Jewish Russian Telegraph

Mashkevitch Resigns Euro-Asian Jewish Congress; Goes To Build Jewish "Al-Jazeera"

Jpost.com:

Mashkevitch to resign as WJC Euro-Asian branch head

By GIL SHEFLER  06/22/2011 02:49 

One of the world's richest Jews, Israeli-Kazakh billionaire says he wants to devote more time to creating Jewish "Al-Jazeera."

One of the richest men in the world has decided to step down from the Jewish organization he founded, and focus on creating a news television station, and growing his other businesses, The Jerusalem Post learned on Tuesday.

A source close to Israeli- Kazakh billionaire Alexander Mashkevitch said he will resign from the presidency of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress in September, and elections will be held to fill the position.

RELATED:
Kazakhstani Jew plans news channel to rival Al-Jazeera 

“Mashkevitch made the decision because of the responsibility he has undertaken to build a new television station – and after helming the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, which has 25 affiliates, for 10 years,” the source said. “On the one hand he wants to focus on other businesses, on the other, to nurture the next generation of Jewish leaders.”

Born in 1954 into a Jewish family in Kyrgyzstan, which was then part of the Soviet Union, Mashkevitch grew closer to his Jewish identity as an adult after he made a fortune in the mining industry of Kazakhstan.

In 2002, he created the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, one of the five branches of the World Jewish Congress.

As its founder and president, he donated millions to Jewish charities and causes in the former Soviet Union, including buying and renovating the grave of Rabbi Nahman in Uman, Ukraine, which attracts thousands of Jewish pilgrims each year.

Several months ago, Mashkevitch announced his intention to create a news televisionstation that received the unofficial moniker “Jewish Al-Jazeera,” after the media outlet he said it would balance. [Read more]

 

posted by: jrtelegraph

Elena Bonner Dies at 88

New York Times:

Elena Bonner, Widow of Sakharov, Dies at 88

Derrick Ceyrac/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Elena Bonner and Andrei Sakharov in 1988.

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY and MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ

Published: June 19, 2011

Elena G. Bonner, the Soviet dissident and human-rights campaigner who endured banishment and exile along with her husband, the dissident nuclear physicist Andrei D. Sakharov, died Saturday in Boston. She was 88.

The cause was heart failure, said Edward Kline, a director of the Andrei Sakharov Foundation. He said Ms. Bonner had been in the hospital since February.

Maligned by the government and, for much of her life, cast aside by society, Ms. Bonner and her husband were considered royalty among the tight-knit and embattled community of dissidents who challenged Soviet authority.

Before and after exile, their modest Moscow apartment was a command center of sorts from which a seemingly quixotic, but in many ways successful, war against Soviet authoritarianism was waged. [link]

posted by: jrtelegraph

No More Kassams From Gaza? Right? Wrong! Check The Stats

Actually wrong:

Statistics rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip:

(Included in the statistics only rocket attacks, but indicated the total number of victims of rocket and mortar attacks)

2011-Year:

June. A fire, a rocket. No one was injured. (As of June 16).

May. Not a single firing.

April. 22 attack, 41 missiles, missile shot down nine missile defense system.One killed, one wounded in a rocket attack on a bus.

March. 23 attack, 34 missiles. Three of the wounded.

February. 8 shootings, 9 missiles. No one was injured.

January. 12 shootings, 16 rockets. Four of the wounded.

The year 2010. 86 attacks, about 100 rockets - one dead, two wounded.

Year 2009. 302 fire, 570 rockets - 42 wounded.

Year 2008. 560 attacks, about 1.490 missiles - 7 killed, 162 wounded.

The year 2007. 437 attacks, about 760 missiles - 2 killed, 125 wounded.

Year 2006. 580 attacks, about 1,020 missiles - 2 killed, 36 wounded.

The year 2005. 123 fire, 270 rockets - 6 dead, 26 wounded.

2004-th year. 118 attacks, about 260 rockets - 5 killed, 46 wounded.

2003rd year. 80 attacks, about 100 missiles - were no injuries.

The year 2002. 17 attacks, about 20 rockets - there were no injuries.

The year 2001. 5 fire, 5 rockets - there were no injuries. 

[Source]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Children of Sderot Video: Thank You For Making Us Smile!

JRT Public Service (below is a letter from Dina Goldman, Children of Sderot, Program Manager):

Dear Friends and Family,

Please read this e-mail and pass it on.

I work for this center and try to raise the awareness to these children's suffering and needs.

Have you ever wondered what a Kassam rocket leaves behind after it lands?

Destroyed buildings? A hole in the ground? A burned out tree?

Now, try to imagine what it does to a child. 

Our Center was established for these children. It serves as a daily source of support for the parents and children of Sderot by providing them with activities, games, field trips and most importantly a place of warmth and love.  

Please watch our short film and forward it to friends and family.

Thank you,

Dina Goldman

 

 

Please DONATE!

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US Funded Palestinian Media: Judaism Is "Distorted, Corrupted, Falsified Religion"

How did American taxpayers find themselves funding such poisonous garbage? What's next? Taxpayers money for Al Qaeda centers?

Palestinian Media Watch:

by by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik 
June 16, 2011

Antisemitism in official PA daily: 

Judaism is a "distorted, corrupted, falsified religion"

The Jews' "evil nature is drawn from Adam's first son" Cain

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Recently three Antisemitic articles appeared in the official PA daily with the following messages:

1. Judaism is a "distorted, corrupted, falsified religion."

2. The Jews are inherently evil and inherited this nature from Cain who murdered his brother Abel.

3. Zionism is a religious Jewish plan to rule over the non- Jewish world, and "Goyim [non-Jews] must submit to their will"

4. Since Islam's creation its "enemies" have agreed on "cultivating evil against Islam and uprooting Muslims."

5. The creation of Israel is a "malignant cancerous growth."

6. The conflict between Palestinians and Jews is not about "land and borders," but "faith and existence." [Read the original quotes]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Russian Jews of Boston: JCRC Does Not Represent Us

Jewish Advocate:

Russian Jews left in cold

We, the undersigned, members and activists of the Russian Jewish community of Boston, would like the leaders of the Boston Jewish community to know we are appalled that J Street has been accepted as a member of the Jewish Community Relations Council. JCRC is supposed to represent the Jewish community and support Israel. Unfortunately, it does neither.

How open and democratic is JCRC when it does not pay any attention to the views of 70,000 Russian Jews in Massachusetts? Jews from the former Soviet Union count for one third of the total Jewish community in our state. But, as we were in the Soviet Union, here, too, in the Jewish leadership structure of Greater Boston, we find ourselves to be the Jews of Silence. Sadly, meanwhile, leaders of the Boston Jewish establishment find room in their “big tent” for the radical anti-Israel J Street.

The list of reasons why J Street cannot be part of any pro-Israel organization seems endless. J Street is funded by anti-Israel billionaire activist George Soros, who famously blamed Israel for European anti-Semitism. J Street lied about its connection with Soros, then proudly acknowledged it. J Street refused to condemn the slanderous Goldstone Gaza report. J Street initially fought economic actions against Iran.

Massachusetts is home to one of the most anti-Israel congressional delegations in America. What is JCRC doing about this? And now, in a blatant violation of its own bylaws, well documented by CAMERA’s Andrea Levin in the Advocate, JCRC sneaks in the radical anti-Israel J Street. When confronted with this revelation, the leadership of the Boston Jewish establishment brings out the usual supply of pious platitudes about unity. But if anything, J Street is not uniting our community; it is dividing us.

We invite the community at large to start a broad discussion about the formation of a new representative organization. And we hope that any new Jewish relations council will include fair representation of the 70,000 Russian Jews in this area, who passionately care about Israel and our adopted country, the United States.

ALEX KOIFMAN, president, Boston For Israel

GREG (ZVI) MARGOLIN, editor and publisher, Jewish Russian Telegraph

ARY ROTMAN,president of Russian Jewish Community Foundation

MICHAEL SHERMAN,professor, Boston University School of Medicine 

INESSA RIFKIN,founder and principal, Russian School of Mathematics 

SAM GEISBERG,founder, Parametric Technology Corporation

VLADIMIR TORCHILIN, professor and director, Center for Pharmaceutical, Northeastern University 

RABBI DAN RODKIN,Jewish Russian Center and Synagogue 

The letter was also signed by 129 others from the Russian Jewish community of Greater Boston.

posted by: jrtelegraph

The Hell Is Paved With Poland's Good Intentions...

Jpost.com:

Poland would offer restitution to all victims of the Nazis, Jews included, if only...

Ironically, the ancient Hebrew maxim, ‘he who encompasses too much encompasses nothing at all,’ applies to contemporary Poland.Poland’s post-communist regime is a case in point.Its parliament is willing to grant restitution not only to Jewish survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, but also to people of all nationalities whose property was confiscated by the Nazi and communist regimes. The Polish legislators blame their purported inability to fulfill their good intentions on the domestic financial consequences. They contend that the cost would add $6.3 billion to the national debt. Prime Minister Donald Tusk believes the projected restitution will be feasible only when (and if) the country’s economic situation improves.

This contradicts an unusually upbeat ad published in the International Herald Tribune at the behest of Poland’s Ministry of Treasury, the text of which states (in part): “Poland is currently one of the fastest developing economies in Europe. It has ranked for several years among the EU leders in terms of GDP growth. Leading international financial institutions estimate that Poland’s economy will grow by between four and 4.2 per cent in 2011.”

Nevertheless, its government pleads poverty when it comes to granting restitution for private property confiscated by the Nazis during World War and by the communist regime installed by the former Soviet Union in its aftermath.Those who are losing out include not only Jews, but also Germans whose real estate was seized when communist Poland annexed Silesia, as well as Poles whose property was left behind in the Western Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania when these segments of Poland’s pre-1939 territory were annexed by the former USSR.Failure to return property to its legitimate owners is a violation of the European Convention of Human Rights enacted in 1953 and ratified by Poland, which states that “no one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and... by the general principles of international law.

”It also runs counter to the Terezin (Czech Republic) declaration adopted in 2000, to which Poland is a signatory. This includes guidelines for the restitution of private and communal assets, including “private property claims of Holocaust victims concerning immovable property of former owners, heirs or successors...”Poland accepted these principles when it joined the European Union.Even if Poland’s current economic difficulties are taken into account, its unwillingness to grant partial or even tentative restitution is morally wrong.

The application of this policy to Jewish property owners is not justifiable for historical reasons.In September 1939, when Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht conquered Poland, there were more than three million Polish Jews – more than 10% of the country’s population. Due to the brutal treatment to which they were subjected in the Nazi-run ghettos, and their subsequent transfer to the infamous death camps, less than 300,000 survived. The number of properties or assets for which Polish Jews are seeking restitution is estimated at 170,000.

Most of this tragic remnant emigrated to Israel, while others waited for opportunites to enter the US, Canada or one of the Western European countries.The non-Jewish Poles as well as the Silesian Germans, White Russians, Ukrainians and Lithuanians were not subjected to these inhuman conditions, and relatively few found it necessary to leave their native lands.

Ron Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, was quoted by the US- based National Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (NAHOS) as saying Poland “is telling many elderly pre-war landowners, including Holocaust survivors, that they have no foreseeable hope of even a small measure of justice for the assets seized from them.” [Read more]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Why Did Yale Kill Institute For Study of anti-Semitism?

The answer is simple --- anti-Semites did not like it.

The Washington Post:

Saving the Yale anti-Semitism institute

By Walter Reich, Published: June 13

Yale just killed the country’s best institute for the study of anti-Semitism. If Yale doesn’t want it, Washington should grab the institute before it goes anywhere else.

For the past five years, the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism has flourished in New Haven, Conn. On a small budget it has sponsored research, visiting fellowships, papers and presentations on the most abiding and lethal hatred mankind has ever known — the one that brought us the Holocaust and that is once again racing around the world.

A few institutes for the study of anti-Semitism have sprung up globally — a couple in Israel and some in Europe and North America. Yale’s is the first in the States and the first to be closed down.

This is, at first glance, strange. The quality and output of the Yale institute have been superb and wide-ranging. The institute has attracted scholars from around the world to study anti-Semitism and to present papers; has numerous governance committees, most of them composed of eminent Yale faculty; and has an international academic board of advisers — on which I serve — from other universities.

So why did Yale kill the institute?

The answer is simple. The institute held a three-day conference last August on “Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity.” More than a hundred invited scholars, almost all of them from universities and research institutes, delivered papers. Some spoke, inevitably, about the fastest-growing and most virulent manifestation of contemporary anti-Semitism — the anti-Semitism in the Arab/Muslim world, in which the tropes of classic European anti-Semitism (such as the allegations that Jews meet secretly to control the world, murder non-Jewish children to use their blood in Jewish rituals and spread disease to kill non-Jews) have been not only adopted but also embellished. Such eminent scholars as Bassam Tibi — a Syrian emigre, a distinguished professor at the University of Goettingen and a devout Muslim — spoke about anti-Semitism in that part of the world, as did other authorities. To be sure, some presenters expressed alarm and took an activist stance — as do some presenters at academic conferences on genocide, human rights, women’s studies, African American studies, Hispanic studies, gay and lesbian studies, and nuclear proliferation.

The conference provoked a firestorm. A Syrian American law student published a broadside in the Yale Daily News attacking the institute and the conference as fueling “anti-Arab bigotry and Islamophobia.” The Palestine Liberation Organization’s representative to the United States wrote to Yale’s president accusing the conference of demonizing Arabs — “who are Semites themselves” — and urging him to dissociate himself and Yale from the conference’s “extremism and hate-mongering.”  [Read the rest]

 

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Leonid Nevzlin Buys 20% of Haaretz

Haaretz:

Published 01:33 12.06.11

Haaretz announces: Leonid Nevzlin acquires 20 percent of Haaretz shares

Joining the firm's board of directors, Nevzlin acquisition leaves the Schocken family with a 60 percent stake in the company.

Leonid Nevzlin, chairman of the board of trustees at Beit Hatfutsot - the Museum of the Jewish People - is joining Haaretz as a partner and will acquire 20 percent of the company's share capital valued at NIS 700 million after the money. All the funds will go into the company.

Nevzlin will join the firm's board of directors. After the investment the Schocken family will hold a 60 percent stake and the publishing company DuMont Schauberg of Cologne, Germany, will hold 20 percent.

The capital infusion strengthens the company financially and ensures Haaretz's ability to fulfill its role in Israeli society. It will enable Haaretz to invest in new technological opportunities.

"I am happy to join Haaretz," Nevzlin said. "I am convinced that together with the other board members of the company we will continue to develop the paper by further investments in the core activities and the digital sphere to the benefit of the readers and the advertisers in all platforms."

Nevzlin, 51, was among the young entrepreneurs in Russia who with Mikhail Khodorkovsky started a business in the late 1980s that culminated in the oil company Yukos.

In addition to his business activities, Nevzlin served in various public functions. He was deputy director of news service TASS and president of the Russian Jewish Congress. He was a central figure in the creation of the Center for Jewish Culture and of the Russian and East European Center for Jewish Studies in Moscow.

He also contributed to study programs on Jewish topics in collaboration with the Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Agency. Nevzlin also served for a short period as a senator from Mordovia in the Russian Federation Council and as a rector of the Russian University for Human Studies.

When in 2003 the owners and top executives of Yukos, and the company itself, became targets for harassment and persecution by the Russian government, Nevzlin left Russia and immigrated to Israel. In 2008, he was accused and convicted in absentia of several cases of conspiring to murder.

The Russian government asked Israel to extradite him to Russia but the Israeli Justice Ministry determined that all the evidence against Nevzlin was invalid. [More]

 

posted by: jrtelegraph