Adonis Diaries

Archive for August 21st, 2014

Glasgow flies Palestinian flag. And Zionist US corporations boycott Glasgow. And what of Starbucks operations again?

Posted by: on: August 21, 2014

Glasgow flies Palestinian flag.

And Zionist US corporations boycott Glasgow over Gaza support

And what of Starbucks operations again?

And you don’t believe in boycotting apartheid systems?

Published time: August 19, 2014 11:05

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators listen to speeches holding placards and waving Palestinian flags at a mass rally in support of the embattled Gaza Strip in London on August 9, 2014. (AFP Photo / Leon Neal)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators listen to speeches holding placards and waving Palestinian flags at a mass rally in support of the embattled Gaza Strip in London on August 9, 2014. (AFP Photo / Leon Neal)

Hundreds of US businesspeople have scrapped plans to visit Glasgow, following the Scottish city’s decision to fly the Palestinian flag following Israeli military operations in Gaza.

The visitors represented major US corporations such as Wal-Mart, ExxonMobil and Coca-Cola, and were due to visit the Glasgow as a reward for investing millions into its economy.

The delegation of 600 CEOs and business leaders was organized by the vice president of a leading Fortune 500 company, Richard Cassini.

However, following Glasgow City Council’s decision to fly the flag over its city chambers as a sign of solidarity with Gaza, Cassini wrote to Glasgow’s Lord Provost, Sadie Docherty, canceling the planned event.

“We were scheduling six days in Glasgow, three for business and three for leisure time,” Cassin wrote. “Having read your statement endorsing Hamas and its leadership due to the number of Muslims in your city, I have decided to cancel all plans for our trip. We are a Fortune 500 Company, so costs were really not a serious consideration, location was,” he said.

“Hopefully, the Muslim population that you so sincerely endorse will have the spending power of the very people you have chased away so well.”

While Glasgow City Council has acknowledged receiving the email, they have not responded “because of the volume” of emails relating to the council’s decision to fly the Palestinian flag.

“The council has received more than 1,500 emails/calls/online forms, etc, about the flag and is responding to each” of them, a council spokeswoman said.

The council sparked controversy when it decided to raise the Palestinian flag in the wake of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, which began in July.

In a letter to the Mayor of Bethlehem, Israel, Docherty offered her “heartfelt sympathy” to the people of Gaza.

“Glasgow is home to many friends of Palestine and this is a deeply distressing time for them. They represent a variety of ethnicities, political persuasions, faiths and none. However, they are united by a common desire to support the Palestinian people,” she said.

The council’s decision was met with criticism from a number of Jewish representative groups, including the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, who referred to the act as “the worst kind of gesture politics”.

It “does nothing to alleviate the suffering on either side of the conflict,” they added.

Cassini insisted his decision to abandon the business leaders’ trip to Glasgow would not be reversed.

Facts about Starbucks in the Middle East

Facts about Starbucks in the Middle East (UPDATED August 2014)

Though our roots are in the United States, we are a global company with stores in 65 countries, including nearly 600 stores in 12 Middle Eastern and North African countries employing more than 10,000 partners (employees).

In countries where we do business, we are proud to be a part of the fabric of the local community – working directly with local business partners who operate our stores, employing thousands of local citizens, serving millions of customers and positively impacting many others through our support of local neighborhoods and cities.

Our 300,000 partners around the globe have diverse views about a wide range of topics.

Regardless of that spectrum of beliefs, Starbucks has been and remains a non-political organization. We do not support any political or religious cause. Additionally, neither Starbucks nor the company’s chairman, president and ceo Howard Schultz provide financial support to the Israeli government and/or the Israeli Army in any way.

What we do believe in, and remain focused on, is staying true to our company’s long-standing heritage – simply connecting with our partners and customers over a cup of high quality coffee and offering the best experience possible to them – regardless of geographical location.

Questions and Answers:

Is it true that Starbucks or Howard Schultz provides financial support to Israel?

No. This is absolutely untrue.

Rumors that Starbucks or Howard provides financial support to the Israeli government and/or the Israeli Army are unequivocally false. Starbucks is a publicly held company and as such, is required to disclose any corporate giving each year through a proxy statement.

Has Starbucks ever sent any of its profits to the Israeli government and/or Israeli army?

No. This is absolutely untrue.

Is it true that Starbucks closed its stores in Israel for political reasons?

No. We do not make business decisions based on political issues. We decided to dissolve our partnership in Israel in 2003 due to the on-going operational challenges that we experienced in that market. After many months of discussion with our partner we came to this amicable decision. While this was a difficult decision for both companies, we believe it remains the right decision for our businesses.

Do you have plans to re-open should the opportunity arise?

We decided to dissolve our partnership in Israel in 2003 due to the on-going operational challenges that we experienced in that market.

When and where the business case makes sense and we see a fit for the Starbucks brand in a market we will work closely with a local partner to assess the feasibility of offering our brand to that community. We will therefore continue to assess all opportunities on this basis.

At present, we will continue to grow our business in the Middle East as we have been very gratified by the strong reception of the brand in the region. We continue to work closely with our business partner, the Alshaya Group, in developing our plans for the region.

Do you work with a Middle East partner to operate Starbucks stores?

Through a licensing agreement with trading partner and licensee MH Alshaya WLL, a private Kuwait family business, Starbucks has operated in the Middle East since 1999.

Today Alshaya Group, recognized as one of the leading and most influential retailing franchisees in the region, operates nearly 600 Starbucks stores in the Middle East and Levant region. In addition to its Starbucks stores, the Alshaya Group operates more than 2,600 retail stores in the Middle East, Russia and North Africa, providing jobs for more than 40,000 employees of more than 110 nationalities.

We are extremely fortunate and proud to have forged a successful partnership for the past fifteen years and look forward to building on this success.

In which Middle Eastern and North African countries do you operate?

We partner with Alshaya Group to operate Starbucks stores in Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates in the Middle East and North Africa region. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with so many communities, and we are committed to providing the Starbucks Experience while respecting the local customs and cultures of each country we are a part of.

We are also committed to hiring locally, providing jobs to thousands of local citizens in the countries where we operate.

This updates a statement originally posted to the Starbucks Newsroom in 2010.

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Holocost survivors against Zionist Israel. And what John Kennedy said on Zionism

Posted by: on: August 21, 2014

 Holocaust survivors against Zionist Israel. And what John Kennedy said on Zionism

NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE and every one subjected to dehumanizing policies

Lisa Spaulding‘s photo on FB

Whether John Kennedy officially stated this or not, this does not detract from the truth of the statement based on his profound speeches warning us all.

Whether he stated this or not does not detract from the truth of the statement based on his profound speeches warning us all.
 

Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors and victims of Nazi genocide unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza

326 Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors and victims of the Nazi genocide have signed this letter written in response to Elie Wiesel’s manipulation of the Nazi Genocide to attempt to justify the attacks on Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonization of historic Palestine.

We further condemn the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack, and Western states more generally for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation. Genocide begins with the silence of the world.

We are alarmed by the extreme, racist dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli society, which has reached a fever-pitch. In Israel, politicians and pundits in The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post have called openly for genocide of Palestinians and right-wing Israelis are adopting Neo-Nazi insignia.

Furthermore, we are disgusted and outraged by Elie Wiesel’s abuse of our history in these pages to promote blatant falsehoods used to justify the unjustifiable: Israel’s wholesale effort to destroy Gaza and the murder of more than 2,000 Palestinians, including many hundreds of children. Nothing can justify bombing UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. Nothing can justify depriving people of electricity and water.

We must raise our collective voices and use our collective power to bring about an end to all forms of racism, including the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people. We call for an immediate end to the siege against and blockade of Gaza. We call for the full economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel. “Never again” must mean NEVER AGAIN FOR ANYONE!

Signed,

Survivors:

  1. Hajo Meyer, survivor of Auschwitz, The Netherlands.
  2. Henri Wajnblum, survivor and son of a victim of Auschwitz from Lodz, Poland. Lives in Belgium.
  3. Renate Bridenthal, child refugee from Hitler, granddaughter of Auschwitz victim, United States.
  4. Marianka Ehrlich Ross, survivor of Nazi ethnic cleansing in Vienna, Austria. Now lives in United States.
  5. Irena Klepfisz, child survivor from the Warsaw Ghetto, Poland. Now lives in United States.
  6. Hedy Epstein, her parents & other family members were deported to Camp de Gurs & subsequently all perished in Auschwitz. Now lives in United States.
  7. Lillian Rosengarten, survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, United States.
  8. Suzanne Weiss, survived in hiding in France, and daughter of a mother who was murdered in Auschwitz. Now lives in Canada.
  9. H. Richard Leuchtag, survivor, United States.
  10. Ervin Somogyi, survivor and son of survivors, United States.
  11. Ilse Hadda, survivor on Kindertransport to England. Now lives in United States.
  12. Jacques Glaser, survivor, France.
  13. Eva Naylor, surivor, New Zealand.
  14. Suzanne Ross, child refugee from Nazi occupation in Belgium, two thirds of family perished in the Lodz Ghetto, in Auschwitz, and other Camps, United States.
  15. Bernard Swierszcz, Polish survivor, lost relatives in Majdanek concentration camp. Now lives in the United States.
  16. Joseph Klinkov, hidden child in Poland. Lives in the United States.
  17. Nicole Milner, survivor from Belgium. Now lives in United States.
  18. Hedi Saraf, child survivor and daughter of survivor of Dachau, United States.
  19. Michael Rice, child survivor, son and grandson of survivor, aunt and cousin murderd, ALL 14 remaining Jewish children in my Dutch boarding school were murdered in concentration camps, United States.
  20. Barbara Roose, survivor from Germany, half-sister killed in Auschwitz, United States.
  21. Sonia Herzbrun, survivor of Nazi genocide, France.
  22. Ivan Huber, survivor with my parents, but 3 of 4 grandparents murdered, United States.
  23. Altman Janina, survivor of Janowski concentration camp, Lvov. Lives in Israel.
  24. Leibu Strul Zalman, survivor from Vaslui Romania. Lives in Jerusalem, Palestine.
  25. Miriam Almeleh, survivor, United States.
  26. George Bartenieff, child survivor from Germany and son of survivors, United States.
  27. Margarete Liebstaedter, survivor, hidden by Christian people in Holland. Lives in Belgium.
  28. Edith Bell, survivor of Westerbork, Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Kurzbach. Lives in United States.
  29. Janine Euvrard, survivor, France.
  30. Harry Halbreich, survivor, German.
  31. Ruth Kupferschmidt, survivor, spent five years hiding, The Netherlands.
  32. Annette Herskovits, hidden child and daughter of victims deported to Auschwitz from France. Lives in the United States.
  33. Felicia Langer, survivor from Germany. Lives in Germany.
  34. Moshe Langer, survivor from Germany, Moshe survived 5 concentration camps, family members were exterminated. Lives in Germany.
  35. Adam Policzer, hidden child from Hungary. Now lives in Canada.
  36. Juliane Biro, survivor via the Kindertransport to England, daughter of survivors, niece of victims, United States.
  37. Edith Rubinstein, child refugee, granddaughter of 3 victims, many other family members were victims, Belgium.
  38. Jacques Bude, survivor, mother and father murdered in Auschwitz, Belgium.
  39. Nicole Kahn, survivor, France.

Children of survivors:

  1. Liliana Kaczerginski, daughter of Vilna ghetto resistance fighter and granddaughter of murdered in Ponary woods, Lithuania. Now lives in France.
  2. Jean-Claude Meyer, son of Marcel, shot as a hostage by the Nazis, whose sister and parents died in Auschwitz. Now lives in France.
  3. Chava Finkler, daughter of survivor of Starachovice labour camp, Poland. Now lives in Canada.
  4. Micah Bazant, child of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  5. Sylvia Schwarz, daughter and granddaughter of survivors and granddaughter of victims of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  6. Margot Goldstein, daughter and granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  7. Ellen Schwarz Wasfi, daughter of survivors from Vienna, Austria. Now lives in United States.
  8. Lisa Kosowski, daughter of survivor and granddaughter of Auschwitz victims, United States.
  9. Daniel Strum, son of a refugee from Vienna, who, with his parents were forced to flee in 1939, his maternal grand-parents were lost, United States.
  10. Bruce Ballin, son of survivors, some relatives of parents died in camps, one relative beheaded for being in the Baum Resistance Group, United States.
  11. Rachel Duell, daughter of survivors from Germany and Poland, United States.
  12. Tom Mayer, son of survivor and grandson of victims, United States.
  13. Alex Nissen, daughter of survivors who escaped but lost family in the Holocaust, Australia.
  14. Mark Aleshnick, son of survivor who lost most of her family in Nazi genocide, United States.
  15. Prof. Haim Bresheeth, son of two survivors of Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen, London.
  16. Todd Michael Edelman, son and grandson of survivors and great-grandson of victims of the Nazi genocide in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, United States.
  17. Tim Naylor, son of survivor, New Zealand.
  18. Victor Nepomnyashchy, son and grandson of survivors and grandson and relative of many victims, United States.
  19. Tanya Ury, daughter of parents who fled Nazi Germany, granddaughter, great granddaugher and niece of survivors and those who died in concentration camps, Germany.
  20. Rachel Giora, daughter of Polish Jews who fled Poland, Israel.
  21. Jane Hirschmann, daughter of survivors, United States.
  22. Jenny Heinz, daughter of survivor, United States.
  23. Jaap Hamburger, son of survivors and grandchild of 4 grandparents murdered in Auschwitz, The Netherlands.
  24. Elsa Auerbach, daughter of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, United States.
  25. Julian Clegg, son and grandson of Austrian refugees, relative of Austrian and Hungarian concentration camp victims, Taiwan.
  26. David Mizner, son of a survivor, relative of people who died in the Holocaust, United States.
  27. Jeffrey J. Westcott, son and grandson of Holocaust survivors from Germany, United States.
  28. Susan K. Jacoby, daughter of parents who were refugees from Nazi Germany, granddaughter of survivor of Buchenwald, United States.
  29. Audrey Bomse, daughter of a survivor of Nazi ethnic cleansing in Vienna, lives in United States.
  30. Daniel Gottschalk, son and grandson of refugees from the Holocaust, relative to various family members who died in the Holocaust, United States.
  31. Barbara Grossman, daughter of survivors, granddaughter of Holocaust victims, United States.
  32. Abraham Weizfeld PhD, son of survivorswho escaped Warsaw (Jewish Bundist) and Lublin ghettos, Canada.
  33. David Rohrlich, son of refugees from Vienna, grandson of victim, United States.
  34. Walter Ballin, son of holocaust survivors, United States.
  35. Fritzi Ross, daughter of survivor, granddaughter of Dachau survivor Hugo Rosenbaum, great-granddaughter and great-niece of victims, United States.
  36. Reuben Roth, son of survivors who fled from Poland in 1939, Canada.
  37. Tony Iltis, father fled from Czechoslovakia and grandmother murdered in Auschwitz, Australia.
  38. Anne Hudes, daughter and granddaughter of survivors from Vienna, Austria, great-granddaughter of victims who perished in Auschwitz, United States.
  39. Mateo Nube, son of survivor from Berlin, Germany. Lives in United States.
  40. John Mifsud, son of survivors from Malta, United States.
  41. Mike Okrent, son of two holocaust / concentration camp survivors, United States.
  42. Susan Bailey, daughter of survivor and niece of victims, UK.
  43. Brenda Lewis, child of Kindertransport survivor, parent’s family died in Auschwitz and Terezin. Lives in Canada.
  44. Patricia Rincon-Mautner, daughter of survivor and granddaughter of survivor, Colombia.
  45. Barak Michèle, daughter and grand-daughter of a survivor, many members of family were killed in Auschwitz or Bessarabia. Lives in Germany.
  46. Jessica Blatt, daughter of child refugee survivor, both grandparents’ entire families killed in Poland. Lives in United States
  47. Maia Ettinger, daughter & granddaughter of survivors, United States.
  48. Ammiel Alcalay, child of survivors from then Yugoslavia. Lives in United States.
  49. Julie Deborah Kosowski, daughter of hidden child survivor, grandparents did not return from Auschwitz, United States.
  50. Julia Shpirt, daughter of survivor, United States.
  51. Ruben Rosenberg Colorni, grandson and son of survivors, The Netherlands.
  52. Victor Ginsburgh, son of survivors, Belgium.
  53. Arianne Sved, daughter of a survivor and granddaughter of victim, Spain.
  54. Rolf Verleger, son of survivors, father survived Auschwitz, mother survived deportation from Berlin to Estonia, other family did not survive. Lives in Germany.
  55. Euvrard Janine, daughter of survivors, France.
  56. H. Fleishon, daughter of survivors, United States.
  57. Barbara Meyer, daughter of survivor in Polish concentration camps. Lives in Italy.
  58. Susan Heuman, child of survivors and granddaughter of two grandparents murdered in a forest in Minsk. Lives in United States.
  59. Rami Heled, son of survivors, all grandparents and family killed by the Germans in Treblinka, Oswiecim and Russia. Lives in Israel.
  60. Eitan Altman, son of survivor, France.
  61. Jorge Sved, son of survivor and grandson of victim, United Kingdom
  62. Maria Kruczkowska, daughter of Lea Horowicz who survived the holocaust in Poland. Lives in Poland.
  63. Sarah Lanzman, daughter of survivor of Auschwitz, United States.
  64. Cheryl W, daughter, granddaughter and nieces of survivors, grandfather was a member of the Dutch Underground (Eindhoven). Lives in Australia.
  65. Chris Holmquist, son of survivor, UK.
  66. Beverly Stuart, daughter and granddaughter of survivors from Romania and Poland. Lives in United States.
  67. Peter Truskier, son and grandson of survivors, United States.
  68. Karen Bermann, daughter of a child refugee from Vienna. Lives in United States.
  69. Rebecca Weston, daughter and granddaughter of survivor, Spain.
  70. Prof. Yosefa Loshitzky, daughter of Holocaust survivors, London, UK.
  71. Marion Geller, daughter and granddaughter of those who escaped, great-granddaughter and relative of many who died in the camps, UK.
  72. Susan Slyomovics, daughter and granddaughter of survivors of Auschwitz, Plaszow, Markleeberg and Ghetto Mateszalka, United States.
  73. Helga Fischer Mankovitz, daughter, niece and cousin of refugees who fled from Austria, niece of victim who perished, Canada.
  74. Michael Wischnia, son of survivors and relative of many who perished, United States.
  75. Arthur Graaff, son of decorated Dutch resistance member and nazi victim, The Netherlands.
  76. Yael Kahn, daughter of survivors who escaped Nazi Germany, many relatives that perished, UK.
  77. Pierre Stambul, son of French resistance fighters, father deported to Buchenwalk, grandparents disapeared in Bessarabia, France.
  78. Georges Gumpel, son of a deportee who died at Melk, Austria (subcamp of Mauthausen), France.
  79. Emma Kronberg, daughter of survivor Buchenwald, United States.
  80. Hannah Schwarzschild, daughter of a refugee who escaped Nazi Germany after experiencing Kristallnacht, United States.
  81. Rubin Kantorovich, son of a survivor, Canada.
  82. Daniele Armaleo, son of German refugee, grandparents perished in Theresienstadt, United States.
  83. Aminda Stern Baird, daughter of survivor, United States.
  84. Ana Policzer, daughter of hidden child, granddaughter of victim, niece/grandniece of four victims and two survivors, Canada.
  85. Sara Castaldo, daughter of survivors, United States.
  86. Pablo Policzer, son of a survivor, Canada.
  87. Gail Nestel, daughter of survivors who lost brothers, sisters, parents and cousins, Canada.
  88. Elizabeth Heineman, daughter and niece of unaccompanied child refugees, granddaughter of survivors, great-granddaughter and grand-niece of victims, United States.
  89. Lainie Magidsohn, daughter of child survivor and numerous other relatives from Czestochowa, Poland. Lives in Canada.
  90. Doris Gelbman, daughter and granddaughter of survivors, granddaughter and niece of many who perished, United States.
  91. Erna Lund, daughter of survivor, Norway.
  92. Rayah Feldman, daughter of refugees, granddaughter and niece of victims and survivors, UK.
  93. Hadas Rivera-Weiss, daughter of survivors from Hungary, mother Ruchel Weiss née Abramovich and father Shaya Weiss, United States.
  94. Pedro Tabensky, son of survivor of the Budapest Ghetto, South Africa.
  95. Allan Kolski Horwitz, son of a survivor; descendant of many, many victims, South Africa.
  96. Monique Mojica, child of survivor, relative to many victims murdered in Auschwitz. Canada.
  97. Mike Brecher, son of a Kindertransport survivor and grandson of two who did not survive. UK.
  98. Nomi Yah Gardiner, daughter and granddaughter of survivors, relative of victims, United States.
  99. Marianne van Leeuw Koplewicz, daughter of deported parents, grand-daughter and niece of victims, Belgium.

 

Grandchildren of survivors

  1. Raphael Cohen, grandson of Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  2. Emma Rubin, granddaughter of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  3. Alex Safron, grandson of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  4. Danielle Feris, grandchild of a Polish grandmother whose whole family died in the Nazi Holocaust, United States.
  5. Jesse Strauss, grandson of Polish survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  6. Anna Baltzer, granddaughter of survivors whose family members perished in Auschwitz (others were members of the Belgian Resistance), United States.
  7. Abigail Harms, granddaughter of Holocaust survivor from Austria, Now lives in United States.
  8. Tessa Strauss, granddaughter of Polish Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  9. Caroline Picker, granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  10. Amalle Dublon, grandchild and great-grandchild of survivors of the Nazi holocaust, United States.
  11. Antonie Kaufmann Churg, 3rd cousin of Ann Frank and grand-daughter of NON-survivors, United States.
  12. Aliza Shvarts, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
  13. Linda Mamoun, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
  14. Abby Okrent, granddaughter of survivors of the Auschwitz, Dachau, Stuttgart, and the Lodz Ghetto, United States.
  15. Ted Auerbach, grandson of survivor whose whole family died in the Holocaust, United States.
  16. Beth Bruch, grandchild of German Jews who fled to US and great-grandchild of Nazi holocaust survivor, United States.
  17. Bob Wilson, grandson of a survivor, United States.
  18. Katharine Wallerstein, granddaughter of survivors and relative of many who perished, United States.
  19. Sylvia Finzi, granddaughter and niece of Holocaust victims murdered in Auschwitz, London and Berlin. Now lives in London.
  20. Esteban Schmelz, grandson of KZ-Theresienstadt victim, Mexico City.
  21. Françoise Basch, grand daughter of Victor and Ilona Basch murdered by the Gestapo and the French Milice, France.
  22. Gabriel Alkon, grandson of Holocaust survivors, Untied States.
  23. Nirit Ben-Ari, grandchild of Polish grandparents from both sides whose entire family was killed in the Nazi Holocaust, United States.
  24. Heike Schotten, granddaughter of refugees from Nazi Germany who escaped the genocide, United States.
  25. Ike af Carlstèn, grandson of survivor, Norway.
  26. Elias Lazarus, grandson of Holocaust refugees from Dresden, United States and Australia.
  27. Laura Mandelberg, granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, United States.
  28. Josh Ruebner, grandson of Nazi Holocaust survivors, United States.
  29. Shirley Feldman, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
  30. Nuno Cesar Ferreira, grandson of survivor, Brazil.
  31. Andrea Land, granddaugher of survivors who fled programs in Poland, all European relatives died in German and Polish concentration camps, United States.
  32. Sarah Goldman, granddaughter of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  33. Baruch Wolski, grandson of survivors, Austria.
  34. Frank Amahran, grandson of survivor, United States.
  35. Eve Spangler, granddaughter of Holocaust NON-survivor, United States.
  36. Gil Medovoy, grandchild of Fela Hornstein who lost her enitre family in Poland during the Nazi genocide, United States.
  37. Michael Hoffman, grandson of survivors, rest of family killed in Poland during Holocaust, live in El Salvador.
  38. Sarah Hogarth, granddaughter of a survivor whose entire family was killed at Auschwitz, United States.
  39. Tibby Brooks, granddaughter, niece, and cousin of victims of Nazis in Ukraine. Lives in United States.
  40. Dan Berger, grandson of survivor, United States.
  41. Dani Baurer, granddaughter of Baruch Pollack, survivor of Auschwitz. Lives in United States.
  42. Talia Baurer, granddaughter of a survivor, United States.
  43. Evan Cofsky, grandson of survivor, UK.
  44. Annie Sicherman, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
  45. Anna Heyman, granddaughter of survivors, UK.
  46. Maya Ober, granddaughter of survivor and relative of deceased in Teresienstadt and Auschwitz, Tel Aviv.
  47. Anne Haan, granddaughter of Joseph Slagter, survivor of Auschwitz. Lives in The Netherlands.
  48. Oliver Ginsberg, grandson of victim, Germany.
  49. Alexia Zdral, granddaughter of Polish survivors, United States.
  50. Mitchel Bollag, grandson of Stanislaus Eisner, who was living in Czechoslovakia before being sent to a concentration camp. United States.
  51. Vivienne Porzsolt, granddaughter of victims of Nazi genocide, Australia.
  52. Lisa Nessan, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
  53. Kally Alexandrou, granddaughter of survivors, Australia.
  54. Laura Ostrow, granddaughter of survivors, United States
  55. Anette Jacobson, granddaughter of relatives killed, town of Kamen Kashirsk, Poland. Lives in United States.
  56. Tamar Yaron (Teresa Werner), granddaughter and niece of victims of the Nazi genocide in Poland, Israel.
  57. Antonio Roman-Alcalá, grandson of survivor, United States.
  58. Jeremy Luban, grandson of survivor, United States.
  59. Heather West, granddaughter of survivors and relative of other victims, United States.
  60. Jeff Ethan Au Green, grandson of survivor who escaped from a Nazi work camp and hid in the Polish-Ukranian forest, United States.
  61. Johanna Haan, daughter and granddaughter of victims in the Netherlands. Lives in the Netherlands.
  62. Aron Ben Miriam, son of and nephew of survivors from Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Salzwedel, Lodz ghetto. Lives in United States.
  63. Noa Shaindlinger, granddaughter of four holocaust survivors, Canada.
  64. Merilyn Moos, granddaughter, cousin and niece murdered victims, UK.
  65. Ruth Tenne, granddaughter and relative of those who perished in Warsaw Ghetto, London.
  66. Craig Berman, grandson of Holocaust survivors, UK.
  67. Nell Hirschmann-Levy, granddaughter of survivors from Germany. Lives in United States.
  68. Osha Neumann, grandson of Gertrud Neumann who died in Theresienstadt. Lives in United States.
  69. Georg Frankl, Grandson of survivor Ernst-Immo Frankl who survived German work camp. Lives in Germany.
  70. Julian Drix, grandson of two survivors from Poland, including survivor and escapee from liquidated Janowska concentration camp in Lwow, Poland. Lives in United States.
  71. Katrina Mayer, grandson and relative of victims, UK.
  72. Avigail Abarbanel, granddaughter of survivors, Scotland.
  73. Denni Turp, granddaughter of Michael Prooth, survivor, UK.
  74. Fenya Fischler, granddaughter of survivors, UK.
  75. Yakira Teitel, granddaughter of German Jewish refugees, great-granddaughter of survivor, United States.
  76. Sarah, granddaughter of survivor, the Netherlands.
  77. Susan Koppelman, granddaughter of survivor, United States
  78. Hana Umeda, granddaughter of survivor, Warsaw.
  79. Jordan Silverstein, grandson of two survivors, Canada.
  80. Daniela Petuchowski, granddaughter of survivors, United States.
  81. Aaron Lerner, grandson of survivors, United States.
  82. Judith Bernstein, granddaughter of Holocaust victims in Auschwitz, Germany.
  83. Samantha Wischnia, granddaughter and great niece of survivors from Poland, United States.
  84. Elizabeth Wischnia, granddaughter and grand niece of three holocaust survivors, great aunt worked for Schindler, United States.
  85. Daniel Waterman, grandson of survivor, The Netherlands.
  86. Elana Baurer, granddaughter of survivor, United States.
  87. Pablo Roman-Alcala, grandson of participant in the kindertransport and survivor, Germany.
  88. Karine Abdel Malek, grandchild of survivor, Henri Waisman, Morocco.
  89. Elana Baurer, granddaughter of survivor, United States.
  90. Lillian Brown, granddaughter of survivor, United States.
  91. Devin Cahn, grandson of survivors, United States.
  92. Daniel Lévyne, grandson of a deportee, France.
  93. Emilie Ferreira, granddaughter of survivors, Switzerland.
  94. Chaim Neslen, grandchild of many victims and friend of many survivors, UK.
  95. Ann Jungmann, granddaughter to three victims, UK.
  96. Ellie Schling, granddaughter of a survivor, UK.
  97. Danny Katch, grandson of a survivor, United States.
  98. Elisa Levi, granddaughter of three survivors, United States.
  99. Karen Pomer, granddaughter of Henri B. van Leeuwen, member of Dutch resistance and survivor of Bergen Belsen, United States.
  100. Gilda Mitchell Katz, granddaughter of survivors, uncle and aunt killed In Dombrova, Canada.
  101. Smadar Carmon, my grandparents and uncle were killed in the camps, Canada.
  102. Dana Newfield, granddaughter of survivor and relative of many murdered, United States.
  103. Ilana Guslits, granddaughter of two Polish survivors, Canada.
  104. Gerald Coles-Kolsky, grandson of victims in Poland and France, United States.
  105. Lesley Swain, granddaughter and cousin of survivors, UK.
  106. Myera Waese, granddaughter of survivors of Bergen Belsen, Canada.
  107. Ronni Seidman, grandchild of survivors. United States.
  108. Mike Shatzkin, grandchild of survivors, some family members murdered and some who died in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. United States.
  109. Nance Shatzkin, grandchild of survivors, some family members murdered and some who died in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. United States.
  110. Karen Shatzkin, grandchild of survivors, some family members murdered and some who died in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. United States.
  111. Myriam Burger, granddaughter of survivor. United States.
  112. Andre Burger, grandson of survivor Myriam Cohn, great-grandson of Sylvia Cohn and great-nephew of Esther Lore Cohn, both murdered in Auschwitz, United States.
  113. Sara Ayech, granddaughter of Gisela and Max Roth, survivors who lost many family members, UK.
  114. Monika Vykoukal, granddaughter of survivor, France.
  115. Patricia Reinheimer, grandaugther of survivors, Brazil.
  116. Nancy Patchell, granddaughter of resistance fighters, grandfather was caught and died in a concentration camp, Canada.
  117. Jaclyn Pryor, granddaughter of survivors from Czestochowa Ghetto, Poland; great-grandchild, niece, and cousin to many who perished, United States.
  118. Steven Rosenthal, grandson of survivor, Chile.
  119. Alfredo Hilt, grandson of victim, Germany.
  120. Arturo Desimone, grandson of a survivor of the ghetto of Çzestochowa, The Netherlands.
  121. Lazer Lederhendler, grandson of victims whose seven siblings also perished in the Warsaw Ghetto and Treblinka. Lives in Canada.

Great-grandchildren of survivors

  1. Natalie Rothman, great granddaughter of Holocaust victims in Warsaw. Now lives in Canada.
  2. Yotam Amit, great-grandson of Polish Jew who fled Poland, United States.
  3. Daniel Boyarin, great grandson of victims of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  4. Maria Luban, great-granddaughter of survivors of the Holocaust, United States.
  5. Mimi Erlich, great-granddaughter of Holocaust victim, United States.
  6. Olivia Kraus, great-grandaughter of victims, granddaughter and daughter of family that fled Austria and Czechoslovakia. Lives in United States.
  7. Emily (Chisefsky) Alma, great granddaughter and great grandniece of victims in Bialystok, Poland, United States.
  8. Inbal Amin, great-granddaughter of a mother and son that escaped and related to plenty that didn’t, United States.
  9. Matteo Luban, great-granddaughter of survivors, United States.
  10. Saira Weiner, greatgranddaughter and niece of those murdered in the Holocaust, granddaughter of survivors, UK.
  11. Andrea Isaak, great-granddaughter of survivor, Canada.
  12. Alan Lott, great-grandson of a number of relatives lost, United States.
  13. Sara Wines, great-granddaughter of a survivor and great-great granddaughter of victims, United States.

Other relatives of survivors

  1. Terri Ginsberg, niece of a survivor of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  2. Nathan Pollack, relative of Holocaust survivors and victims, United States.
  3. Marcy Winograd, relatives of victims, United States.
  4. Rabbi Borukh Goldberg, relative of many victims, United States.
  5. Martin Davidson, great-nephew of victims who lived in the Netherlands, Spain.
  6. Miriam Pickens, relative of survivors, United States.
  7. Dorothy Werner, spouse of survivor, United States.
  8. Hyman and Hazel Rochman, relatives of Holocaust victims, United States.
  9. Rich Siegel, cousin of victims who were rounded up and shot in town square of Czestochowa, Poland. Lives in United States.
  10. Ignacio Israel Cruz-Lara, relative of survivor, Mexico.
  11. Debra Stuckgold, relative of survivors, United States.
  12. Joel Kovel, relatives killed at Babi Yar, United States.
  13. Carol Krauthamer Smith, niece of survivors of the Nazi genocide, United States.
  14. Chandra Ahuva Hauptman, relatives from grandfather’s family died in Lodz ghetto, one survivor cousin and many deceased from Auschwitz, United States.
  15. Shelly Weiss, relative of Holocaust victims, United States.
  16. Carol Sanders, niece and cousin of victims of Holocaust in Poland, United States.
  17. Sandra Rosen, great-niece and cousin of survivors, United States.
  18. Raquel Hiller, relative of victims in Poland. Now lives in Mexico.
  19. Alex Kantrowitz, most of father’s family murdered Nesvizh, Belarus 1941. Lives in United States.
  20. Michael Steven Smith, many relatives were killed in Hungary. Lives in United States.
  21. Linda Moore, relative of survivors and victims, United States.
  22. Juliet VanEenwyk, niece and cousin of Hungarian survivors, United States.
  23. Anya Achtenberg, grand niece, niece, cousin of victims tortured and murdered in Ukraine. Lives in United States.
  24. Betsy Wolf-Graves, great niece of uncle who shot himself as he was about to be arrested by Nazis, United States.
  25. Abecassis Pierre, grand-uncle died in concentration camp, France.
  26. Robert Rosenthal, great-nephew and cousin of survivors from Poland. Lives in United States.
  27. Régine Bohar, relative of victims sent to Auschwitz, Canada.
  28. Denise Rickles, relative of survivors and victims in Poland. Lives in United States.
  29. Louis Hirsch, relative of victims, United States.
  30. Concepción Marcos, relative of victim, Spain.
  31. George Sved, relative of victim, Spain.
  32. Judith Berlowitz, relative of victims and survivors, United States.
  33. Rebecca Sturgeon, descendant of Holocaust survivor from Amsterdam. Lives in UK.
  34. Justin Levy, relative of victims and survivors, Ireland.
  35. Sam Semoff, relative of survivors and victims, UK.
  36. Leah Brown Klein, daughter-in-law of survivors Miki and Etu Fixler Klein, United States
  37. Karen Malpede, spouse of hidden child who then fled Germany. Lives in United States
  38. Michel Euvrard, husband of survivor, France.
  39. Walter Ebmeyer, grandnephew of three Auschwitz victims and one survivor now living in Jerusalem, United States.
  40. Garrett Wright, relative of victims and survivors, United States.
  41. Lynne Lopez-Salzedo, descendant of three Auschwitz victims, United States.
  42. Renee Leavy, 86 victims in my mother’s family, United States.
  43. Steven Kohn, 182 victims in my grandparents’ families, United States.
  44. Dorah Rosen Shuey, relative of many victims and 4 survivors, United States.
  45. Carol Lipton, cousin of survivors, United States.
  46. Catherine Bruckner, descendent of Czech Jewish victims of the holocaust, UK.
  47. Susan Rae Goldstein, carrying the name of my great-aunt Rose Frankel, from Poland and murdered along with many other family members, Canada.
  48. Jordan Elgrably, nephew of Marcelle Elgrably, killed in Auschwitz, United States.
  49. Olivia M Hudis, relative of Auschwitz victims, United States.
  50. Peter Finkelstein, relative of victims and survivors, Germany.
  51. Colin Merrin, descendant of Polish and Belarusian Jewish victims, UK.
  52. Howard Swerdloff, most of my family died in the Shoah, United States.
  53. Margarita E Freund, descendant of Breslau and Ukrainian Jewish victims, United States.
  54. Marsha Goldberg, relative of victims in Poland, United States.
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Ceasefire isn’t enough for Palestinians in Gaza

Posted by: on: August 21, 2014

Ceasefire isn’t enough for Palestinians in Gaza

Why?

The death and destruction being inflicted on the Gaza Strip is impossible to describe.

Sitting here in Gaza, it is hard to even understand what is happening.

Last week, we witnessed another attack on a United Nations compound where civilians were sheltering — 17 dead, 120 injured — and an attack on a market in Shujaiya during the hours of what was supposed to be a ceasefire — 18 dead, nearly 200 injured.

Raji Sourani in The Electronic Intifada posted this 3 August 2014

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Israeli shelling killed ten Palestinians at a United Nations school on 3 August.(Ashraf Amra / APA images)

Today in Rafah, Israel shelled another school run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, (established in 1948, and supposedly for limited time to enable the refugees to return home according to UN resolution) where thousands were sheltering, killing ten.

Even the US State Department issued a rare condemnation of Israel, calling the attack “appalling” and “disgraceful.”

This is a nightmare. But it is one we know we cannot wake up from.

Israel’s Gaza Doctrine of illegally targeting densely packed civilian areas and homes is inflicting untold horror.

Israel is deliberately punishing civilians in order to exert political pressure on Hamas. They are collectively punishing the 1.8 million citizens of the Gaza Strip.

How else do you explain the statistics?

The most recent figures collected by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) indicate that 1,817 Palestinians have been killed. Of these, 1,545 — an incredible 85 percent — are civilians: the so-called “protected persons” of international humanitarian law.

(These numbers increased to over 2,100 killed)

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced. Ordered to flee, but with nowhere safe to go:

UN shelters housing civilians have been repeatedly targeted. The Gaza Strip lies in ruins. The destruction of Shujaiya is difficult to comprehend. Even the power plant has been destroyed.

How will our hospitals operate?

How will the sewage treatment centers run? How will we access safe water?

Our demands

In the middle of this we want an end to the violence. We want an end to this horror, to this suffering. Too many children have died. War crimes have become our daily reality.

But a ceasefire is not enough.

We demand justice.

We demand accountability.

We demand to be treated as human beings, to have our inherent human dignity recognized.

We demand an end to the closure of the Gaza Strip.

For the last 7 years, Israel has subjected the Gaza Strip to a strict closure. By shutting the borders, Israel has slowly suffocated Gaza, subjecting us to a process of deliberate under-development.

Before the current offensive, 65 percent of the population were unpaid or unemployed.

85% of the population depended on food aid distributed by international organizations. Patients requiring life-saving treatment unavailable in the Gaza Strip were denied permission to leave. They died.

Life under the closure is not life. We cannot go back to this reality. I cannot imagine another seven years. The closure signifies the absence of hope. It means that Gaza’s youth have no future.

No jobs. No opportunity to leave. Even when the war comes, we cannot flee.

But the closure is only one half of the reality of the Gaza Strip. The other is the total absence of the rule of law. War crimes are committed with complete impunity.

The closure itself is a war crime and it is official policy of the government of Israel.

Beside this there are the constant attacks and the frequent offensives. This is the third major offensive since the closure began. Literally thousands of civilians have been killed. Thousands more homes and livelihoods have been destroyed.

Complete impunity

These war crimes are committed with complete impunity. After Operation Cast Lead — the 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009 offensive — PCHR submitted 490 criminal complaints on behalf of 1,046 victims. (The UN chief Ban Ki Moon tampered with the report of the commission of investigation through the pressure of the US)

In the five years that followed, we received only 44 responses. The Israeli authorities decided that 446 cases didn’t even warrant a reply.

The results?

One soldier was convicted for the theft of a credit card and received a 7-month sentence.

Two soldiers were convicted for using a 9-year-old boy as a human shield. They each received a three-month suspended sentence.

One soldier was convicted for the “misuse of a firearm” in relation to the shooting of a group of civilians carrying white flags, which resulted in the deaths of two women. He was sentenced to 45 days imprisonment.

Is this justice in the eyes of the world community?

The impact of these constant war crimes, and the resultant impunity denies our very dignity, our worth as human beings. It says our lives are not sacred. That we don’t count.

Faced with this existence, our demands are not excessive. They are not unrealistic.

We want to be treated as equals. We want to have our rights respected and protected. We ask that international law be applied, equally, to Israel and Palestine, to Israelis and Palestinians. The rule of international law must be adhered to, and all those responsible for its violations must be held to account.

We ask that suspected war crimes be investigated and those responsible prosecuted. Is this unreasonable?

We want an end to the closure. The illegality of Israel’s closure policy is not in doubt. In a rare public statement the International Committee of the Red Cross explicitly stated that Israel’s closure policy constitutes collective punishment in violation of international law.

The consequences of the policy are evident in the reality of the Gaza Strip.

We ask that the closure be lifted.

We want the opportunity to live a life in dignity. Is this unreasonable?

These are no tpolitical demands. They are a demand to be treated as human.

A ceasefire is not enough. It will not end the suffering.

It will only move us from the horror of death by bombardment to the horror of death by slow strangulation.

We cannot go back to being prisoners in a cage that Israel rattles when it chooses with brutal destructive offensives.

Raji Sourani is the director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

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adonis49

adonis49

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