Jewish Russian Telegraph

No More Art From Russia

Why not to give back the library and archive stolen from Chabad? Because if they start giving back there will be no end. The Communist regime founded on criminality can not afford to give anything back.

Ynetnews.com:

Dispute leads Russia to nix art loans 

Decades-long disagreement with Chabad over ownership of holy texts collected by influential rabbis, seized by Soviet Union may end major cultural loans between Russia, US

Associated Press

Published:  05.22.11, 09:18 / Israel Culture

A decades-long dispute between Russia and an Orthodox Jewish group over ownership of holy texts collected for centuries by influential rabbis and seized by the Soviet Union has jolted the US art world, threatening an end to major cultural loans between the two countries.

Russia has already frozen art loans to major American institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Houston Museum of Natural Science, fearing that its cultural property could be seized after the Brooklyn, New York-based Chabad-Lubavitch movement won a lawsuit in US District Court in 2010 compelling the return of its texts.

The Met – and possibly other major lending institutions – are weighing whether to discontinue loans of cultural property to Russia.

The issue has become so important to relations between the US and Russia that the Justice Department has signaled for the first time in court papers that by Monday, it may weigh in on the legal case – which the Russians pulled out of in 2009, citing sovereign immunity.

Federal attorneys declined to comment for this story, and Russia's Culture Ministry did not respond to numerous calls, emails and faxes from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The US State Department has worked to support Chabad's campaign to reclaim its sacred texts since the 1990s.

Chabad is a worldwide Orthodox Hasidic Jewish movement, and has spent decades trying to reclaim the trove of thousands of religious books, manuscripts and handwritten documents, known as the Schneerson Collection, held in Russian repositories. Collected since 1772 by the leaders of the movement, the revered religious papers include Chabad's core teachings and traditions. [Read the rest]

posted by: jrtelegraph

VALERY PANYUSHKIN: The Silence Of The Lambs in Putin's Russia

New York Times:

IT’S a warm evening in the summer of 2010. I am leaving a cafe in the very center of Moscow when I notice my car is missing its license plate. I know what this means: I am being followed.

Because the senior officers in the F.S.B. (the main successor to the Soviet K.G.B.) don’t trust their agents, they demand not only an account of the subject’s movements but additional proof, in the form of a license plate, that the observation is being carried out, that the report is not made up, that the target is indeed being followed. It would be silly to pretend that I am not afraid. I am afraid.

I call my friend Marina Litvinovich, an editor who has had many years of experience dealing with the Russian security services. More than once she has been attacked on the street. When this happens they call you by name, beat you half to death, then leave you, taking no money or valuables, thereby ensuring that you never, even for a moment, think you have just been mugged.

“Marinka, what do I do if my license plate has been unscrewed from my car?”

“Look through the car,” Marina answers gravely. “They could have planted a gun, drugs or extremist literature. But I wouldn’t particularly worry about explosives. They don’t usually blow up journalists.”

In conversations like these, “they” always means the same thing: the security services, the government, the ones in power.

I look over the car, first the outside, then the inside, at once anxious and amused. No guns, no drugs, no literature, besides the copy of the Declaration of Children’s Rights I’d left there that morning. It is especially peculiar to turn the ignition key. God forgive me! I turn the key, and there is no explosion. Am I paranoid? Perhaps. Alas, as in the old axiom, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you. [Read the rest]

 

posted by: jrtelegraph

Glenn Beck: Standing With Israel is What God Has Called Us to Do

Foxnewsinsider.com:

 

posted by: jrtelegraph

Bibi: We Never Lost Hope of Reestablishing Our Homeland In the Land of Israel

Foxnewsinsider.com:

 

posted by: jrtelegraph

Rush Limbaugh: GOP Can Learn From Bibi

Rush Limbaugh:

Republicans Can Learn from Bibi

May 20, 2011

Listen To It!  WMP | Flash  Audio clips available for Rush 24/7 members only -- Join Now! BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: There's a little meeting going on, Bibi Netanyahu and Obama, and when it started out -- Netanyahu is speaking now -- I said, "Oh, no.  Oh, no."  I said, "Netanyahu's having to eat the excrement sandwich."  'Cause he started out with all the pap, "You're great, great to hear you're committed to Israel, Mr. Obama, great that you're committed to peace.  We're committed to peace."  And I'm thinking, well, this is what happens, when the country gets $5 billion from us you have to go in there and eat the excrement sandwich.  But then, Bibi said, "We cannot go back to the 1967 lines."  He said it in public.  He looked right in the camera. He looked at Obama and said, "We cannot go back to the 1967 boundaries, the borders.  They don't take into account the changes that have taken place on the ground.  Israel cannot negotiate with a Palestine government that is backed by Hamas.  He's saying all this publicly with Obama sitting there.  The camera is not on Obama, it's a tight shot of Bibi.JOHNNY DONOVAN:  And now, from sunny south Florida, it's Open Line Friday!RUSH:  On the day before the rapture, I am sitting here thanking God.  Benjamin Netanyahu:  "We cannot negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas.  Hamas just attacked you, Mr. President, for getting rid of Bin Laden."  Netanyahu is saying this to our young man-child president.  We can't go back to the '67 borders.  So you strip everything else away here, folks, and it's obvious to me who's coming off as the more serious man in that room.  And I gotta tell you, I can't wait to see what the media does with Netanyahu.  I can't wait to see how the media characterizes this.  Will they say he showed profound disrespect, that these comments should have never been made in public. It would be fine to share these sentiments with President Obama in a private meeting, but to go public like this and to slap the president.Maybe they don't look at it that way.  Maybe they don't look at the president being slapped down here.  Maybe it isn't the president.  I gotta give myself a wide berth here because right now I'm visual only and reading closed-captioning.  So it appears to me that what Netanyahu is saying is, essentially, "Look, that stuff you said yesterday, we really appreciate how you feel.  We can't do any of it."  Is that how it's coming across?  It says we're not gonna do anything.  We can't.  Now he's talking about the Palestinian refugees.  He is not gonna accept them.  He said that's not gonna happen.  And everybody knows it's not gonna happen.  I have to be right.  Look at Obama.  Look at Obama. He's sitting there as though Bibi is Paul Ryan at the health care -- oh-ho, folks.  Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho, mama!  Cool this is.  Cool this is.  We're rolling tape on it, and we'll have audio of this as soon as we can assemble it and put it together for you.  Obama hasn't said a word in four minutes now.  He's sitting there with his hand on his chin and it's covering his mouth, and you can't tell if he's smiling.  Netanyahu has not stopped talking.  He's looking alternately at Obama and then at the cameras.  The US and Israel, they have differences here and there.  So can't go back to the '67 borders. They don't take into account the changes that have taken place on the ground.  Israel cannot negotiate with the Palestinian government backed by Hamas.  Hamas just attacked you, Mr. President, for getting rid of Bin Laden.  He said that. [Read the rest]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Israeli Military Attache Colonel Vadim Lederman Expelled From Moscow

San Francisco Sentintel:

Colonel Vadim Leiderman arrested, questioned late last week; Israeli security reportedly questioned him upon his arrival
for allegedly contacting a foreign agent, suspicions from which he was cleared

Vadim Leiderman at the Israeli Export Institute pavilion at the Paris Air Show
Photo By Assaf Shilo

By Yossi Melman and Avi Sharf 
Haaretz

Israel’s military attaché in Moscow was arrested and expelled earlier this week, it was revealed on Wednesday, with sources saying that the top Israel Defense Forces officer was questioned over espionage suspicions.

Colonel Vadim Leiderman was arrested during a May 12 meeting in a restaurant, in what appeared to be a violation of his diplomatic immunity. He was then questioned for a few hours, released, and subsequently deported.

Leiderman, who was born in the Soviet Union, has a doctorate in engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa. He was a member of the Israel Air Force (IAF) technical corps, and spent some years working for the IAF in America.

Haaretz also learned that Leiderman was questioned by the Shin Bet over suspicions he had contacted a foreign agent, suspicions of which he was subsequently cleared.

The IDF released a statement in response to Lederman’s deportation, saying that the IDF officer’s mission “was to end in two months,” adding that Israeli security “officials had made a thorough examination which found that espionage claims are unfounded.” [Read more]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Jewish Museum Opens In Moscow

Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty:

First Jewish Museum Opens In Moscow

The new Jewish Museum in Moscow

May 19, 2011

MOSCOW -- The first Jewish Museum in Moscow has officially been opened, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

The museum, which is privately funded, is reportedly the first of its kind in Russia. It opened on May 18.

Museum founder Sergei Ustinov, the vice president of Russia's Jewish Congress, told RFE/RL that some of the exhibits were bought by individuals and some of them were donated to the museum.

The oldest items in the exhibits -- some of which were bought at auctions abroad -- are from the 18th century.

Ustinov said professors and experts from the University of Jerusalem assisted the museum founders with consultations on the exhibits and their importance.

Russia had an estimated 5.19 million Jews in 1897, about 4 percent of the total population, according to the official census. In 2002 there were some 265,000, about 0.16 percent of the people living in Russia. About 1 million Russian Jews live in Israel. [link]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Inessa Rifkin: Nerdy Mom Saves Her Son From The Clutches Of Cool

Fromrussiawithmath.com:

Inessa on nerds and cool people. This column first appeared in The Jewish Advocate (subscription required):

How a nerdy mom saved her son from the clutches of cool

Inessa Rifkin

I magine extraterrestrials landing on earth. Their mission: Understand earthlings, their language and cultural habits.

Assuming these creatures were reasonably competent, they would show progress within a few years. But let’s toss them a curve: They also have to figure out how to feed themselves and their families here. Now they would really have to apply themselves.

Still, no matter how hard our alien visitors would try and how quickly they would learn, they would miss a lot of cultural details.

With the exception of the extraterrestrial origin, my family faced a similar challenge. We came to America from the Soviet Union in 1988 just as the Cold War was ending. There were four of us: my husband, myself and our two children, ages 7 and 2.

With great math skills and a strong motivation to learn, I quickly started speaking English, honed my marketable skills and landed an interesting, well-paid job. Nevertheless, I still was oblivious to many cultural details of America.

My kids, who attended a good suburban school, became my first teachers. When my son began middle school, I discovered facts about myself that I had never noticed before. I learned, for example, that I was “weird” – I was not like other, “normal” parents. I also learned a new word, one that had no Russian equivalent. That word was “nerd.” [Read the rest]

posted by: jrtelegraph

 

Deval Patrick Cashes In Muslim Outreach; Is He Running Against Scott Brown On Islamist Fuel?

JRT news:

Globe reported on 5/17/2011 that Governor Patrick is attending a series of fund-raisers with the Muslim community as a follow up to his Roxbury visit. There is ongoing speculation that he is raising funds to run against Scott Brown for the U.S. Senate.

Below we provide background and commentary to the story.

Governor Patrick kisses Abdullah Faaruuq.

 Abdullah Faaruuq, (who also serves as the Muslim Chaplain at Northeastern University) was captured on tape also telling worshippers that they should support terror suspects Mehanna and Siddiqui, and that they must not “be afraid to grab on to the gun and the sword and . . .  go out there and do your job.” [LINK]

Is there anything wrong with the Governor of Massachusetts reaching out to a community? Of course not. He is entitled to do so, indeed it is part of his job, and he is expected to do so as a civic leader.

Should he demonstrate good judgement in deciding who should be representing the community?

Yes, he is expected to. Governor Patrick fails us on this account. Despite credible information about terrorist connections and outrageous anti-Semitic and inflammatory rhetoric on the part of some of his hosts at Roxbury mosque. Patrick is determined to raise political capital and take cash from anybody willing to contribute to his coffers.

A lot is said about the indiscretions of former Governor of California Arnold Scharzenegger. As unsavory as they are, they remain the private matter of the Governor and his family. But the indiscretions of Governor Deval Patrick concern all of us: they degrade his office and jeopardize our safety. Governor Deval Patrick, is there money that would be below your dignity to accept?

Please watch the video below and then read a Boston Globe story about Patrick cashing in on his new friendship.

APT:

  

Boston Globe:

An e-mail appeal sent for a fund-raising event with the governor to be held at a private home in Sharon this Friday teased the prospect of a Senate run in a quest to draw donations of $250 to $500.

“While this is not an election year, Gov. Patrick needs funds to support a couple of key races in 2012, and also he may make a run for Scott Brown's Senate seat,” the letter stated.

The event is part of an evening with members of the Muslim community, whom Patrick will also join at a Sharon mosque that same night. The meetings are a follow-up to a highly publicized outreach event Patrick held last May, when he promised to help the state’s Muslim community combat discrimination. [Read more]

... Atif Harden, a spokesperson for the event at the Sharon mosque on Friday, said Patrick’s support in the Muslim community is particularly strong after last year’s event at a mosque in Roxbury, which he called historic.

Harden said members of the state’s Muslim community are hoping that Patrick, on Friday, will offer an update on several promises he made during the Roxbury gathering, including a request that he attend one of the group’s monthly meetings with law enforcement officials. [Read more]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Lithuania: Former Soviet OMON Officer Guilty of Murder

The Moscow Times:

The Associated Press

VILNIUS, Lithuania — A former member of a Soviet OMON unit was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killings of seven Lithuanian border guards in 1991.

Konstantin Mikhailov is the first person to be tried and convicted for involvement in the pre-dawn raid on a Lithuanian border checkpoint that occurred as Soviet forces tried to crush the Baltic republic's quest for independence.

The Vilnius Regional Court on Wednesday also ordered Mikhailov, a Latvian citizen, to pay 2.2 million litas ($1 million) in compensation to Lithuania.

He declared his innocence and is likely to appeal the ruling.

Like its Baltic neighbors, Lithuania set up checkpoints manned by unarmed guards after declaring independence in the waning months of the Soviet Union. Soviet authorities viewed the border posts as illegal.

In one of the bloodiest assaults on the rebellious republic, seven border guards were shot to death and one was wounded as OMON commandos from the Soviet Interior Ministry raided the Medininkai checkpoint on the border of Lithuania and Belarus in July 1991. [link]

posted by: jrtelegraph