews
La nouvelle propagande anti-juive, du symbole al-Dura aux rumeurs de Gaza (The New Anti-Jewish Propaganda, from the Al-Dura Symbol to the Rumors of Gaza), by Pierre-André Taguieff, Presses Universitaires de France, 2010. Reviewed by Michelle Mazel
Rachel’s Tomb, a Jewish Holy Place, Was Never a Mosque
UNESCO has declared that Rachel’s Tomb near Jerusalem is a mosque – endorsing a Palestinian claim that first surfaced only in 1996 and which ignores centuries of Muslim tradition.
Rachel’s Tomb never served as a mosque for the Muslims. It has been identified for over 1,700 years as the grave of the Jewish matriarch Rachel. The depiction of Rachel’s Tomb has appeared in thousands of Jewish religious books, paintings, photographs, stamps, and works of art.
