Marking 65 years to the liberation of Auschwitz Concentration camp, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, joined leaders worldwide who gathered at the death camp, to commemorate the memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
PM Netanyahu’s full speech has been translated from Hebrew:
Photo: IDF Spokesman
After two weeks of life saving efforts, the Israeli team in Haiti is scheduled to return home. The decision came following the arrival of additional aid forces to Haiti, including the United States military and other, civilian aid, who are now providing regular medical services. Furthermore, many of the local hospitals have reached a sufficient level of functionality.
In the past day, the medical staff at the Israeli field hospital, started transferring patients to the hospital, and on Tuesday they will stop receiving new cases. While the manpower is leaving Haiti, most of the equipment brought by the delegation will remain behind for use by the various medical personnel, including tents, medications and other medical equipment.
During their stay in Haiti, the delegation treated more than 960 patients, conducted 294 successful surgeries, delivered 16 births including three in cesarean sections and saved many from within the ruins. During the weekend, the Israeli team manged to save a 22 year old from the ruins after being buried for 11 days. The man was brought to the hospital and he is now in stable condition
Watch the rescue:
Israeli delegation members preparing Jan. 14 for their departure to Haiti
As the events in Haiti unfold and the pictures make their way across the globe, it is impossible not to be profoundly moved. We are all deeply saddened by the loss of life and our hearts and prayers go out to the Haitian people. As the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti needs the full support of the international community to provide food, water and medical treatment for the millions affected by this disaster.
Even as far away as Israel, the news has shocked our conscious. The State of Israel is striving to do everything it can to contribute to the rescue and recovery efforts. In this time of great need, countries big and small from all corners of the world are coming together for the people of Haiti.
Later tonight, 2 IDF cargo planes will depart for Haiti carrying medical and rescue specialists. The IDF delegation will construct a field hospital in the disaster area that will include 220 personnel. The hospital will be able to provide care for approximately 500 patients each day, including those in need of immediate surgery.
The Home Front command forces will include 30 rescue workers, task force intelligence, logistics forces and a communications department, in addition to search and rescue and population aid experts from the Home Front Commands Search and Rescue Unit.
We hope that with every country providing what they can, it will be enough to ensure that the worst has already passed for the Haitian people.
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While the global economy has suffered a severe meltdown since 2008, Israel has been kept largely shielded. The result is that this year’s migration to Israel by North American Jews will be the highest since 1973, according to Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that supports immigration to Israel from North America. While Israel has not escaped the economic crisis unscathed, it currently sports a significantly lower unemployment rate than the United States and its economy continues to grow thanks to its place as a world leader in technology.
The downfall of the economies in the Persian Gulf has also encouraged immigration to the West Bank, whose economy is having a record year of growth. As the bubble appears to have burst for the Dubai market, Israel will not be negatively affected as the Arab League’s boycott of Israel forbids Israeli companies from investing in what is now being called “Dubai debt.” The irony of the Arab League boycott is that it was designed to harm Israel’s economy by disallowing foreign investment.
New immigrants to Israel are making a huge impact. According to a study by Deloitte Information Technologies Israel Ltd., U.S. immigrants who came between 2002 and 2008 have directly injected over a quarter billion dollars to the Israeli economy.
We thank The Wall Street Journal for this story.
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During the week of November 10th, President Shimon Peres took the fight against Iran’s growing nuclear program across seas and continents to Brazil. A modest friend of Ahmadinejad’s regime, Brazil is scheduled to host the Iranian President in late November. As South America’s largest country, Brazil can play a crucial part in deciding how far Iranian presence reaches in the Americas. What was once America’s proverbial backyard has become a coalition of extreme left-wing states whose leaders, such as Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, have all too much in common with the anti-American and anti-Semitic leadership in Iran. continue reading…
Statement by H.E. Aharon Leshno Yaar
Permanent Mission of Israel
To the United Nations, Geneva
12th Special Session
Human Rights Council
15 October 2009
Every person here knows that today’s meeting is not about human rights but an abuse of the integrity and procedures of this organization to make a point to a domestic Palestinian audience.
Here we are today, for another opportunity for the favorite and most infamous subject of some within this Council, Israel bashing. There is a call to pass this on to other fora, to any place where politics, buried under the flag of human rights, can be waged against one state, against Israel.
Packaging this panic and hysteria here in Geneva, with a reintroduction of the Goldstone Report for domestic political purposes, offers a hollow victory for those that want to sow conflict in our region. The moderate forces are weakened, not aided, by these resolutions and conflicts.
Earlier this week in Jenin, Mahmud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority made just this point, saying that Hamas is using the Goldstone Report and its ramifications to fight any chance for progress in the peace process and even to cause division within the Palestinian community. Mr. Abbas said that “Hamas used the report to sabotage the reconciliation.”
In that same speech, in Jenin, President Abbas, stated that during the events of Gaza last winter, ”the Hamas movement hid in basements. The leaders of Hamas ran away in ambulances to Sinai and left our people to bleed.”
The Goldstone Fact-finding mission devoted an entire chapter to the allegations of misuse of ambulances and, unsurprisingly, rejected concerns regarding Hamas misuse. Paragraph 485 of the report definitively determines [quote]: “(o)n the basis of the investigations it has conducted, the Mission did not find any evidence to support the allegations… that ambulances were used to transport combatants or for other military purposes”.
This biased and flawed report accuses Israel of war crimes for having taken action to fight against Hamas – war criminals who openly call for our destruction, fired thousands of rockets against us and endangered their own population by hiding and fighting from within densely populated areas.
Israel has given a substantive and clear explanation to anyone who was interested in listening to its criticisms with the fact-finding mission. We explained carefully why we believed the Report was wrong both in spirit and in law. Israel openly shared its dilemmas as a democracy fighting against terror along its border, in the most complex of situations, against terrorists who intentionally put their own people at risk. We offered detailed explanations about our security, legal and political policies and concerns. Mistakes that were made are being investigated by Israel’s relevant authorities, as has always been the case within Israel’s democratic system. Israel’s courts remain open to all, including Palestinians and NGO’s who seek redress. Regrettably, the report saw no problems with the actions of Hamas terrorists, using mosques, homes and hospitals for military purposes, even offering explanations why such action could somehow be excusable.
We still do not understand how a report that completely ignored the concept of Israel’s inherent right of self defense, Hamas’ smuggling of weapons and Israel’s genuine humanitarian efforts during the conflict could be seen as anything but biased and irrelevant. It was fascinating, and telling, to hear Justice Goldstone himself tell a journalist about the distinct limits of his report, saying [quote] “if this was a court of law, there would have been nothing proven.”
The supporters of the resolution have no interest in Israel’s actions to limit negative effects to civilians, its domestic investigations, the workings of its legal system or the fact that there is no likelihood that this body, or any other, will truly look into allegations of Palestinian crimes. The sponsors of the resolution are not even asking for the smallest amount of introspection from the Palestinian side who are calling on the Council to “endorse” a report that stated that their own people committed war crimes.
There are members that want this Council, as well as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to be so preoccupied that there will be no time to investigate human rights in their countries. They are among the “auspicious” group that supported the call that dragged us back here. None of those states could ever imagine any dialogue on human rights or democracy or complementarity in their countries. So they shift the discussion to Israel.
The resolution, as proposed, will be a reward for terror and will send a clear message to terrorists everywhere. They will clearly hear that this new form of warfare, as used by Hamas in Gaza, will offer immunity as countries will be prevented from waging effective responses. This strategy will be repeated in other places, against other countries fighting terror. Action taken here today will set back hopes for peace. Any chance for a real dialogue and better and more secure future for our region demands confidence. It would not be special sessions or abusing the agendas of esteemed international organizations, but dialogue, that would offer clear benefits and a mutual building of trust that would strengthen the position of the leaders of the Palestinian Authority. Dialogue, not threats, would also build the confidence of the Israeli public for supporting the peace process. The only beneficiaries of today’s proposal would be Hamas and their allies who only seek division and conflict and an end to any hope for peace.
Israel has gone to great lengths to improve the conditions in the Palestinian Authority.
To learn more about these efforts, visit: Supporting Palestinian Capacity
Building: Israel’s Efforts in Supporting the Palestinian Economy, Civil Affairs and
Security Reforms
Journalism is dependent on the reporting of truths and not unsupported rumors. Governments are responsible to ensure that the line between freedom of speech and libel are not crossed.
This week,
Alan M. Dershowitz, Harvard professor of law and author of many books, including, most recently, “The Case Against Israel’s Enemies,” published an article, “Sweden’s Shame.”
Dershowitz explains that, “Nobody is talking about censoring the Swedish press or imprisoning the writer of the absurd article. What we are talking about is expanding the marketplace of ideas to include a completely warranted condemnation of sloppy journalism and outrageous accusations that foment an already increasing anti-Semitism in Sweden. Freedom of speech is based on an open and vibrant marketplace of ideas.”
Medal of Freedom
On August 11, 2009, John Bolton, US’s former Ambassador to the United Nations wrote an op-ed regarding the awarding of the “Medal of Freedom” to Mary Robinson – thus creating a flurry of controversy due to her central organizing role as secretary general of the 2001 “World Conference Against Racism”; a conference that was virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.
Mary Robinson’s Medal of Freedom
Anti-Americanism and anti-Israel activism win Obama’s approbation
By John Bolton (Wall Street Journal, 09/11/09)
Barack Obama’s decision to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mary Robinson has generated unexpected but emotionally charged opposition. Appointed by then-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan as high commissioner for human rights in 1997-2002, Ms. Robinson had a controversial but ineffective tenure. (Previously, she was president of Ireland, a ceremonial position.)
Criticism of Mr. Obama’s award, to be officially bestowed tomorrow, has centered on Ms. Robinson’s central organizing role as secretary general of the 2001 “World Conference Against Racism” in Durban, South Africa. Instead of concentrating on its purported objectives, Durban was virulently anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, and at least implicitly anti-American.
So vile was the conference’s draft declaration that Secretary of State Colin Powell correctly called it “a throwback to the days of ‘Zionism equals racism,’” referring to the infamous 1975 U.N. General Assembly resolution to that effect. President George W. Bush (whose father led the 1991 campaign that repealed the U.N.’s “Zionism is a form of racism” resolution) unhesitatingly agreed when Mr. Powell recommended the U.S. delegation leave the Durban conference rather than legitimize the outcome.
Ms. Robinson didn’t see it that way then, and she has shown no remorse since. In late 2002, she described Durban’s outcome as “remarkably good, including on the issues of the Middle East.”
Outrage over Durban reignited earlier this year when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did her best to get the United States to attend the successor conference (“Durban II”) to polish Mr. Obama’s “multilateralist” bona fides. Because the Durban II draft declaration reaffirmed Durban I’s hateful conclusions, even the Obama administration couldn’t swallow attending.
Durban is not the only reason Ms. Robinson should not receive the Medal of Freedom. Over the years she has actively opposed “the security or national interests of the United States,” one of the categories of eligibility for the Medal. Those in the administration who recommended her either ignored her anti-Israel history, or missed it entirely, as they either ignored or overlooked her hostility toward America’s role in promoting international peace and security. Or perhaps they share Ms. Robinson’s views.
One example, particularly significant today given the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, is Ms. Robinson’s strong opinions about the use of force. During the Clinton administration’s (and NATO’s) air campaign against Serbia because of its assault on Kosovo, for instance, she opined that “civilian casualties are human rights victims.” But her real objection was not to civilian casualties but to the bombing itself, saying “NATO remains the sole judge of what is or is not acceptable to bomb,” which she did not mean as a compliment.
In fact, Ms. Robinson wanted U.N. control over NATO’s actions: “It surely must be right for the Security Council . . . to have a say in whether a prolonged bombing campaign in which the bombers choose their target at will is consistent with the principle of legality under the Charter of the United Nations.” One wonders if this is also Mr. Obama’s view, given the enormous consequences for U.S. national security.
This February, asked whether former President George W. Bush should be prosecuted for war crimes, Ms. Robinson answered that it was “premature,” until a “process” such as an “independent inquiry” was established: “[T]hen the decision can be taken as to whether anybody will be held accountable.” In particular, she objected to the Bush administration’s “war paradigm” for dealing with terrorism, saying we actually “need to reinforce the criminal justice system.” Asked about Mr. Obama’s statements on “moving forward,” Ms. Robinson responded that “one of the ways of looking forward is to have the courage to say we must inquire.”
Ms. Robinson’s award shows Mr. Obama’s detachment from longstanding, mainstream, American public opinion on foreign policy. The administration’s tin ear to the furor over Ms. Robinson underlines how deep that detachment really is.
Mr. Bolton, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of “Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations” (Simon & Schuster, 2007).
Shortly after 15:00, an Israeli Navy force intercepted, boarded, and took control of the cargo boat ‘Arion,’ which was bearing the flag of Greece and was illegally attempting to enter the Gaza Strip.
The boat departed from Cyprus yesterday. Yesterday evening, the Israeli Navy contacted the boat while at sea, clarifying that it would not be permitted to enter Gazan coastal waters because of security risks in the area.
Disregarding all warnings made, the cargo boat entered Gazan coastal waters. As a result of the actions taken by the boat crew, an Israeli Navy force intercepted, boarded, and took control of the boat, directing it towards Ashdod, Israel.
No shots were fired during the boarding of the boat. The boat crew will be handed over to the appropriate authorities.
Humanitarian goods found on board the boat will be transferred to the Gaza Strip, subject to authorization.
The IDF Spokesperson Unit would like to emphasize that any organization or country that wishes to transfer humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, can legally do so via the established crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip with prior coordination.
