Sweden-Israel rift deepens over comments on Palestinian deaths
By Dan Williams and Simon Johnson

Relations between Sweden and Israel hit a fresh low on Sunday after Israel said Sweden's foreign minister had accused it of unlawful killings and Stockholm responded by saying that the comments had been "blown out of reasonable proportion".
Relations between Sweden and Israel hit a fresh low on Sunday after Israel said Sweden's foreign minister had accused it of unlawful killings and Stockholm responded by saying that the comments had been "blown out of reasonable proportion". Relations between the two countries have nose-dived since Sweden's Social Democrat-led government recognized a Palestinian state last year. Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom deepened the rift by describing Palestinians' plight as a factor leading to Islamist radicalization.
In the latest row, Israel condemned as "scandalous" on Sunday what it said was a suggestion by Wallstrom its forces had unlawfully killed Palestinians involved in a surge of street violence, and warned of a diplomatic rupture with Stockholm...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on Dec 6, 2015.

Pope Francis to visit Rome synagogue for first time
Francis to be third Roman Catholic pontiff to visit the seat of Rome's Jews.

ROME - Pope Francis will make his first pontifical visit to Rome's Great Synagogue next year, the Vatican and the city's Jewish community said in statements on Tuesday.
Francis, who had a good relationship with the Jewish community in his native Argentina, will go to the synagogue on the bank of the Tiber River on Jan. 17 for the first time since he was elected pope in 2013.
He will be the third Roman Catholic pontiff to visit the seat of Rome's Jews after his predecessor Benedict and John Paul II.
Whole text at the Jerusalem Post site. Published on Nov 22, 2015.

For Palestinian president, all of Israel is ‘occupied territory’

Even as Palestinians are stabbing Jews on Israeli streets, President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry still save their harshest criticism for Israel’s settlement-building and its “incitement” to violence.
They’d do well to notice what Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently had to say in Arabic to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Amid a long harangue against Israel, Abbas asked: “For how long will this protracted Israeli occupation of our land last? After 67 years, how long?” Now, 67 years takes us back to 1948 — the year of modern Israel’s creation.
That’s nearly two decades before the Six-Day War, when Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza.
In other words, Abbas sees “occupied” Palestine as not just the territory taken in 1967 — but as every inch of Israel.
Whole text at the New York Post site. Published on Nov 4, 2015.

Lauder: Declaring Western Wall a Muslim site would make mockery of UNESCO principles

World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder today warned UNESCO against exacerbating tensions in Israel by adopting a Palestinian-sponsored resolution that declares the Western Wall in Jerusalem a part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Ahead of a vote by the UNESCO Executive Council later this week, Lauder said the proposal “goes in the face of the UNESCO Constitution, which very clearly states the organization’s aim to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration and coexistence. It would make a mockery of that founding principle if the UNESCO Executive Council were to back such a resolution. UNESCO must not be turned into a battleground for conflicts between religions.”​
The WJC president added: “For thousands of years, Jews have lived and prayed in Jerusalem. Since 1967, the State of Israel has safeguarded the right of worship of all three monotheistic religions present in Jerusalem, including the right of Muslims to pray on the Mount...
Whole text at the WJC site. Published on Oct 18, 2015.

Jewish Leaders Demand Explanation From New York Times After Publication of
Chart Listing Jews in Congress Who Oppose Nuclear Deal

Leading Jewish organizations slammed The New York Times on Thursday for publishing an infographic listing Jewish Congressional Democrats who oppose the Iran nuclear deal.
The chart listed anti-deal Democrats in the House and Senate in columns, one of which was headed “Jewish?” Another showed the lawmakers’ “District and estimated Jewish population.”
The text accompanying the graphic pointed out that, “Though more Jewish members of Congress support the deal than oppose it, the Democrats against the deal are more likely to be Jewish or represent Jewish constituencies.”...
Whole text at Aglegemeiner.com. Published on Sep 11, 2015.

What they don't tell you about Israel's famously tight airport security

A few months ago, I was sitting in the terminal at Ben Gurion International Airport, in Tel Aviv, reading a fellow traveler's account of flying out of Israel.
I'd heard horror stories of strip searches and endless lines. I was curious what I was really up against. I wasn't surprised to learn security is top-notch.
After all, I had already been searched and questioned twice, once through the window of my taxi and again before the terminal doors. All this and I hadn't even entered the airport yet. But then I read about the stickers.
I learned that before any passenger ever gives up his luggage to the fine folks at Ben Gurion International, an employee places a neon yellow sticker on the back of your passport. On it is a 10-digit number. The first number, ranging from one to six, indicates your perceived threat level to whomever else you're passed along. I got a five...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on June 12, 2015.

Republican Mega-Donor Sheldon Adelson Takes On Growing Movement To Boycott Israel

LAS VEGAS — Some of Zionism’s wealthiest supporters will gather in Las Vegas this weekend to consider how they can most efficiently use their money to undermine the growing support for Palestinian liberation on college campuses and throughout American society.
Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul and frequent big-dollar donor to conservative political candidates, called for the private summit at the Venetian, Adelson’s luxury hotel on the Vegas Strip, to gather top donors and pro-Israeli organizations to plan better ways to oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, particularly its growing support among college and university students.
Supporters of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine are alarmed that a record number of college campuses — 15, up from 13 in the previous year — adopted resolutions during this academic school year demanding that their schools end investment in Israel...
Whole text at the Mint Pressl site. Published on June 3, 2015.

Pope: Non-Recognition of Israel as Jewish State is ‘Anti-Semitism’

Non-recognition of the Jewish state is tantamount to anti-Semitism, Pope Francis stated, adding that reports that he had called the PA leader an “angel of peace” were inaccurate.
Pope Francis said on Thursday that not recognizing Israel as a Jewish state was anti-Semitic, and he repeated his denial of media reports in May that he had called the PA leader an “angel of peace.”
In an email message to Israeli journalist Henrique Cymerman and the pope’s longtime friend Rabbi Avraham Skorka, the pontiff stated that “whoever does not accept the Jewish people and does not accept the State of Israel, which has a right to exist, is guilty of anti-Semitism.”
Not for the first time, the pope denied that he had called Abbas “an angel of peace,” explaining that he had told the PA leader, in Italian, that he believes he could still become an angel of peace, depending on his commitment to peace. The media initially reported that the Catholic leader had called Abbas an “angel of peace,” an apparent error in translation...
Whole text at the United with Israel site. Published on June 1, 2015.

Obama speach in American Synagogue: Iran Deal 'Will Have My Name on It'

President Barack Obama wore a skullcap and danced to Hebrew songs with Jewish preschoolers during a visit to a major Washington synagogue that is being seen as an effort to reassure American Jews that he feels the way they do about Israel and anti-Semitism.
Obama's approval rating among Jews is higher than among Americans in general. But it's been slipping lately among this key Democratic constituency, amid concerns about his negotiations with Iran, whose leaders have denied the Holocaust and threatened to wipe Israel from the map.
In what is being seen as his most forceful defense of a preliminary nuclear deal reached last month with Iran, the president, addressing a crowd of about 1,200 gathered at Congregation Adas Israel, said he welcomed a “healthy debate” about the best strategy to follow...
Whole text at voanews.com. Published on May 22, 2015.

China is destined to intervene in the conflict between Israel and Palestine

In June 1954, the leaders of China, India, and Burma (now Myanmar) issued a joint statement affirming the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence—mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence—as the basis for conducting international relations. Since then, China has adhered strictly to the principle of non-interference in other countries’ domestic turmoil, as displayed prominently over the past several years in Beijing’s response to the Syrian civil war.
However, this is not true in the shuttle diplomacy China is practicing with respect to the conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan.
There, Chinese state-owned enterprises (mainly the China National Petroleum Company) have invested heavily in the oil fields of Sudan for decades, and in the oil infrastructure of South Sudan since its independence in 2011. China’s “crossing the water by feeling the stones” style of changing its non-interference policy—a Chinese expression referring to a methodical, pragmatic style in addressing a new problem—is happening not just in Sudan but also in many other parts of Africa and, on a smaller scale, in other parts of the world...
Whole text at QZ.com. Published on May 11, 2015.

Criticism Follows Israeli Aid to Nepal

When a devastating earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, the Israel Defense Forces quickly assembled and sent one of the largest aid teams of any country. Its field hospital included 60 beds and an obstetrics department. A recent count noted that the Israeli physicians had conducted 33 surgeries, delivered five babies and were assisting in Nepalese hospitals, as well.
Reaching out to countries in need is a long-standing Israeli tradition. Emergency teams went to Turkey after an earthquake in 1999, and again in 2011, even though Turkey initially declined twice because of eroding relations between the two countries. Israel sent a large team to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, and in March 2011, it was the first country to set up a field hospital in Japan after the tsunami. Similar relief efforts were conducted in Mexico (1985), Armenia (1988), Greece (1999), Egypt (2004) and Kenya (2006)...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on May 5, 2015.

Hamas is using heavy machinery to accelerate the construction of 'attack tunnels' in Gaza

Hamas has begun using heavy machinery and engineering tools to accelerate the excavation of attack tunnels leading from the Gaza Strip under the Israeli border, sources in the Palestinian enclave told the Times of Israel Wednesday.
The equipment, the sources said, includes small bulldozers with the ability to maneuver in tight spaces. From the Israeli side of the border, larger tractors are clearly visible above the ground as the machines prepare the tunnel entries.
The Gaza-based terrorist organization has been using whatever cement it can get its hands on for the construction of the tunnels, and fortifying the walls of its underground structures with wood as well...
Whole text at the Business Insider site. Published on Apr 15, 2015.

Netanyahu tells Obama Iran deal 'threat to Israel's survival'

Jerusalem (AFP) - The framework nuclear deal agreed with Iran would jeopardise Israel's existence if implemented, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman quoted him as saying to US President Barack Obama on Friday.
"PM Netanyahu to Pres Obama: A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel," Mark Regev wrote on his official Twitter account.
Regev quoted the Israeli premier as saying in the telephone conversation that the deal as it appears to be emerging "would not block Iran's path to the bomb. It would pave it. "It would increase the risks of nuclear proliferation and the risks of a horrific war," he added.
The White House quoted Obama as telling Netanyahu that the framework deal between Iran and world powers represented "significant progress." ...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on Apr 02, 2015.

France says will propose UN Security Council draft on Israel

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — France's foreign minister said Friday his country will propose a U.N. Security Council resolution in the coming weeks that could present a framework for negotiations toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Laurent Fabius said "there is no other solution" but said he doesn't know what the United States, Israel's top ally, will agree to.
The minister spoke to reporters at U.N. headquarters before leaving for the Iran nuclear talks in Switzerland.
"France will be part and parcel in proposing a resolution in the U.N.," he said. He said discussions with partners will begin in the days ahead.
The U.N.'s top Mideast envoy, Robert Serry, challenged the Security Council on Thursday to lead the way on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying it should present a framework for talks that "may be the only way to preserve the goal of a two-state solution."...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on Mar 27, 2015.

"Anti-Semitic" attack on London synagogue leads to arrests

Police arrested six men after a group of 20 or so tried to violently force their way into a London synagogue late Saturday night, according to multiple reports.
In a video posted to YouTube that appears to show the incident, members of the Ahavas Torah synagogue in Stamford Hill can be seen defending themselves with chairs and other objects amid loud cursing and an apparent assault by an unseen group just outside a pair of doors with broken windows.
Reuters reports only one worshipper sustained minor facial injuries defending the building. It is unclear what kicked off the incident, but police expressed doubt it was a planned attack.
"The incident is being treated as an anti-Semitic incident, due to remarks made by one of the group," London's Metropolitan police said in a statement. "However, there is nothing to suggest it was a planned or targeted attack."
Rabbi Maurice Davis of the Ahavas Torah synagogue, backed up the police statement, telling the BBC: "I think this incident was more anti-social than anti-Semitic" ...
Whole text at CBS News site. Published on Mar 22, 2015.

Michael Douglas Writes Op-Ed About Rise in Anti-Semitism, Attack Against His Son

Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times printed an op-ed by Michael Douglas in which the Oscar and Emmy winning actor opines over what he calls the rise of anti-Semitism "with renewed vigilance." Douglas begins by recounting a recent incident involving his 14-year-old son Dylan on a vacation in Southern Europe.
"During our stay at a hotel, our son Dylan went to the swimming pool. A short time later he came running back to the room, upset. A man at the pool had started hurling insults at him. And suddenly I had an awful realization of what might have caused the man's outrage: Dylan was wearing a Star of David," Douglas writes. "After calming him down, I went to the pool and asked the attendants to point out the man who had yelled at him. We talked. It was not a pleasant discussion. Afterward, I sat down with my son and said: 'Dylan, you just had your first taste of anti-Semitism.'"...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on Mar 16, 2015.

Inside Gaza's tunnels, militants get ready for the next war
By Quentin Sommerville, BBC News, Gaza Strip

In an olive grove close to houses in the southern Gaza Strip, the earth slides open smoothly, revealing a sight to terrify Israel.
A deep pit containing a 120mm (4in) mortar tube, and three fighters from the militant group - Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Fully armed and in combat fatigues, the men are all wearing head torches. They move quickly, in well-drilled movements, loading and unloading the tube from a stack of mortars at the back of their position.
This is a show of readiness, a show of strength, for the next war with Israel. It is a war that both the militants and the Israeli military, on the other side of the border, believe could come again soon.
The hidden mortar pit is right by the border with Israel, or so I am told.
I cannot be entirely sure as the armed fighters blindfolded me, searched me for tracking devices and removed my mobile phones before the journey.
Viewed as a terrorist group in the West, Islamic Jihad is committed to Israel's destruction...
Whole text at BBC News. Published on Feb 21, 2015.

Norway's Muslims form protective human ring around synagogue

OSLO (Reuters) - More than 1000 Muslims formed a human shield around Oslo's synagogue on Saturday, offering symbolic protection for the city's Jewish community and condemning an attack on a synagogue in neighboring Denmark last weekend.
Chanting "No to anti-Semitism, no to Islamophobia," Norway's Muslims formed what they called a ring of peace a week after Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, a Danish-born son of Palestinian immigrants, killed two people at a synagogue and an event promoting free speech in Copenhagen last weekend.
"Humanity is one and we are here to demonstrate that," Zeeshan Abdullah, one of the protest's organizers told a crowd of Muslim immigrants and ethnic Norwegians who filled the small street around Oslo's only functioning synagogue...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on Feb 21, 2015.

The Great Jewish Exodus
By Roger Cohen

LONDON — They were gone, as completely as from Baghdad or Cairo, Damascus or Alexandria. They had vanished from Budapest and Brussels, from Frankfurt and Padua, from Paris and Manchester, from Antwerp and Stockholm.
As in the Arab world, Europe wondered what it had lost. The texture of life was thinned, the richness of exchange diminished, the flowering of ideas curtailed. There was an absence.
They did not say much. They packed and left, wheeling their suitcases, carrying their bags and bundles and babies, a little wave offered here and there. Rich and poor, religious and not, they sold what they had and went on their way. People looked askance, as their forbears once had in crueler circumstances, a little uneasy at the exodus, unsure what it meant but certain it was the end of a very long story.
Was Europe not the Continent of Disraeli and Heine and Marx (all baptized, but still), of Freud and Einstein, of Rothschild and Bleichröder, of Dreyfus and Herzl, of Joseph Roth and Stefan Zweig? Was it not the home of Yiddish, once the first tongue of millions, a language perhaps unique, as Isaac Bashevis Singer noted, because it was never spoken by men in power?...
Whole text at The New York Times. Published on Feb 19, 2015.

Hundreds of graves vandalized at Jewish cemetery in France

Hundreds of graves have been vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in eastern France, in what the president called an "odious and barbaric" anti-Semitic act against French values.
The vandalism comes at a time of growing insecurity among French Jews and amid general religious tensions in Europe, after Islamic radicals attacked a kosher market and a satirical newspaper in Paris last month and similar attacks hit Denmark this weekend.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement Sunday that a criminal investigation team is at the damaged cemetery in Sarre-Union, near the German border, and authorities will do "everything" to pursue the vandals.
Jewish and Muslim gravesites and places of worship in France see sporadic but frequent vandalism. The incident this weekend was of an unusually large scale, and hit a cemetery that has been vandalized in the past. Local media reported that about 200 grave stones were knocked down, and a monument to Holocaust victims was damaged...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on Feb 17, 2015.

Turkey pulls out of Munich conference to avoid Israeli delegation

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pulled out of a security conference in Munich at the last minute on Friday, saying he did not wish to attend a joint session with an Israeli delegation.
Relations between the formerly steadfast allies remain strained since a major rupture in 2010, when Israeli marines killed nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in clashes aboard a ship that tried to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip. A tenth Turk later died of injuries from the incident.
"I was going to attend the conference but we decided not to after they added Israeli officials to the Middle East session at the last minute," Cavusoglu told a news conference in Berlin, where he has been meeting Turkish ambassadors based in Europe...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on Feb 6, 2015.

Iran general killed with Hezbollah fighters in Israel raid

Beirut (AFP) - An Israeli strike on Syria killed an Iranian general, Tehran confirmed Monday, as thousands of supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah gathered to bury one of six fighters killed in the same raid.
The attack on Sunday near Quneitra on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights enraged Hezbollah's supporters, but analysts said the group would avoid a major escalation with Israel. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards confirmed the death of one of their generals in a statement on their website.
"General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi and a number of fighters and Islamic Resistance (Hezbollah) forces were attacked by the Zionist regime's helicopters," it said.
"This brave general and some members of Hezbollah were martyred."
A source close to Hezbollah said six Iranians had been killed in the attack. Hezbollah told AFP that it was not the source of that toll...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on Jan 19, 2015.

French Prime Minister: If 100,000 Jews Leave, France Will No Longer Be France

The massacre at a kosher supermarket in Paris on Friday reinforced a fear, expressed openly and with distressing frequency by many in France's half-million-strong Jewish community, that Islamist violence is compelling large numbers of Jews to flee.
Already, several thousand have left over the past few years.
But it is not merely the physical safety of France's Jews that is imperiled by anti-Semitic violence, the country's prime minister, Manuel Valls, argues, but the very idea of the French Republic itself.
In an interview conducted before the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket massacres, Valls told me that if French Jews were to flee in large numbers, the soul of the French Republic would be at risk...
Whole text at the Buseness Insider site. Published on Jan 11, 2015

Terror in France: SWC Statement and Reaction from Paris

The Simon Wiesenthal Center mourns the loss of the hostages taken at the kosher market in Paris. The world can no longer pretend that Islamist fundamentalists consist of a few isolated cells. They have millions of adherents around the world of Muslim communities. These horrors will not end until our political leaders come up with a global plan to identify, root out and destroy the cancer of Islamist extremism and until responsible leaders – religious and secular – go on the offensive against their co-religionists who murder and maim innocents in the name of Allah,” stated Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Founder and Dean and Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center...
Whole text at the SWC site. Published on Jan 9, 2015

HarperCollins Publishes Maps In The Middle East That Omit Israel

HarperCollins, one of the world's largest publishing houses, sells English-language atlases to schools in the Middle East that omit Israel.
Collins Middle East Atlases show Jordan and Syria extending to the Mediterranean but do mark the position of the West Bank.
“The publication of this atlas will confirm Israel’s belief that there exists a hostility towards their country from parts of the Arab world. It will not help to build up a spirit of trust leading to peaceful co-existence,” said Bishop Declan Lang, the chairman of the Bishops' Conference Department of International Affairs, to The Tablet.
“Maps can be a very powerful tool in terms of de-legitimizing 'the other' and can lead to confusion rather than clarity. We would be keen to see relevant bodies ensure that all atlases anywhere reflect the official United Nations position on nations, boundaries and all political features," added Dr Jane Clements, director of the Council of Christians and Jews...
Whole text at the Business Insider site. Published on Dec 31, 2014

Palestinian woman stabs Israeli, shot by security forces

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli in the occupied West Bank on Monday and was then shot and wounded by security forces, the military and police said.
Violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories has risen in the past months. Attacks carried out by Palestinians have killed 11 Israelis. Twelve Palestinians have been killed, including several of the assailants.
The latest incident occurred in the Etzion bloc of Jewish settlements near Jerusalem. The Israeli was lightly wounded.
A military spokesman said the Israeli was a civilian and that security forces "overcame the suspect and transferred her for further medical assistance".
A police spokeswoman said the Palestinian woman who carried out the attack was shot. Reuters witnesses saw her being taken to Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital. A hospital spokeswoman said she was seriously wounded...
Whole text at Yahoo.com. Published on Dec 2, 2014

Israelis worry with Syrian al-Qaida on doorstep
By DANIEL ESTRIN, Associated Press

MEROM GOLAN, Golan Heights (AP) -- For the first time in the Syrian civil war, al-Qaida fighters are hunkered down on Israel's doorstep, and Israelis in the lush, hilly Golan Heights who have long considered Syrian President Bashar Assad their bitter foe are now worried about something more ominous - that they could become the militants' next target.
The push into the Golan by the Nusra Front, as al-Qaida's branch in Syria is known, comes just two weeks after Israel ended a 50-day war against Hamas on its southern border with the Gaza Strip, giving the conflict-weary nation another cause for concern.
Israelis in the Golan have grown accustomed to hearing the sound of distant battles between rival forces in Syria's civil war.
But last week's seizure of the strategic Quneitra border crossing by the Nusra Front fighters who expelled Assad's forces from the area - and abducted 45 U.N. peacekeepers in the process - has created an unprecedented situation that has brought the extremists to within just a few meters (yards) of Israeli positions...
Whole text at AOL.com. Published on Sep 4, 2014

Nearly 200 Hollywood Actors and Execs Sign Pro-Israel, Anti-Hamas Statement

Amy Pascal, Ivan Reitman, Seth Rogen, Phil Rosenthal, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Marty Singer, Aaron Sorkin, Sylvester Stallone, Nina Tassler, Jerry Weintraub and plenty others lend their names in support.
Nearly 200 Hollywood actors and executives have signed Creative Community for Peace's pro-Israel, anti-Hamas open letter.
The document states that the undersigned “are saddened by the devastating loss of life endured by Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza.” It denounces suffering on both sides and calls for peace in the region.
“Hamas cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities, nor can it be allowed to hold its own people hostage,” the statement chastised. “Hospitals are for healing, not for hiding weapons. Schools are for learning, not for launching missiles. Children are our hope, not our human shields.”...
Whole text at WRAP.com. Published on August 23, 2014

Nazi war suspect, 89, dies as extradition OK'd

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - An 89-year-old Nazi war crimes suspect died in custody hours before a U.S. ruling Wednesday that he should be extradited to Germany to face trial.
Johann Breyer died Tuesday night at a Philadelphia hospital, where he had been transferred Saturday after a month in jail, his lawyer and the U.S. Marshals Service said. His death was disclosed Wednesday just as U.S. Magistrate Timothy Rice approved the extradition request, which would still have needed final U.S. government review.
Rice found probable cause that Breyer was the person being sought by German authorities over his suspected service as an SS guard at Auschwitz during World War II.
"No statute of limitations offers a safe haven for murder," he wrote in his ruling.
U.S. marshals had arrested Breyer in June outside his longtime home in Philadelphia. He was facing charges of aiding in the killing of 216,000 Jewish men, women and children at a Nazi death camp...
Whole text at AOL.com. Published on July 23, 2014

As Israel Hits Mosque and Clinic, Air Campaign’s Risks Come Home

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip — As Israel’s air war against Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in Gaza entered its sixth day on Saturday, a pair of bombings threw the difficulties of the campaign into painful relief: Israel bombed a mosque, which its aerial photos indicated was harboring a weapons cache, and a center for the disabled, killing two residents and wounding three, as well as a caretaker.
A separate strike on the house of a police commander killed at least 18 people, the highest toll so far this conflict, bringing the total number of dead to at least 140, Palestinian officials said.
In response, Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city, garnering much attention despite causing no deaths or injuries, as three of them were intercepted...
Whole text at the NY Times site. Published on July 12, 2014

Brussels Jewish Museum shooting: Fourth person dies as video of shooter released

A fourth person has died in a shocking attack on the Brussels Jewish Museum as authorities release new video of the gunman.
Chilling footage shows the shooter, dressed in an olive cap and blue long-sleeved shirt, hustling through a hallway at the museum where he quickly unpacks the long gun and opens fire. He packs the weapon just as rapidly into one of his two shoulder bags and walks briskly away.
The victims include two Israelis and one French citizen. A Belgian museum worker who had been in critical condition died on Sunday, a museum spokeswoman told CNN.
The shooting suspect is now the target of nationwide manhunt, authorities said...
Whole text at the Daily News site. Published on May 25, 2014

Suspect in Jewish museum killings went to Syria

PARIS (AP) - A suspected French jihadist who spent time in Syria is in custody over the shooting deaths of three people at a Belgian Jewish museum, prosecutors said Sunday, crystalizing fears that European radicals will parlay their experiences in Syria into terrorism back home.
When Mehdi Nemmouche was arrested in southern France on Friday, he was in possession of firearms, a large quantity of ammunition and a video claiming responsibility for the May 24 attack, a Belgian prosecutor said.
In a one-minute rampage that deeply shook Europe's Jewish community, a gunman opened fire at the Brussels museum. In addition to the fatalities, another person was gravely wounded.
Authorities raised anti-terror alert levels as they searched for the attacker. But it was ultimately a customs inspection in the French port city of Marseille that turned up Nemmouche, as he disembarked from a bus coming from Amsterdam, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said...
Whole text at the AOL site. Published on June 1, 2014

Fatal shooting in Kansas near the Jewish Community Center

A man in his 70s opened fire Sunday outside of a Jewish community center and nearby retirement community, killing three people, authorities said.
Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass said at a news conference Sunday evening that a person who had been reported to be in critical condition earlier was among three killed in the attacks, which apparently occurred minutes apart.
"Today is a sad and very tragic day," Douglass said. "As you might imagine we are only three hours into this investigation. There's a lot of innuendo and a lot of assertions going around. There is really very little hardcore information."
Shots were fired behind the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City in a parking lot about 1 p.m., Douglass said. One male died at the scene, another male died at a hospital. The gunman then fled and opened fire at nearby Village Shalom, killing a female, before later being arrested near an elementary school. Two other people were shot at, but the gunfire missed them, Douglass said...
Whole text at the AOL site, 13-4-2014

Mayor 'Kind Of Agreed' With White Supremacist Accused Of Killing 3 At Jewish Centers

Marionville, Missouri Mayor Dan Clevenger said he "kind of agreed" with some of the beliefs of Frazier Glenn Cross, the 73-year-old accused of killing three people outside of a Jewish community center and retirement complex near Kansas City on Sunday.
In an interview with KSPR, Clevenger said Cross -- who also goes by the name Frazier Glenn Miller -- was "[v]ery fair and honest and never had a bit of problems out of him."
"He was always nice and friendly and respectful of elder people, you know, he respected his elders greatly. As long as they were the same color as him," Clevenger said. "Kind of agreed with him on some things but, I don't like to express that too much," Clevenger told KSPR, which noted the mayor had expressed his views before:
That hasn't always been the case. Nearly a decade ago, Clevenger wrote a letter to the editor of the Aurora Advertiser. "I am a friend of Frazier Miller helping to spread his warnings," wrote Clevenger. "The Jew-run medical industry has succeeded in destroying the United State's workforce."...
Whole text at the Huffington Post site, 16-4-2014

U.S. Is Weighing Release of a Spy for the Israelis
By MARK LANDLER and MICHAEL R. GORDONMARCH 31, 2014

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is discussing the release of an American convicted of spying for Israel more than a quarter of a century ago, American officials said Monday, as it struggles to avert a collapse in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Israeli government has long sought the release of the spy, Jonathan J. Pollard, a former Navy intelligence analyst, who is serving a life sentence in a North Carolina prison for passing classified documents to his Israeli handlers. But the United States has steadfastly refused, in part because of the vehement opposition of the nation’s intelligence agencies.

Now, however, freeing Mr. Pollard is again on the table, as Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Jerusalem on Monday for urgent talks to try to resolve a dispute over Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners. That dispute is the latest roadblock to high-stakes peace talks that began last summer but appear to have made little progress and now face an April 29 deadline.

No decision has been made yet on Mr. Pollard, said one official, who asked not to be identified because the person was discussing private deliberations. A decision to release Mr. Pollard would be in the context of a broader agreement to extend the talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, officials said, and would require President Obama’s approval.
Whole text at the New York Times site, also from the AOL News

Hitchcock’s Masterpiece On The Holocaust Concentration Camps Is Finally Released

Video on YouTube

Tennis
Tunisia handed one year Davis Cup ban after Israeli boycott order
Tunisia have been suspended from the 2014 Davis Cup after the country's tennis federation ordered its number one player not to play against an Israeli.

Malek Jaziri withdrew from the second tier Tashkent Challenger tournament last month before his match against Israel's Amir Weintraub. Jaziri's brother told reporters the 215th ranked player had been ordered to default the match.
The governing body of men's tennis, ATP, cleared the player of wrongdoing but the International Tennis Federation (ITF) decided to impose the ban.
"The ITF Board of Directors found that the Tunisian Tennis Federation was in breach of the ITF Constitution by interfering with international sporting practice and ordering Tunisian player Malek Jaziri not to compete against Israeli player Amir Weintraub at the 2013 Tashkent Challenger in October," the ITF said in a statement on Saturday.
"The Board was not satisfied with the case put forward by the Tunisian Tennis Federation and voted to suspend Tunisia from the 2014 Davis Cup competition."...
More at Yahoo News (Nov 3, 2013)

Bashar Assad Accuses Israel Of Trying To Destabilize Syria

MUNICH — Israel's defense minister strongly signaled Sunday that his country was behind an airstrike in Syria last week, telling a high profile security conference that Israeli threats to take pre-emptive action against its enemies are not empty. "We mean it," Ehud Barak declared.
Israel has not officially confirmed its planes attacked a site near Damascus, targeting ground-to-air missiles apparently heading for Lebanon, but its intentions have been beyond dispute. During the 22 months of civil war in Syria, Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed concern that high-end weapons could fall into the hands of enemy Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militants.
For years, Israel has been charging that Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iran have been arming Hezbollah, which fought a monthlong war against Israel in 2006.
U.S. officials say the target was a convoy of sophisticated Russian SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles. Deployed in Lebanon, they could have limited Israel's ability to gather intelligence on its enemies from the air...
More at huffingtonpost.com (Feb 4, 2013)

Israel Is OK with Hagel as Secretary of Defense

Republicans trying to raise a case against confirming Chuck Hagel have cited not so kind remarks about Israel -- or "the Jews," as he's been quoted calling them -- as a reason not to confirm, but that could be a hard sell when Israel's departing Deputy Foreign Minister thinks Hagel is an alright guy.
Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall first pointed out Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon comments at a meeting with Jewish leaders Thursday. Haaretz's Chemi Chalev reports Ayalon told the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations that Hagel is a "decent and fair interlocutor who believes in the natural partnership between Israel and the United States."
While the list of people officially opposed to Hagel's nomination is not long, they are certainly a vocal bunch. Hagel's been hung over the fire for a number of things since rumors swirled that he would be nominated Secretary of Defense. Hagel's been criticized for his stance on same sex marriage, Iran, and just the fact that he's another white guy. He's the most controversial nomination that's sure to be confirmed. Some disparaging things Hagel said about Israel in the past have also bubbled to the surface. The idea is that Hagel's nomination might cause rifts with one of America's closest allies in an increasing volatile Middle East...
More on Yahoo News (January 11, 2013)

Hanukkah 2012: National Menorah Lighting Near White House Features US Navy Band

(Reuters) - The National Menorah was lit near the White House on Sunday for Hanukkah, in a celebration that features the U.S. Navy Band and is one of the most high-profile events in the country to mark the Jewish holiday.
The eight-day Hanukkah celebration, also known as the Festival of Lights, starts at sundown on Saturday.
The lighting of the National Menorah in Washington, on the Ellipse near the White House, dates back to 1979 when then-President Jimmy Carter participated in the ceremony at nearby Lafayette Park...
Whole text from the huffingtonpost.com, December 9, 2012

Merkel reaffirms support for Israel after U.N. vote

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel reassured Israel of her country's support on Saturday, two days after Berlin disappointed the Jewish state by abstaining in a U.N. vote on the Palestinians' status.
Germany, which will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many of his ministers next week, abstained in Thursday's vote in the U.N. General Assembly which provided de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state.
Netanyahu's government had hoped that Berlin would join the United States and a handful of other countries in opposing the resolution. Israel disputes the Palestinian claim on the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and says territorial demarcation can only be addressed in bilateral peace talks.
Germany, haunted by memories of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust, tends to be a strong ally of Israel on the diplomatic stage...
Whole text from The Yahoo site, December 1, 2012

Anger as Hungary far-right leader demands lists of Jews

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - A Hungarian far-right politician urged the government to draw up lists of Jews who pose a "national security risk", stirring outrage among Jewish leaders who saw echoes of fascist policies that led to the Holocaust.
Marton Gyongyosi, a leader of Hungary's third-strongest political party Jobbik, said the list was necessary because of heightened tensions following the brief conflict in Gaza and should include members of parliament.
Opponents have condemned frequent anti-Semitic slurs and tough rhetoric against the Roma minority by Gyongyosi's party as populist point scoring ahead of elections in 2014.
Jobbik has never called publicly for lists of Jews.
"I am a Holocaust survivor," said Gusztav Zoltai, executive director of the Hungarian Jewish Congregations' Association. "For people like me this generates raw fear, even though it is clear that this only serves political ends. This is the shame of Europe, the shame of the world."...
Whole text from The Yahoo site, November 27, 2012

Israeli: 'How would you feel if your children were constantly scared?'

Ashkelon, Israel (CNN) -- The rockets come mostly in the morning, the men say, but many of the people of the town of Ashkelon are always afraid.
"We can't go on like this," Mayor Benny Vaknin said. "We have 131,000 people here and 26,000 children. They are constantly under threat."
Rafel Moshe, who was playing backgammon at a pizza place downtown, echoed the mayor's thoughts.
"They don't want peace," said Moshe, speaking of the people in Gaza. "How would you feel if your children were constantly scared?"
Ashkelon, about 15 kilometers from Gaza, has suffered nearly two dozen rocket attacks since the back-and-forth firing of missiles and rockets between the Israeli military and militants in Gaza began Wednesday...
Whole text from The CNN site, November 16, 2012

For many Israelis, Rachel Corrie was a nuisance
Since Rachel Corrie's death, the Israeli establishment has been losing patience with activists of any kind

The state of Israel is not to blame for the death of Rachel Corrie – this is the decision an Israeli court reached yesterday. The ruling, made by Judge Oded Gershon of the Haifa district court, may have come as a shock to some, but anyone following Israel's path on a slippery slope, particularly over the past decade, could hardly be surprised when the court literally blamed the victim for her own death. "An unfortunate accident," is what Gershon chose to call the tragedy. "She did not distance herself as a reasonable person would have done."
Corrie, bulldozed to death by a massive D9 Caterpillar on 16 March 2003, was part of an activist group called ISM – International Solidarity Movement. This is a group of international activists who advocate nonviolent demonstrations in the West Bank (and Gaza back then, before the disengagement in 2005) in solidarity with Palestinians opposing the occupation.
A nonviolent movement, you say? ...
Whole text from The Guardian site, August 29, 2012

A brief survey of the short story part 42: Danilo Kiš
Muddling the real and the fictional, the power of Kiš's stories lie in their ability to capture truth by doctoring history

In The Anatomy Lesson, a book-length essay published in 1978, the Yugoslavian writer Danilo Kiš divided the short story into two eras: "pre-Borges and post-Borges." Bearing this out, the last two of the three short story collections Kiš published during his lifetime, A Tomb for Boris Davidovich (1976) and The Encyclopedia of the Dead (1983), represent a remarkable contribution to those fictions, existing somewhere between imagination and the concrete reality of the document. Just as Borges's stories thrive in the narrow strip dividing fact from fantasy, so does Kiš's work find an abnormal power in attempting to capture reality by doctoring the documentary truth.
That method might seem paradoxical, but all it means is that Kiš stands among those writers whose perception of reality, as Branko Gorjup has noted, differs from "those realists whose narrative technique hinges exclusively upon the use of mimesis". In this regard he's no different to James Joyce, Bruno Schulz or Kafka, who all bear significant influence on his work. If Kiš's project is in places more problematic than theirs, it's because of the explicitly historical subjects he tackles, such as the Holocaust and Stalin's purges. "The reader likes to know", he wrote, "whether 'it all happened' just as you describe it, whether you made any changes in the actual course of events; rare is the reader … who knows that 'it all' has never happened … anywhere but in the work itself, be it autobiography or biography, novel or story. The memoir is the last genre to give the illusion of objectivity."
More from The Guardian, August, 2, 2012

Munich Olympics Massacre
Officials Ignored Warnings of Terrorist Attack

Explicit warnings that a terrorist attack might take place at the 1972 Munich Olympics were ignored by German officials, according to previously classified documents seen by SPIEGEL. The new details also reveal efforts to cover up the extent of their failure to stop the brutal murders of Israeli athletes.
It is no secret that the German authorities' handling of the massacre of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics was characterized by bumbling and cover-ups. But new documents seen by SPIEGEL reveal that officials concealed even more -- and more blatant -- errors than previously thought. Indeed, there were even several warnings prior to the Games that an attack was imminent.
Previously classified documents from investigative officials, embassy dispatches, and cabinet protocols released to SPIEGEL by the Chancellery, Foreign Office and state and federal intelligence agencies have revealed the lengths to which officials went to hide their mistakes...
Whole text on Spiegl Online site. (July 23, 2012)

US envoy to Israel: US ready to strike Iran
By AMY TEIBEL | Associated Press – May 18, 2012

JERUSALEM (AP) — The U.S. has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington's envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran.
Dan Shapiro's message resonated Thursday far beyond the closed forum in which it was made: Iran should not test Washington's resolve to act on its promise to strike if diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its disputed nuclear program.
Shapiro told the Israel Bar Association the U.S. hopes it will not have to resort to military force.
"But that doesn't mean that option is not fully available. Not just available, but it's ready," he said. "The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it's ready."
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, like energy production. The U.S. and Israel suspect Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, but differences have emerged in how to persuade Tehran to curb its program...
Whole text on Yahoo site.

US giving Israel $70 million more for Iron Dome
By PAULINE JELINEK | Associated Press – May 17, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. plans to give Israel the extra $70 million that Jerusalem asked for this year for short-range missile defense, officials said Thursday.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said President Barack Obama had directed him to fill Israel's request for the extra money for the Iron Dome system, designed to intercept short-range rockets and mortars.
The U.S. already has provided $205 million for the system and annually gives Israel roughly another $3.1 billion in overall security assistance, the most for any foreign country.
Panetta met Thursday morning with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, then issued a statement saying he had told Barak of the U.S. intention to provide the additional help for Iron Dome.
"My goal is to ensure Israel has the funding it needs each year to produce these batteries that can protect its citizens," the statement said. "That is why going forward over the next three years, we intend to request additional funding for Iron Dome, based on an annual assessment of Israeli security requirements against an evolving threat..."
Whole text on Yahoo site.

EJP condemns Nobel Prize Winner, Günter Grass
April 5, 2012

The European Jewish Parliament (EJP) utterly condemns Nobel Prize Winner, Günter Grass, for his poem 'What Must Be Said', published yesterday in the German Daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. Günter Grass resorts to stereotypes of global conspiracy accusing Israel of being a threat to world peace.
This poem, by someone who admitted to serving in Hitler's Waffen SS during World War II, should be labelled as nothing more than 'White Collar Anti-Semitism' and deserves condemnation by the entire civil society.

For further details please contact MEJP Joel Rubinfeld: rubinfeld@ejp.eu

Obama to Netanyahu: Give Iran diplomacy more time
By Laura Rozen | The Envoy

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held one of their more studiously cordial meetings at the White House Monday. But the concerted effort to project a united front--after a few previous prickly encounters--did little to mask the fact that there are genuine differences and tensions in the allies' views on how to deal with the Iran nuclear program and in what time-frame, analysts said.
"Both the prime minister and I prefer to solve this diplomatically," Obama said at the top of his three-hour meeting with the Israeli leader, echoing the thrust of his comments to the pro-Israel lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs committee (AIPAC) Sunday. The administration has continued to push diplomacy as the key to getting Iran to agree to curb its nuclear program.
"Ultimately Iran has to make the decision to move in that direction," Obama said, adding that if that fails, however, "When I say all options are on the table, I mean it."
"Israel and America stand together," Netanyahu said Monday. But Israel reserves the right to defend itself, he asserted: Israel is "the master of its fate," he said...
Whole text and video on Yahoo site. March 6, 2012

Obama: US has 'very good' intelligence on Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said the U.S. has a "very good estimate" of when Iran could complete work on a nuclear weapon, but cautioned Monday that there are still many unanswered questions about Tehran's inner workings.
"Do we know all of the dynamics inside of Iran? Absolutely not," Obama said. "Iran itself is a lot more divided now than it was. Knowing who is making decisions at any given time inside of Iran is tough."
Obama said that while he believes the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program can still be resolved through diplomacy, the U.S. has done extensive planning on a range of options.
"We are prepared to exercise these options should they arise," Obama said during an interview with NBC that aired on the "Today" show.
On Syria, where human rights groups say government forces have killed hundreds of people over the last few days in an effort to contain an uprising against President Bashar Assad, Obama said it is important to resolve the conflict there without outside military intervention...
Whole text and video on Yahoo site. February 6, 2012.

Panetta says Israel could strike Iran in spring

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a "strong possibility" that Israel will strike Iran's nuclear installations this spring, the Washington Post said Thursday in an editorial.
When asked about the opinion piece by reporters travelling with him to a NATO meeting in Brussels, Panetta brushed it aside.
"I'm not going to comment on that. David Ignatius can write what he will but with regards with what I think and what I view, I consider that to be an area that belongs to me and nobody else," he said.
"Israel indicated they're considering this (a strike), we've indicated our concerns," he added.
The Post columnist said Panetta "believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June before Iran enters what Israelis described as a 'zone of immunity' to commence building a nuclear bomb."
President Barack Obama and Panetta are "said to have cautioned the Israelis that the United States opposes an attack, believing that it would derail an increasingly successful international economic sanctions program and other non-military efforts to stop Iran from crossing the threshold," he said...
More from Yahoo News. February 3, 2012.

Comment
Table Talk
by Steve Coll, February 6, 2012

In the State of the Union address of 1954, which Dwight Eisenhower delivered less than a year after he had secretly ordered the C.I.A. to overthrow Tehran’s left-leaning government, he celebrated “the forces of stability and freedom” at work in Iran. In 1980, Jimmy Carter delivered his annual address amid the whirlwind of Iran’s Islamic and anti-American revolution, which was inflamed in part by Iranians’ memories of Eisenhower’s coup. “We will face these challenges,” Carter declared. “And we will not fail.” Three decades on, Iran’s theocrats have built a police state, spread violence across the Middle East, and acquired nuclear reactors. Iran remains a perennially grim subject of Presidential oratory, and last week Barack Obama, while delivering his third State of the Union, added another entry: “Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.”
Leaving options on the table is a not-so-oblique way of threatening war. On the same day, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told the Knesset, “Only a combination of crippling sanctions and putting all the options on the table can make Iran stop” its nuclear drive. Meanwhile, three of the remaining candidates for the Republican Presidential nomination—Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich—have been speaking approvingly about bombing Iran’s atomic sites or assassinating its scientists...
More from the New Yorker Site

Holocaust memorial desecrated in Kosovo

Source: AP, Tanjug
PRIŠTINA -- Kosovo police are investigating who sprayed swastikas on dozens of tombstones in a Jewish cemetery in Priština.

“Jews out” was spray-painted on a memorial for Jewish families who perished during World War II.
Police Spokesman Brahim Sadrija said Thursday that police had sealed off the cemetery in Priština and were looking for clues. The vandalism is believed to have happened Tuesday, AP has reported.
”Kosovo police went to the scene and have taken the necessary steps. An expert from Priština’s Monument Directorate has also been contacted. The investigators are conducting an investigation in order to find out who the perpetrator of this act is,” Sadrija told Radio Free Europe...
More from B92.net ( Dec 2, 2011)

Serbia becomes member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education

Ambassador Sladjana Prica on opening of exhibion about the Righteous from Serbia. From left to right: A. Nećak, M. Fogel, M. Ristović, M. Koljanin, Ambassador S. Prica, N. Fogel and H.E. Yossef Levy

Belgrade, 2 Dec 2011 – The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy stated today that at the plenary session of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research, which was held yesterday in The Hague, Serbia was unanimously accepted into membership of this international organisation.
During the last two years, a special team composed of representatives of the Serbian government, the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Serbia, experts and civil society initiated and implemented numerous projects and activities that resulted in today’s unanimous decision of thirty states that our country meets all the requirements for the status of full member.
Paying honours to Serbia, the chairman of this international organisation, Dutch diplomat Karel de Beer, as well as heads of national delegations pointed to a number of results achieved in our country in previous years in education, research and remembrance of the Holocaust.
The delegation of the Republic of Serbia at the plenary session was led by Ambassador Sladjana Prica.
A special recognition to our state was paid by representatives of many institutions like the Memorial Centre "Yad Vashem" (Jerusalem), the Holocaust Museum (Washington), the State Museum "Auschwitz-Birkenau" (Auschwitz, Poland), the Anne Frank Foundation (Amsterdam), Holocaust Memorial (Paris, France) and others.
The member states of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research are Israel, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Argentina, Canada and Croatia.

(From the Serbian Government WEB Site)

Obama to meet Palestinian leader amid U.N. crisis

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday to urge him to drop plans to ask the U.N. Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state despite U.S. and Israeli objections.
The White House said Obama will meet Abbas at 6 p.m. ET on the sidelines of this week's U.N. General Assembly session in New York. Obama is also due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Wednesday.
"With both the Israelis and the Palestinians the president will be able to say very directly why we believe action at the United Nations is not the way ... to achieve a (Palestinian) state," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters.
Abbas has promised to present U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with a membership application on Friday, setting the stage for a Security Council vote that the United States, one of five veto-wielding permanent members, says it will block...
Whole article from Yahoo site . (Sept 21st, 2011)