An article appeared in the Jerusalem Post on the day following
Holocaust Remembrance Day, “Many Holocaust Survivors Can’t Afford the
Basics�(April 26th, 2006), following up on an article that the Globes economic
paper ran a story on April 11th, which documented that Ehud Olmert, in his
capacity of Finance Minister, had promised $7 million to the Holocaust Survivors
Fund before the March 28th general election and that Olmert has so far only
delivered $2 Million to the fund. The Jerusalem Post article of April 26th
confirms that nothing changed since the Globes piece appeared.

This fund, which collects funds from contributions around the world, is geared
to meet the needs of more than 8,000 concentration camp survivors who have made
applications for a total of $20 million of grants for basics such as dental
work, hearing devices, glasses, and varying sort of medical treatment.

Most recently, when I asked incoming Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson about
this, he scoffed at the question.

Now seven members of the newly formed Pensioners Party have been elected to the
Knesset.

All seven members of that new party have united with the ruling Kadima Party,
the time has come to hold the members of the Pensioners Party accountable to
help these aging survivors.

Each member of the Pensioners party should be called often, from all over the
world, through the Knesset switchboard by simply asking for them by name, and
by asking what they intend to do to make sure that Ehud Olmert, in his capacity
as the Prime Minister, will attend to the urgent needs of these survivors.
As a public service, here are the names of the not-well known members of the
Knesset Pensioners Party, who can all be called and called often through the
Knesset switchboard at: 02-6753333

Rafi Etan, Yaakov Ben Izri, Elchanon Glazer, Yitzhak Galanti,Yitzhak Ziv, Sara
Merom Shelo, and Moshe Sharoni.

These Knesset members were elected for one purpose: to help the elderly of
Israel. This is their first test of accountability

Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews-The Falash Mura Jews

Dear Ms. Friedman,

Sixty years ago the world “discoveredâ€? the Holocaust- six million Jews had been murdered by the Germans and their allies during World War II aided and abetted by the apathy and indifference of free people and the nations everywhere.

In 1984 4,000 Ethiopian Jews perished on their trek out of Ethiopia and in Sudanese refuge camps while the whole world and in particular almost the entire Jewish world once again stood silent!

Today 15,500 Jews are once again living at the edge of death in Ethiopia. In slums, camps, and compounds these Jews suffer: starvation, hunger, malnutrition, violence, intimidation, fear, sickness and disease can and do occur! Two years ago 47 Jewish children died from malaria. Many others have died according to Rabbi Shlomo Amar – Israel’s chief Sephardic Rabbi.

Please end/mitigate the suffering of our people; and speed their redemption by the Israelis.

Please write to Congressmen and Senators for help: food, clothing and medicine and to pressure the Israelis for action.

Write to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem for immediate large scale rescue and relief.

Demand immediate life-saving action from the Israelis.

Pray, organize communal prayer at your shul during services, donate and raise funds for help.

“Never Againâ€? applies to everyone at any point in time including our black brothers and sisters in Ethiopia.

. The Torah injunction from Leviticus must be taken personally by each of us:

We are not to stand idly by the blood of our neighbors. (19:16)

Yours truly,

Larry Rothbaum

——————————————————————————–

Statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Holocaust Memorial Day 2006

The importance of Holocaust Memorial Day is in its role in continually bringing to mind the unique significance for Europe in general and for Christians in particular, of the Holocaust.

It is essential for each generation to be able to enter into the terrible events of the Holocaust at the level of knowledge and of feeling and I welcome the Government’s grant to the Holocaust Educational Trust to enable more schools to make a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. While it is true that human history has been stained by other genocides, including those of our own generation, the events of the Nazi era stand alone in their nature and causes.

The development of a range of inter religious dialogues in recent years has been welcome and fruitful, and further new initiatives such as the Christian Muslim Forum and the work towards a full Hindu Christian dialogue carry real promise. Nevertheless from a Christian perspective the dialogue between Christians and Jews is not only historically the most senior, but is also theologically distinct. The Council of Christians and Jews, founded in the midst of the terrible events in Europe of 1942, has done an enormous amount to help many to reconsider their theological understandings and to develop deep personal friendships. The many celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate (the declaration on Christian-Jewish relations by the second Vatican Council) last year highlighted the journey that many Christians and Jews have made together.

2006 is a year of particular significance as it is the 350th anniversary of the Resettlement of the Jewish community in this country. As a nation we should celebrate this anniversary, marking as it does, not only an attempt to right some of the terrible wrongs earlier inflicted on Jewish people, but also as an opportunity to celebrate the quite remarkable contributions of Jewish people to every aspect of the life of this country. Without the Resettlement, it is hard to imagine what our history, culture, politics and economy would be like today. Without doubt we would have been greatly the poorer in every respect.

It is all the more appalling that despite these positive developments, there is an acknowledged and frightening rise in anti Semitic publications, websites and physical incidents in this country and in many others. The desecration of Jewish cemeteries in Manchester and London, a range of hate incidents and the need for security at all synagogues – these are matters that we cannot ignore. Is it not a matter of the gravest concern that a religious community in this country must, on the advice of the police, put in place a range of security measures for its worship, the education of its children and its social activities? For what other religious community is this systematically the case? This is serious enough; but elsewhere in the world, there are inflammatory, bigoted and irresponsible statements made even by some in prominent public positions.

I welcome the All-Party Parliamentary Enquiry into rising levels of anti Semitism in this country and I hope that all religious communities will make clear to it their abhorrence of anti-Semitism and the measures they are taking to ensure that it finds not the smallest foothold in our churches, mosques gurdwaras or temples.

In this year of the anniversary of the Resettlement, one important mark of the progress we have made since 1656 will not only be that we can celebrate what Jewish people and the Jewish faith have so abundantly given to our society, but more profoundly that we renew our commitment to the struggle against anti Semitism and its causes.

Anglican Communion News Service

MORE.

German Jewish leader Paul Spiegel dies at the age of 68
By News Agencies

Paul Spiegel, the Holocaust survivor who became president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, died Sunday aged 68 after a long illness, the council said.

Spiegel had headed the council, which represents some 100,000 German Jews, since 2000.

Spiegel died overnight of cancer in a hospital in Duesseldorf where he had been treated for some weeks, Nathan Kalmonowicz, a senior official in Germany’s Central Council of Jews, said Sunday.

MORE.
Bishop to speak at Holocaust Commemoration
April 29, 2006

If you go
WHAT: Community Holocaust Memorial Commemoration.
WHEN: 2 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Catholic Center, 3500 Fairfield Ave., Shreveport.

By Diane Haag
dhaag@gannett.com

Organizers are looking to one of the most meaningful Community Holocaust Memorial Commemoration services yet on Sunday.

The 23rd annual event will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Catholic Center, 3500 Fairfield Ave., Shreveport.

“It should be one of the best because the Catholic Center is putting on one heck of a program,” said Howard Ross, executive director of the North Louisiana Jewish Federation.

Bishop William Friend of the Catholic Diocese of Shreveport, who was also an original member of the planning committee, will be the keynote speaker.