Iranians walk out as Peres speaks at Kazakh conference
Astana, 1 July, news agencies: Iranian delegates walked out of an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan yesterday when President Shimon Peres got up to speak.
The Iranian delegation was headed by Mehdi Mostafavi, a senior advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He returned to the room only after Peres had finished speaking.
That the speech would not pass smoothly had been clear from the moment the Iranians learned that Peres was to be the guest of honor at the conference: They promptly threatened not to participate at all. Not only is Peres not a religious leader, they charged, "he is a man of violence."
Peres, however, was unfazed by the incident. "There have been times when Israel remained all alone in conference halls," he said. "This time, Iran remained alone, while the entire Muslim religious leadership remained with Israel."
None of the delegates from Arab countries joined the Iranian walkout, his aides said.
In his speech, Peres urged King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and other Arab leaders to meet with him to discuss a regional peace initiative. Noting that Abdullah was the author of the Arab peace initiative, Peres declared, "Together, we can realize your vision, the vision of all those who believe in peace and justice."
Vatican says archives of Pius XII may be opened in five years
Rome, July 2, 2009, KNA: The Vatican archivist, Mgr. Sergio Pagano, has said that the private archives of wartime Pope Pius XII could be made available to researchers within five to six years. Pagano said that a long time was still required to classify the documents and to prepare them for release. The decision on when to open the archives was one for Pope Benedict XVI to take, he added.
Pagano said the documents contained some "nice surprises" about the role of Pius XII during World War II, in particular concerning the "personal risks" Pius had taken to help Jews avoid Nazi persecution.
The Catholic Church wants to beatify the war-time pope, who died in 1957. This would be the first step to sainthood. Critics say that Pius did not do enough and failed to speak out against the Nazi onslaught against the Jews during the Holocaust.
Hungarian parliament rejects bill to criminalize Holocaust denial
Budapest, July 2, 2009, agencies: Hungary's parliament has rejected constitutional amendments intended to make Holocaust denial a punishable offense. Some local Jewish community leaders believe that Monday's vote represented the first parliamentary victory for Jobbik, a rapidly rising extreme-right party widely predicted to win seats in the national elections due within a year.
The proposals, put forth by the caretaker Socialist government, attracted fewer than half the votes needed to adopt a constitutional amendment. The Fidesz opposition party rejected the proposals along with the Free Democrats, the erstwhile coalition partners of the Socialists.
Many observers believe that Fidesz opposed the reforms for fear of provoking the wrath of Jobbik. Holocaust denial is outlawed in many countries which, like Hungary, were occupied by the Nazis during World War II. The Hungarian government's attempt at introducing the legislation that failed was made in response to provocations by neo-Nazis at Buda Castle that marred Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Austria’s ’forgotten’ concentration camp in danger of being demolished
Vienna, July 2, 2009, agencies: If the excavations currently under way on a hill near the Austrian village of St. Georgen continue, within a few weeks little will remain of Gusen, one of the most horrifying of the Nazi concentration camps that was located nearby. Austrian officials say the work is necessary to prevent the collapse of underground tunnels on the site.
An estimated 36,000 to 50,000 inmates, including Jews, Soviet prisoners of war and political prisoners, met their deaths at Gusen, the site of an underground production facility for advanced Messerschmitt fighter jet aircraft and other weaponry.
Prague forum to discuss open Holocaust-era restitution questions
Prague, June 26, 2009, agencies: A five-day international conference on the restitution of property seized during the Holocaust is opening today in the Czech Republic. Organized by the Czech government which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, the forum will be held in Prague and Terezin, the site of the former Nazi death camp Theresienstadt. It will be attended by participants from 49 countries.
Tomas Kraus, secretary of the Czech Federation of Jewish Communities and vice-president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), said the conference planned to adopt a declaration with non-binding recommendations for how to cope with the open restitution issues related to the Holocaust. "The conference should show again that there are still certain matters in the world that are yet to be settled," Kraus told the news agency CTK. Guest speakers include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel and EJC President Ronald S. Lauder.
A conference similar to Prague's took place in Washington in 1998, and the gathering in Prague will assess the development and progress the world has made since in terms of the return of stolen property of cultural, historical and religious value, and of other property restitution and financial compensation.
Meanwhile, 25 US lawmakers have urged Lithuania and Poland in letters to enact laws this year to address restituting property the Nazis stolen during the Holocaust. Congressman Robert Wexler and 24 colleagues wrote to prime ministers Donald Tusk of Poland and Andrius Kubilius of Lithuania to push for action on the legislation during a conference on Holocaust-era assets to be held in Prague. "We believe that the Prague Conference may represent the last and best opportunity to resolve outstanding Holocaust-era issues during the lifetime of Holocaust survivors," wrote Wexler. The Florida lawmaker, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, will be part of the US delegation to the conference. It will be led by former US undersecretary of state, Stuart Eizenstat.
Halal and Kosher slaughtering legal across European Union
Brussels, June 25, 2009, agencies: New European Union rules to make slaughtering animals more humane also recognized the validity of religious slaughter methods. EU agriculture ministers agreed to tighten the rules on slaughter to minimize the animals' suffering. The new regulations allow halal and kosher meat to be traded and sold freely in all 27 EU member states.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to speak on the Holocaust
Saint Petersburg Times, Florida, Feb 9: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, former National Basketball Association player and author of six bestselling books, will be the keynote speaker at the Florida Holocaust Museum's annual dinner that will be held on Feb. 28 in Tampa, Florida. Abdul-Jabbar, a Muslim African-American, ranks as one of the most popular sportsmen in the Muslim world.
Obama to send Jewish US ambassador to Morocco