by Daniel S. Mariaschin, executive vice president of B'nai B'rith International

The European Union seems to be going out of its way to shed any pretext of neutrality on the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

The latest affront is new guidelines from the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU. The measure would restrict funding, grants and overall cooperation by the EU with any Israeli institutions that operate in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that are beyond the lines established in the Six-Day War in 1967.

This ban impacts territories that should be discussed at negotiations between the two sides and is an attempt by the EU to pressure Israel to keep the Jewish state within its pre-1967 borders.

Why now? Why would the EU go to such lengths to undermine recent movement in the peace talks?

US Secretary of State John Kerry has been back and forth to the region six times in the last few months trying to restart the stalled process. On July 19, the two sides agreed to meet to talk about the parameters for resuming actual peace talks. Though incremental, the attention greeting this step demonstrates the fundamental element in the entire peace process — two sides sitting down together.

If Kerry’s efforts are to succeed, then prejudging the outcome by the EU can only stiffen the backs of the Palestinians or lead them to believe they can talk to Kerry but always go to what has effectively become an “EU court of appeals” to make their case and change the outcome.

Even if Kerry is able to bring the Palestinians to the actual negotiating table, is the EU capable of an objective role, given its track record?

This EU effort undercuts his work, and leaves Israel out of the conversation entirely. The EU’s guidelines punish Israel and reward the Palestinians. We’ve seen a similar approach at the United Nations, where the international community continually holds Israel up to opprobrium and is not really interested in giving it a say in its future security, borders or other points that should be the subject of negotiation and compromise.

When the Palestinians know others will do the heavy lifting for them, they are much less likely to talk seriously with Israel. The EU and United Nations’ efforts provide a way for the Palestinians to continue to avoid confronting the notion of compromise with Israel. If they feel they can get what they want, without having to negotiate over it, it lessens their commitment to cooperate with Israel.

Seemingly, the EU and the United Nations have become spokesmen for the Palestinians—often representing their cause at the expense of pressing them to negotiate and compromise. This EU involvement raises Palestinian expectations to unreasonable and impossible levels—leaving them to believe that their demands will simply be endorsed in the court of global public opinion.

If the narrative is being laid out by the EU and the Palestinians, where does that leave Israel?

This new ruling defining how the Europeans are favoring the Palestinians will surely lessen Israeli confidence at a time when Israel’s neighborhood is torn by chaos, disarray and uncertainty. This is precisely the wrong impression to leave with Israel, which now faces increasing instability on its borders and is being asked to take ever-greater risks as a result of it.

If the EU is serious about its responsibilities as a member of the Quartet - together with the United States, Russia and the United Nations - it would be encouraging the Palestinians to move to the negotiating table, compromise and reach an agreement, rather than exacerbating the effort to get there.

On July 21, the EU designated the “military wing” of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, but determined that Hezbollah has a separate “political” section. This revelation underscored the unevenness of the EU’s efforts and approach when dealing with the Middle East situation.

Though acknowledging Hezbollah’s terrorist activities is a significant step, any talk of a distinction between Hezbollah’s “military” and “political” sides is contrived. With this dual—and misguided—designation, Hezbollah will continue its terror business as usual. The EU should be willing to do more.

The Venice Declaration of 1980 was an early expression of European preferences in this contentious dispute. Nine European nations concluded they needed to elevate the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)—known for its terrorist activity—as a legitimate entity, while suggesting limits be placed on Israel’s security needs. This declaration took place at the height of the PLO’s central role in the control of a terrorist state-within-a-state in Lebanon.

The new EU guidelines continue in that tradition.

Brussels tips its hand to its true agenda by singling out for boycott specific non-governmental organizations, and also describing Gaza on a list of “territories occupied by Israel since June 1967,” despite the fact that Israel withdrew all presence from Gaza in 2005. These aspects of the document add evidence to the folly that the guidelines are balanced. The EU bias is clear.

A two-state solution can only be achieved when Israel and the Palestinians sit together to negotiate it, without preconditions. This move by the EU effectively eliminates that step and, in the process, annuls Israel’s right to have a say in its own future.

The EU should step back and re-evaluate its approach. It needs to decide whether it wants to be a mouthpiece for one side or a body which supports a peace process that has any chance of succeeding...more.

La situación de la educación secundaria pública preocupa a muchos uruguayos, pero no todo es negativo y existen muchos esfuerzos serios para superar los problemas. Desde 2009, un grupo de profesionales y empresas reunidos por la organización B’Nai B’Rith llevan adelante un programa que ha logrado que más de 60 estudiantes de bachillerato, provenientes de estratos socioculturales medio o bajo, culminaran sus estudios de manera exitosa. El programa se llama "Salir Adelante" y ya tiene cuatro años de trabajo casi silencioso. El doctor Carlos Kierszenbaum, director asistente de la B’Nai B’Rith y coorganizador del programa y la maestra Adriana Stainfeld, directora del programa, conversaron con En Perspectiva para conocer de cerca esta iniciativa. Macarena Guggeri, una de las alumnas que ya pasó por el ciclo completo de este programa, también nos dio su testimonio...more.

B'nai B'rith International is cited in the July 24, 2013, Shalom TV report:

La representación política de la comunidad judía argentina recibió con agrado la determinación de la UE por la inclusión del grupo libanés a la lista de organizaciones extremistas.

La DAIA sostuvo que “para la comunidad judía y la sociedad argentina en su conjunto lo acordado por los veintiocho países de la Unión Europea adquiere decisiva significación, ya que como es de público conocimiento la mencionada organización terrorista está acusada por la justicia de nuestro país de haber sido el brazo ejecutor de la masacre perpetrada el 18 de julio de 1994 contra la sede de AMIA-DAIA”.

“Los terroristas de Hezbolá, financiados y dirigidos por el régimen teocrático iraní, son responsables de múltiples atentados criminales cometidos en diversos países. La resolución de la Unión Europea señala sin ambigüedades el compromiso de no tolerar el accionar terrorista así como el de combatir su financiación y reclutamiento en territorio europeo”, expresaron en un comunicado el presidente de la DAIA, Julio Schlosser, y el secretario general de la entidad, Jorge Knoblovits.

Asimismo, B'nai B'rith Internacional felicitó a la Unión Europea por designar al "ala militar" de Hezbollah como una organización terrorista, pero sostiene que la totalidad de Hezbollah, incluyendo su "brazo político" - necesita también ser incluidos en la lista negra...more.

B'nai B'rith International is referenced in the Shalom TV story about the European Union's decision to classify the "military arm" of Hezbollah on the terrorist watch list.

After resisting the requests of Israel and the United States for more than a year after the Burgas bus bombing for which Hezbollah has been implicated as the perpetrator, the 28-member European Union (EU) has agreed to place the “military wing” of the Lebanese group on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations, Reuters reported.

The move will freeze assets Hezbollah may hold within the EU, but falls short of blacklisting the entire organization of Hezbollah as one entity. The EU’s designation means the body still considers the parliamentary faction of Hezbollah, which was not blacklisted, to be a separate political wing and not part of a terrorist organization.

“The EU decision to ban Hezbollah’s ‘military wing’ is an important first step, but it is not nearly enough,” B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said. “The distinction between Hezbollah’s ‘military’ and ‘political wing’ has been contrived—it’s a distinction unrecognized by Hezbollah itself. Without an across-the-board designation blacklisting the entirety of Hezbollah, this could prove to be only little more than a symbolic move without the power to significantly curtail the operations of the terrorist organization...more.

El próximo 25 de julio la cantante Malena Muyala se presentará en el Teatro Metro, donde ofrecerá un concierto a beneficio del programa Salir Adelante de B'nai B'rith Uruguay, que apoya a jóvenes liceales de buen desempeño académico y comprometida situación económica.

No sólo es una gran oportunidad para ayudar a una buena causa sino también un muy buen momento para ver a Malena, multipremiada, Ciudadana Ilustre de Montevideo y todos sus trabajos discográficos premiados con Oro y Platino por su volumen de ventas...more.

Daniel S. Mariaschin, executive vice president of B'nai B'rith International, is quoted in the Shalom TV story about the 19th anniversary of the AMIA bombing in Argentina.

by Michael Wilner

The State Department declined to issue a rebuke of the European Union for its new regulations barring member nations from cooperating with Israeli organizations and businesses operating in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

The US instead reinforced its position on settlement building in the territories...

B’nai B’rith International expressed “outrage” in a statement to journalists.

“These guidelines clearly display the longstanding EU double standard and obsession with Israel to the point of outright discrimination,” president Allan J. Jacobs said...more.

by Eduardo Kohn, director of Latin American affairs at B'nai B'rith International

Este 18 de julio de 2013 las víctimas del atentado contra la AMIA serán asesinadas otra vez. Sus familiares sentirán la gelidez invernal y padecerán la fría realidad del proceso de acuerdos entre Argentina e Irán, que han logrado borrar la remota ilusión de derrotar la falta de justicia.

Cuando el año pasado, en el día más sagrado para el pueblo judío, el Día del Perdón (Iom Kipur), el canciller de Argentina y su par iraní anunciaban en Nueva York que habían llegado a un acuerdo para "investigar conjuntamente" el ataque a AMIA, comenzaba el proceso para matar nuevamente a las víctimas.

Dicho proceso encontró otra fecha emblemática para profundizar la perversidad: el 27 de enero de 2013, Día Mundial de Recordación del Holocausto (fecha aprobada por Naciones Unidas), Irán y Argentina firmaban públicamente el "acuerdo".
Innumerables observadores se han hecho decenas de preguntas respecto al "acuerdo" y no han encontrado respuestas claras.
Es propicio entonces exponer algunos hechos recientes:

• Irán aún no envió al Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Argentina la nota con la ratificación del acuerdo el 27 de enero pasado por la causa AMIA.
  
  
• Los medios de difusión de Argentina señalan (y no han sido desmentidos) que el gobierno aceptó como "un moderado" al presidente electo de Irán, Hasan Rohani, quien asumirá en agosto. ¿Qué es "moderación" en un régimen teocrático que es condenado por violar los derechos humanos y donde la última palabra en todas las decisiones no la tiene el "presidente" sino el clérigo "líder supremo de la revolución"?
  
  
• El columnista de "La Nación", Martín Dinatale, en un artículo (3/7/13) sobre este tema, puntualiza tres hechos muy significativos: 1) La diplomacia iraní apuntó, aunque sin nombrarlo, al fiscal de la causa AMIA, Alberto Nisman, que emitió un dictamen en el que acusó a Irán de tender "una red de inteligencia para preparar atentados en América Latina". El vocero de la Cancillería iraní consideró: "Agentes extranjeros y sionistas están detrás del atentado contra la AMIA"; 2) El 1/7 hubo claras señales contra Nisman desde la Casa Rosada: la procuradora general de la Nación, Alejandra Gils Carbó, le denegó la autorización al fiscal para viajar a Washington y dar una charla en el Congreso de los Estados Unidos sobre el resultado de su investigación; 3) A todo ello se suma el sugestivo silencio del gobierno ante los ataques de Irán hacia la figura de Nisman.
  
  
• Como cierre de esta enumeración, cabe señalar que el comercio entre Irán y Argentina tuvo un cambio cuantitativo: en 2012 las exportaciones de la Argentina a Irán fueron de U$S 52:134.000, mientras que en el primer trimestre de este año fueron de U$S 76:407.000: un aumento mayor al 52%.
  

En una democracia, los gobernantes se deben a todos, a quienes los votaron y a quienes son oposición. Cuando la mitad de un país le dice que no a sus gobernantes, éstos podrán ejercer con legitimidad jurídica el derecho de las mayorías, aunque ella sea muy pequeña. Pero, a la larga, también deberán responder por sus actos y decisiones al resto. Y eso sucede en Argentina donde se aprobó el "acuerdo" por una mayoría ínfima.


El 18 de julio, los perpetradores y sus cómplices mirarán por televisión, gozando de su impunidad, los rostros de las familias de las víctimas que recordarán el atentado junto al edificio de AMIA. Verán dolor, lágrimas, rabia, impotencia.
Y estarán satisfechos por estar cometiendo el crimen otra vez.


Source:  http://semanario.busqueda.com.uy/

La organización B’nai B’rith Internacional recordó a las víctimas del atentado a la AMIA, en víspera de 19° aniversario al tiempo que transmitió su preocupación por el memorándum de entendimiento que la Argentina firmó con Irán en relación a la causa que investiga el brutal ataque terrorista.

A través de un comunicado de prensa enviado a la Agencia Judía de Noticias (AJN), B’nai B’rith Internacional consideró que el acuerdo transformado en ley por el Congreso argentino llevará a que “no se pueda hacer justicia jamás”.

“En enero del corriente año, Irán y Argentina acordaron crear una ‘Comisión de la Verdad’, un ‘grupo independiente’ que investigará el atentado donde murieron 85 personas y otras 300 fueron heridas, todo ello, a pesar que los lazos de Irán con la masacre son conocidos y están documentados”, apuntó la organización.

B’nai B’rith Internacional señaló que “en 2006, luego de una exhaustiva investigación, el fiscal Alberto Nisman detalló cómo conocidas autoridades iraníes dieron la orden a Hezbollah de cometer un atentado masivo contra la comunidad judía en Buenos Aires, y entre esas autoridades: Hashemi Rafsanjani, presidente de Irán entonces, y Ahmad Vahidi, hoy ministro de Defensa”...more.

by Chris Reidy

B’nai B’rith Housing, a not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to produce nonsectarian housing, said Monday that it has begun construction on a 64-unit apartment complex in Sudbury that is aimed at “active” adults age 55 and older.

The complex is called the Coolidge at Sudbury, and building costs are projected to be $16.7, said Brighton-based B’nai B’rith Housing, which in May bought the land that the complex will be located on for $2 million. The land was purchased from the Mercuri family. The expectation is that the Coolidge will be ready for occupancy in mid 2014...more.

by Shandana Mufti

Construction has begun on The Coolidge, a new 64-unit housing complex in Sudbury that aims to serve active seniors and adults aged 55 and over, according to B'nai B'rith Housing.

“This is a huge milestone for us for a development that will allow more local seniors to remain in their community by choosing to live at The Coolidge,” B'nai B'rith Housing executive director Susan Gittelman said in a press release.

Though The Coolidge is owned by CCC Post Road Limited Partnership, it will be controlled by B’nai B’rith Housing, based in Brighton, which purchased the land for $2 million from the Mercuri family this May. BBH is a nonprofit developer that aims to create affordable housing in Greater Boston’s underserved suburban communities...more.

by  Diane C. Lore

Staten Island Tech student Ashley Deng has earned a $5,000 scholarship, and the status of being a published author, as the top winner of this year's Diverse Minds Youth Writing Challenge sponsored by B'Nai B'rith International.

Her entry "We Are All Atoms"— which she wrote and illustrated — caught the attention of judges. Her win was announced on June 10 during an awards ceremony hosted by the New York Stock Exchange.

"It's great to see Diverse Minds still flourishing seven years into the program," said B'nai B'rith International President Allan J. Jacobs. "It's amazing how creative these kids are and what they can achieve when their minds are working toward a noble cause....more.

by Eduardo Kohn, director of Latin American affairs at B'nai B'rith International

On July 18, the victims of the AMIA bombing will be killed again.

Their families will feel the chilly winter and the cold reality of the chain of agreements made between Iran and Argentina that has erased the remote illusion of a true and honest effort to prosecute the perpetrators.

The July 18, 1994 terror attack on the the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building — the heart of the Argentinian Jewish community — killed 85 and wounded 300. No one has been brought to justice, though Iran’s ties to the attack are well known.

In a 2006 report, Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman detailed how top Iranian leaders — including Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran’s president at the time, and Ahmad Vahidi, who later became minister of defense — ordered Hezbollah to kill Jews in Buenos Aires. Interpol has requested that Iran turn over the officials responsible for the worst terrorist attack ever in Latin America. No arrests have been made...more.

by Robert Fucci 

Motorists driving east on Boston Post Road have noticed a new construction site on the Landham Road side, directly across from the Landham Crossing condo complex.

The construction is the start of The Coolidge at Sudbury, a 64-unit rental community for seniors and older adults, ages 55 and older. 

In September 2011, the Sudbury Zoning Board of Appeals approved a comprehensive permit for B’nai B’rith Housing New England...more.

Until 2009, right-wing Portuguese politician Jose Ribeiro e Castro didn’t have much interest in the expulsion of his country’s Jewish community in the 16th century. That changed once Ribeiro e Castro opened a Facebook account.

Online, the 60-year-old lawmaker and journalist connected to several Sephardic Jews, descendants of a once robust Jewish community numbering in the hundreds of thousands, many of whom were forced into exile in 1536 during the Portuguese Inquisition. Eventually the encounters morphed into a commitment to rectify a historic injustice.

For Ribeiro e Castro, correcting the injustice meant spearheading a bill to naturalize the Jewish descendants of expelled Jews, a measure that unanimously passed the Portuguese parliament in April and went on the books last week, making Portugal the only country besides Israel with a Jewish law of return.

“The law is a commendable initiative,” said Nuno Wahnon Martins, the Lisbon-born director of European affairs for B’nai B’rith International. “It has economic considerations as well, which do not subtract from parliament’s worthy decision...more.

by Eduardo Kohn, director of Latin America affairs of B'nai B'rith

Este 18 de julio de 2013, las víctimas del atentado contra la AMIA habrán sido asesinadas otra vez. Sus familiares, sentirán la gelidez invernal y la fría realidad del proceso de acuerdos entre Argentina e Irán, que han logrado borrar la remota ilusión de derrotar la impunidad.

Cuando el año pasado, en el día más sagrado para el pueblo judío, el Día del Perdón (Iom Kipur) el Canciller de Argentina y su par iraní anunciaban en Nueva York que se había llegado a un acuerdo para «investigar conjuntamente» el ataque a AMIA, comenzaba el proceso para asesinar otra vez a las víctimas.

Dicho proceso encontró otra fecha emblemática para profundizar la perversidad: el 27 de enero de 2013, Día Mundial de Recordación del Holocausto (fecha aprobada por Naciones Unidas) Irán y Argentina firmaban públicamente el «acuerdo»...more.

by Ilan Mochari

A few months ago I finished Pete Townshend’s autobiography, “Who I Am.” I can’t say I was surprised to read the following:

We shared our house with the Cass family, who lived upstairs and, like many of my parents’ closest friends, were Jewish. I remember noisy, joyous Passovers with a lot of Gefilte fish, chopped liver and the aroma of slow-roasting brisket (11).


I have often wondered why “Tommy” has such a grip on me. My best guess? I think it stems from my six summers at B’nai B’rith Perlman Camp in Starlight, Pennsylvania...more.

by Steve Lipman

In Cuba for the first time on an educational mission a few months ago, businessman-philanthropist Steven Tisch told his guide he wanted to visit some of the Jewish sites in Havana’s small Jewish community.

Tisch ended up at Temple Beth Shalom, the de facto headquarters of Cuban Jewry, where he spent a few hours speaking with Adele Dworin, the community’s head. She told her visitor about Jewish Cuba’s history, culture and increasing viability in recent years...The Cuban government has allowed greater religious freedom in recent decades, and organizations like B’nai B’rith International and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee have an active presence there...more.

B’nai B’rith International says it was "appalled and distressed" to learn of two very public anti-Semitic incidents in Panama during the last two weeks.

According to a statement issued by the Jewish service organization, the first incident involved a Panamanian governor, Omaira Judith Correa Delgado, who called a Jewish journalist a “Gestapo Jew girl” in retaliation for penning an article the governor did not like.

The second incident occurred when La Prensa, the largest daily newspaper in Panama, published a virulently anti-Semitic piece, evoking Holocaust imagery and Jewish stereotypes...more.

by Leslie Renken

Most of the people who participate in the ceramics class at B’nai B’rith Apartments in Peoria don’t consider themselves artistic, so it’s been a pleasant surprise for many of them to find out how creative they really are.

“I love it,” said Barb Long, 81, as she applied glaze to a multi-colored vase at the senior apartment complex recently. “I can’t wait to get through with this piece to get to the next one.”

Long’s daughters were so impressed with a piece their mother made they fought over it while visiting on Mother’s Day, Long said.

“I gave it to one daughter and told the other one that I’ll make another one for you,” she said.

The once-a-week class is held in the community room at the facility. About eight residents participate regularly, and another resident, Ann Wilson, 77, teaches...more.

by Adiv Sterman

A Jewish human rights organization condemned Friday the increasing use of anti-Semitic rhetoric in Panama, specifically regarding the Central American country’s governor’s insult of a Jewish journalist, and a leading newspaper’s publication of a piece which evoked Holocaust imagery as well as Jewish stereotypes.

B’nai B’rith International issued a statement on the worrisome trend and called on those who made anti-Semitic remarks to publicly acknowledge that they were unacceptable.

“Conjuring Holocaust imagery to attack the Jewish people is reprehensible and should not be tolerated by anyone,” read the statement by the organization.

“The governor, the writer and La Prensa should apologize for their statements and make it clear that such comments have no place in today’s world,” B’nai B’rith concluded...more.

B’nai B’rith International honored Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig with the Distinguished Humanitarian Award on Thursday in New York. The award recognizes efforts to help a local community or the world in a person’s personal or professional life.

Selig has led Major League Baseball for more than two decades while also supporting cancer research and environmental and educational activism. “We are not honoring the commissioner here today for his corporate achievements, we are honoring him for his deep commitment and tireless efforts that have touched millions of Americans,” B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said.

The Jewish group presented Selig with a tzedakah box and a jersey with “B’nai B’rith” emblazoned on the front...more.

Cientos de líderes judíos de Latinoamérica analizaron con preocupación el crecimiento del antisemitismo en el continente y el acuerdo que el Gobierno argentino firmó con Irán en relación a la causa que investiga el atentado a la AMIA durante el reciente Congreso Anual de B’nai B’rith Latinoamérica, que se desarrolló en Santiago de Chile.

El director de B’nai B’rith América Latina, Eduardo Kohn, confirmó, en declaraciones a la Agencia Judía de Noticias (AJN), que “se vio con preocupación el acuerdo con Irán que aún no envió a la Cancillería argentina su ratificación del convenio”.

Asimismo, Kohn también aseguró que los dirigentes también se mostraron preocupados por “la descalificación que hizo el Gobierno de Irán” del fiscal Alberto Nisman “tildándolo como agente sionista” tras dar a conocer el último dictamen sobre la causa AMIA que revela la decisión de Teherán de establecer una red terrorista en el continente...more.