World
ROUNDUP
Roundup from page 25
Britsh Anti Semitism
London/JTA — Israel's Gaza operation
last winter spurred a record number of
anti-Semitic attacks in Britain during
the past year.
The organization recording anti-
Semitic incidents, the Community
Security Trust, reported an increase in
incidents of 55 percent from the previ-
ous year. The 924 incidents were the
most since records have been kept,
according to reports.
The main rise in attacks was recorded
in January and February, during and
after Israel's military action in the Gaza
Strip. According to the CST annual
report, the 628 incidents in the first six
months of 2009 were more than in any
entire previous year. There were 296
incidents from July to December.
"These record figures show that anti-
Semitism is an increasingly significant
problem for British Jews," CST spokes-
man Mark Gardner said. "The trend
must be reversed, and we call upon
decent people to speak out against anti-
Semitism in all its forms."
Twenty-three percent of the incidents
in 2009, or 212, included some form of
reference to the conflict between Israel
and llamas in Gaza. In January, 158 of
the 288 incidents made reference to
Gaza.
Some 124 violent assaults occurred
last year, 41 percent more than the 88
from 2008. However, violent assaults fell
to 13 percent of the total, from a high of
21 percent in 2007.
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Mengele Diary Bought
Hartford/JTA — The grandson of a
Holocaust survivor reportedly bought
the diary of the notorious Josef Mengele.
The 180-page jour-
nal was sold for an
undisclosed sum on
Feb. 2 "to an East Coast
Jewish philanthro-
pist who wishes to
remain anonymous:'
the Hartford Courant
Josef Mengele reported the next
day, citing an e-mail
from Bill Panagopulos of Alexander
Autographs historical artifacts house.
"He is the grandson of an Auschwitz
survivor who personally encountered
Mengele at Auschwitz;' Panagopulos
wrote. "He intends to donate the manu-
script to a museum devoted to the
Holocaust."
Nazi memorabilia collectors vying for
the artifact belonging to the Nazi doc-
tor known at Auschwitz as the Angel of
Death were expected to push the price
up to about $64,000.
26
February 11 • 2010
The owner of the diary, reported to
be a source close to the Mengele fam-
ily, acquired the volume in Brazil after
Mengele died there in 1979, the Daily
Mail reported.
The diary begins in May 1960, when
Mengele was 49. At Auschwitz, Mengele
determined who would live and die; and
he conducted horrific, quasi-medical
experiments, including on twins.
News of the auction prompted anger
and revulsion among Holocaust survi-
vors and their families.
Survivor Awarded Diploma
Toronto/JTA — An 85-year-old Holocaust
survivor accepted the high school diplo-
ma he was denied 71 years ago.
Martin Maxwell at age 14 was
forced to flee his native Vienna after
Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass,
three months shy of earning his high
school certificate.
But in a moving event last Friday,
Maxwell was awarded an honorary
diploma from Toronto's York School, a
private high school where he addressed
students during last autumn's annual
Holocaust Education Week.
"When he came to speak, he capti-
vated an audience of teenagers for one
hour," school official Sean Mitchell told
the Toronto Star. "You could hear a pin
drop. It was truly inspiring."
Mitchell said Maxwell's speech trig-
gered an "outpouring" from students and
faculty who wanted to honor him with a
diploma.
Maxwell and his brother were among
10,000 Jewish children taken to England
through the Kindertransport program.
He joined the British armed forces,
became a glider pilot and was one of six
glider flyers who took part in the 1944
D-Day invasion at Normandy. Three
months later he was captured in the
Battle of Arnhem, in Holland.
Liberated in 1945, he came to Canada
in 1952. The school awarded Maxwell the
diploma because "he has inspired us all
to strive for tolerance and world peace
Mitchell told the Star.
Maxwell, who regularly speaks about
his experiences through the Sarah and
Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education
Centre of Toronto, said he wants young
people to know that "warfare isn't wav-
ing flags and beating drums. It's terrible'
Federation GA Moving
New Orleans/JTA —The Jewish
Federations of North America is mov-
ing its annual conference in 2010 to
New Orleans and holding it earlier than
planned.
The umbrella group of the Jewish fed-
eration system had been set to hold its
2010 General Assembly in Orlando, Fla.,
but said in a news release that it decided
to change the location for practical rea-
sons and because the federation system
raised some $30 million in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild the
area.
Several thousand lay and professional
leaders of the system attend the annual
conference.
Jewish Federations also said it was
changing the venue of its annual
women's philanthropy conference, the
International Lions of Judah Conference,
to New Orleans from Orlando.
The GA is now slated for Nov. 7-9 and
the Lions of Judah Conference Nov. 8-10.
"We needed to reevaluate the venue
explained Jerry Silverman, president and
CEO of the Jewish Federations of North
America. "We are producing the GA and
ILOJC during the same week, and unfor-
tunately the space in Orlando does not
meet the needs that would best accom-
modate both events and the alternatives in
Orlando logistically would have compro-
mised the momentum built from GA 2009.
"In reviewing our options, it became
clear that New Orleans was a community
where we, as a Jewish community and
family, could reflect on our collective
responsibility and action together."
U.S. Aliyah Way Up
New York/JTA — Aliyah to Israel from
the United States rose by 19 percent this
year over 2008, setting a 36-year record.
Some 3,324 immigrants to Israel in
2009 came from the United States. Some
3,767 came from all of North America,
compared with 3,124 in 2008.
The 2009 total is the highest aliyah
from North America in 36 years, accord-
ing to the Jewish Agency for Israel.
New immigrants from North America
in 2009 participated in several Jewish
Agency absorption programs. Some 300
attended kibbutz ulpan; 90 attended
Ulpan Etzion and 200 are enrolled in
degree studies through the Student
Authority, according to the Jewish
Agency.
Some 200 olim from North America,
including 81 singles, arrived in Israel on
Dec. 30 as part of a joint Jewish Agency-
Nefesh B'Nefesh flight. Another 210 from
South Africa, France and the United
Kingdom were scheduled to arrive last
week onIgrish Agency-arranged flights.
Major Christian Challenge
Rome/JTA — Two days after the pope's
visit to a Rome synagogue, the Vatican
issued a document citing the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict as one of the main
challenges facing Christians in the
Middle East. The 30-page document
released Jan. 19 also cited Muslim
extremism as a major challenge.
"Several conflicts in the Middle East
have arisen as a result of the main
point of global attention, the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict;' the document said.
The document contains the guidelines
for a Synod of Catholic Bishops from the
Middle East to be held at the Vatican in
October.
"Political conflicts in the region
have a direct influence on the lives
of Christians, both as citizens and as
Christians:' the document said as part
of a lengthy discussion of many issues
facing Arab-Christian communities and
their relationships with local govern-
ments as well as with Jews and Muslims.
"The Israeli occupation of the
Palestinian Territories makes daily life
difficult with regard to freedom of move-
ment, the economy and religious life
the document said, adding that "certain
Christian fundamentalist theologies use
Sacred Scripture to justify Israel's occu-
pation of Palestine, making the position
of Christian Arabs even more sensitive:'
Christians living in Muslim countries
face specific challenges, according to the
document.
"Muslims frequently mix religion and
politics, putting Christians in a pre-
carious situation of being considered as
non-citizens," it said. "Religious freedom
and freedom of conscience are foreign to
a Muslim mentality?'
With the Internet, Islamic fundamen-
talist groups have become widespread.
And, "with the rise of Islamism," the
document added, "incidents against
Christians are increasing almost every-
where'
Answering
Israel's Critics
The Charge
Hamza Mansour, the former secretary-
general of Jordan's Islamic Action Front,
charged last week that Israel is plotting
and conspiring aggressions against the
entire Muslim world.
The Answer
Mansour uses age-old anti-Semitic
language to demonize Israel and paint
Israel's security measures as religious
oppression.
- Allan Gale,
Jewish Community Relations Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
© February 11, 2010
Jewish Renaissance Media