 With time running out for survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi-era atrocities in Europe, the French government is taking steps to return some 2,000 pieces of art stolen 70 years ago. According to Washington Jewish Week, officials from the French National Assembly visited B'nai B'rith International headquarters in Washington to discuss ways to restore looted artifacts to their rightful owners. This is critical dialogue and marks a policy shift for France, which has been criticized for its reluctance to return the art. Read the highlights from the wide-ranging article, below:  [...]
The French officials met with representatives of B’nai B’rith International in the District and visited New York State’s Department of Finance, two very different organizations that share the same expertise sought by the French lawmakers: restoring stolen Nazi art to its rightful owners. [...] Returning the art to its rightful owners is no easy task, said Eric Fusfield, director of legislative affairs for B’nai B’rith International. “Most survivors are deceased now. We’re really talking about descendants now and most don’t have documentation. They have anecdotes and might not be able to name a specific work. That’s part of the challenge.” [...] But with B’nai B’rith, the group talked about specifics, according to Gerard Leval, the organization’s general counsel, who took part in the meeting. “It was good to hear people who sincerely want to do the right thing,” he said. “Almost nothing during the Holocaust was random [including the theft of art]. We said, ‘Go to your documents – when it was taken, from whom it was taken, and from where it was taken.’ ” The B’nai B’rith group suggested that the French advertise in publications with Jewish readers in the United States and Argentina, Leval said. They also pointed out that with anti-Semitism and xenophobia flaring up in France, the government could score propaganda points by showing that it “was doing its very best in areas where it can help the Jewish population,” he added. Fusfield isn’t ready to declare victory yet. He recalled the March ceremony in Paris where the French culture minister returned three looted works to the grandchildren of the original owners. The restitution coincided with the French premiere of the George Clooney movieMonuments Men, about GIs working to recover looted art. “So that’s three,” Fusfield said. “Hollande has open the doors and that’s great,” Soltes said. “But there is other stuff, French decorative arts – tables, chairs, Louis XIV, XV, XVI owned by Jewish families. The French have stonewalled on them. You can see how interestingly self-contradictory this whole effort can be.”  B'nai B'rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin was interviewed for a recent article appearing in The Jewish Week, concerning the recent outbreaks of violence against Jews in the United States and Europe. The rise in anti-Semitism comes as world headlines continue to feature the escalating violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Read excerpts of his quotes from The Jewish Week. [...]
Such violent and vicious anti-Israel protests are not unique to Europe. In Los Angeles last weekend, four people were arrested for allegedly brandishing sticks and interfering with a pro-Israel demonstration. And in Boston, anti-Israel protestors physically assaulted Jews. Alarmed that such extremist demonstrations and violence has spread to American shores, senior Homeland Security officials spoke with Jewish leaders in a conference call Monday. [...] Daniel Mariaschin, international executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International, said the “latest attacks on the French Jewish community remind us that our vigilance in protecting the global Jewish community cannot wane.” Referring to the scuffles in Los Angeles and Boston, he said, “Perhaps we are importing here the kind of lawless mob-driven way of conducting these so-called demonstrations.” Mariaschin suggested that one reason for the large demonstrations is the “absolute access people have today to all kinds of media. Anyone can access French TV or media coming out of the Middle East and can see unbridled bias. That has to account for some of this activity.” Asked about the two violent demonstrations in the U.S. last weekend, he replied: “The level of audacity has risen to a dangerous point. In this country we have been very fortunate that we have not had those kind of European or Middle Eastern-style of demonstration, but one has to be concerned about it.”
 English-language internet radio station TLV1, based in Tel Aviv, included a segment on France’s foreign ministry advising its citizens to avoid investing in parts of Israel. The concern is that this call for divestment could become a European trend.
On the program “So Much To Say,” B’nai B’rith International Director of European Affairs Nuno Wahnon discussed this troubling topic. To hear his full interview, click the player below:  VP Erika Van Gelder In a recent Q&A appearing on the B'nai B'rith Europe website, Senior Vice President Erika Van Gelder shares some interesting insight into her life, her time with B'nai B'rith and what she sees ahead. Van Gelder was born in a displaced person's camp in Linz, Austria, shortly after World War II. After her mother passed away following childbirth, her father moved to Israel, leaving her in a children's home in Linz. Her experiences in the children's home helped shape a lifetime of service to others, particularly in the Jewish community. Learn more about her story: Q: Can you tell us something about your early life?
Van Gelder: My very early life was spent being taken from Linz by the Red Cross and brought to Budapest to friends of my future parents, and later being smuggled in a suitcase across the border into Romania. I must have been about one year old when I arrived in Arad, a city in Romania near the Hungarian border, in the region of Transylvania. I remember a very happy childhood. My (new) parents, my mother's sister and her husband adopted me. They had no other children and they were the most fantastic parents one could wish for. I grew up with lots of love, warmth, understanding, a safe environment, with parents that stimulated me in my endeavors and, above all, believed in me. [...] Q: When and why did you join B'nai B'rith? Van Gelder: "Because I never forgot my origins I started helping the Jewish Old Age Home in my home town, Arad, Romania. The Amsterdam BB lodge asked me to become a member in1994 and to continue my project through the lodge. Of course, I agreed." Q: What have been your main areas of interest in B'nai B'rith so far? Van Gelder: "The more involved I got, the more I realised that humanitarian aid projects were needed in all the ex-communist countries and that good communication and coordination was essential for any modicum of success. With this in mind, I proposed the creation of a permanent committee for Central and Eastern Europe (at the BB Convention in 1997). "I chaired this committee from the beginning until 2004. That year I was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, non-Hodgkin's. I had chemotherapy for one year and it took me another two years to function normally. I am extremely lucky, so for me "la vita e bella". After this intermezzo, I became more active again. I never stopped the fund raising for the projects in Eastern Europe, but I could not do more."  Dimanche 9 Février à 12h00 : Le Bar des Fleurs une émission présenté par Nuno Wahnon Martins en partenariat avec le B’nai B’rith France et le B’nai B’rith International. Le Bar des Fleurs, c’est l’analyse européenne de l’actu internationale et proche-orientale.”
Pour cette émission Le Bar des Fleurs invite Magdi Cristiano Allam : journaliste et homme politique italien d’origine égyptienne, musulman converti au catholicisme, il a été un des sous-directeurs du quotidien Corriere della Sera, où il s’occupait des sujets relatifs au Proche-Orient et de ses relations avec l’Occident.. Le BBF se réjouit que la France ait enfin décidé d’en finir avec l’antisémitisme de M. Dieudonné, sous l’impulsion décisive de Monsieur le Ministre de l’Intérieur, soutenu par Monsieur le Président de la République. Ce sinistre personnage vomit en permanence sa haine des juifs, en appelle à « M. Patrick Cohen dans les chambres à gaz », ridiculise à longueur de journée la Shoah, ayant une influence exécrable sur des esprits désorientés prêts à rejoindre le pire dans ce qui n’est ni rire ni comique. Mais le BBF rappelle que cet individu continue son commerce lucratif, comprenant la vente de nombreux objets, via sa compagne et sa mère, en prétendant ainsi être insolvable, et par de nombreuses représentations tant dans son théâtre parisien qu’en s’apprêtant à entamer une tournée, une tournante de la haine, dans toute la France. Cette dernière doit commencer jeudi prochain à Nantes, et les Fils et Filles des déportés juifs de France ont appelé à y manifester mercredi pour demander l'interdiction de son meeting antisémite. Le BBF se joint à cet appel. Il serait incompréhensible que ce personnage continue à défier la France entière mobilisée contre lui. Il y va des valeurs universelles de la France. Il y va d’une raison élémentaire, d’un entendement basique, d’un pays dressé contre une pathologie individuelle toxique. Le pays des droits de l’homme a toujours su faire face à l’adversité. Il a fait le plus difficile face à M’bala M’bala. Qu’il aille au bout de sa dignité, qu’il oppose son honneur à l’horreur...more.
 Le Bar des Fleurs, présenté par Nuno Wahnon Martins en partenariat avec le B’nai B’rith France et le B’nai B’rith International. Le Bar des Fleurs, c’est l’analyse européenne de l’actu internationale et proche-orientale.”
Pour cette émission Le Bar des Fleurs invite Ben Bourgel : Attaché d’Ambassade de la délégation de la Mission d’Israël auprès de l’Union Européenne à Bruxelles. En déclarant «Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, militant communiste, a fait partie de la résistance lorsque son pays, le Liban, a été envahi par Israël en 1978. Il est un défenseur acharné de la juste cause palestinienne», Monsieur Marc Everbecq, loin d’apaiser les actes antisémites, alimente le discours de ceux qui incitent à la violence contre les Juifs en France.
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah était le chef des Fractions Armées Révolutionnaires Libanaise dont il a dirigé les opérations en France sous les pseudonymes Salih al-Masri et Abdu-Qadir. Le 18 janvier 1982 le FARL assassine l’attaché militaire américain à Paris Monsieur Charles R. Ray, le 3 avril il assassine le diplomate israélien Yacov Barsimentov et blesse gravement le consul américain à Strasbourg Robert Onan Homme. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah a été arrêté à Lyon en 1984 et a été condamné à la prison à vie en 1987. Le B’nai B’rith France dénonce la décision politique du maire communiste de Bagnolet qui, dans un contexte chargé d'incidents racistes et antisémites, souffle sur les braises de la haine et encourage les actes contre la communauté juive...more. Le Prix des droits de l’Homme du B’nai B’rith France «Amour Fraternel – Harmonie – Bienfaisance » a pour objectif de mettre à l’honneur des personnalités de la société civile disposant des qualités essentielles de tolérance et d’humanisme et qui œuvrent par leur engagement personnel à la défense des valeurs fondamentales de dialogue et de paix contribuant ainsi au rapprochement entre les communautés.
Né en 1949 à côté d’Alger, Boualem Sansal a une formation d’ingénieur et un doctorat d’économie. Après avoir été tour à tour enseignant, consultant et chef d’entreprise, il devient haut fonctionnaire en 1995 au ministère de l’Industrie, poste dont il sera limogé en 2003 à cause de ses prises de position critiques vis-à-vis du pouvoir. Il se dédie alors à la littérature...more. |
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