B’nai B’rith International renews our long-standing call for the European Union to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization following a report today by the Bulgarian government linking the terrorist group Hezbollah to the July 2012 attack in Burgas that left five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian dead, while wounding 30 others.
    
Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov informed top-level government officials today of the conclusions reached after six months of investigation. The report states the two individuals responsible for the attack entered Bulgaria with Canadian and Australian passports and their funding and forged documentation can be traced to Lebanon. Israel has long maintained that Hezbollah was behind the attack and this is the first confirmation by a European government that it was indeed the terrorist organization.

“We have well-grounded reasons to suggest that the two were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah,” Tsvetanov said at a press conference after a meeting of Bulgaria's National Security Council. “We expect the government of Lebanon to assist in the further investigation.”

“It’s encouraging to see the Bulgarian government put the blame on Hezbollah for these murders when so many in Europe turn a blind eye to the group’s terrorist activities,” B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said. “Too often members of the EU conveniently ignore the violence of Hezbollah and insist it is merely a political organization. Hopefully this report will strip Hezbollah of any claim of legitimacy and finally allow people to see it for what it is—a violent and dangerous terrorist organization.”

While the United States, Israel, the Netherlands and Canada all list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, the EU ignores that and instead continues to view Hezbollah as a political party as the group controls much of the Lebanese government and minimizes its terrorist activities.

“By releasing this report, the Bulgarians have made an important move in presenting the true face of Hezbollah to Europe,” B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin said. “The EU continually drags its feet on classifying Hezbollah as a terrorist organization when there’s so much evidence to the contrary. With Bulgaria now putting the blame on Hezbollah after a thorough investigation, the rest of the EU should remove its blinders and immediately designate Hezbollah for what it is.”

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International is outraged by yet another display of anti-Israel bias by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). A panel of three judges working at the behest of the UNHRC released its “findings” on Jan. 31, saying Israel is in violation of the Geneva Convention with its settlements in “Palestine.”

The panel said Israel must withdraw from all settlements or Israelis could be tried for war crimes at the International Criminal Court, should “Palestine” sign on to the Rome treaty, as Palestinian leaders have repeatedly threatened to do. The panel also suggested that businesses cut ties to business interests in the settlements.

This is yet another example of the UNHRC’s prejudice against Israel. When this supposed “fact-finding mission” was created, there was never any doubt that the panel’s report would return with conclusions and recommendations that were anti-Israel. The fact that the UNHRC continues its unrelenting focus on Israel while ignoring actual human rights crises in other United Nations member states is absurd.

The UNHRC’s actions are counterproductive and defy insistence by the international Quartet for Middle East peace, of which the United Nations itself is a member, that progress be made through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. This latest UNHRC action prejudges the outcome of such a negotiation.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

B’nai B’rith International is outraged by the suicide bombing attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, Turkey, that killed a Turkish security guard and injured several others.

Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said the bomber was likely part of a far-left group, but offered no possible motivation for the attack.

We hope Turkish officials will expeditiously investigate the bombing and bring those behind this terrorist act to justice.

We extend our thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families.

B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:

We mourn the loss of Ed Koch, who died Feb. 1 at the age of 88. Known for his plainspoken nature and charisma, Koch was mayor of New York City during a particularly troubled time and became the face of New York around the world.

During three terms as mayor, serving from 1978-1989, Koch connected with New Yorkers of every background. His eager query to New Yorkers, “How'm I doing?” became his signature.

Before his storied tenure as mayor, Koch served in the U.S. Congress from 1969-1977.

His forthright support for Israel, and his great pride in his Jewish faith, were always part of his persona.

So connected to New York that he insisted on being buried there, five years ago, he purchased a burial plot at Trinity Church Cemetery, the only cemetery in the city that had space. He even ordered and inscribed his tombstone, which features the final words said by Daniel Pearl, the murdered Wall Street Journal reporter:  “My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish.”