Briefs from Around the World
Finland / Poland / Canada / Nepal
Head of Finland Amnesty Int'l calls Israel a "scum state"
Frank Johansson didn't let the fact that he heads up a leading human rights organization stop him from blasting Israel on his blog on the website of a Finnish tabloid. Talking about a recent visit to Israel to visit a friend, the chairman of Amnesty International-Finland wrote that after "several years of residence in the holy country, he has come to the conclusion that 'Israel is a scum state.' On the basis of my own visit, which occurred during the 1970s and 1990s for the final time, I agree."
Secrets revealed in Poland
The times are a'changin' in Poland, it would seem - at least for Jews who were once reluctant to admit they were Jews. It's no secret that, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, the Polish people did not exactly open their arms to Polish Jews liberated from the camps, seeking to return to their homes. In fact, in July of 1946, Poland's infamous Kielce pogrom resulted in the murder of 42 Jews. In all, about 1,000 Jews attempting to come home were murdered. The subsequent Communist regime seemed even less interested in reviving the Jewish community. No wonder that many Jews who had hidden their identities during the Holocaust, living as Christians, continued to do so after the war.
In the 1980s, however, with the rise of the Solidarity labor movement and the fall of the Iron Curtain, attitudes began to change. Now, more and more Jews are revealing their heritage.
"Poles who did not tell their children that they were Jewish decided to tell their grandchildren, Yale Reisner of the Jewish Historical Institue of Warsaw recently told Ha'aretz.
Demonizing Israel in Toronto schools
TORONTO, Canada -- A 2008 young adult novel that appears to demonize Israelis is on the book shelves of Toronto's school libraries - and so it shall remain, despite the protest of one parent.
"The Shepherd's Granddaughter" by Canadian author Anne Laurel Carter tells the story of Amani, a Palestinian girl living in the West Bank who dreams of becoming a shepherd. Along the way to achieving her goal she meets up with just about every conceivable injustice at the hands of dasdardly Israelis: violent settlers and soldiers confront her and poison some of her sheep, bulldoze her house, slay her dog, beat and jail her father and uncle...and then it gets bad.
Toronto parent Brian Henry who objected to the book in a letter to the Toronto Board of Ed didn't want to see the book banned, he just did not want teachers and librarians to encourage Canadian schoolchildren to read "a biased, one-sided and prejudicial account of such a complex and sensitive issue."
Toronto board trustee James Pasternak agreed. He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) that he believes the book "demonizes Israelis" and "has no place in our school."
But the Toronto District School Board's director of education ruled that the book can help students "in understanding the complex issues of their world."
Israeli rescue team flies to Nepal to recover American Jew killed in crash
ZAKA International Rescue Unit volunteers left Israel for Nepal on Sunday, August 29 to assist in the recovery and identification of Irina Shekhets, the American Jewish tourist who was killed in a plane crash on Tuesday, August 24. Several days after the plane crash, when it became clear that the Nepalese authorities were unable to recover and identify her badly charred remains, the Israel-based and UN-recognized ZAKA International Rescue Unit decided to send out a team,in full cooperation with Chabad House in Katmandu, which is coordinating the recovery efforts with the local authorities, and the Israeli Foreign Office's situation room. The private Agni Air plane heading to the Mount Everest region crashed in heavy rain outside Nepal's capital, killing all 14 people aboard, including four Americans, a Briton and a Japanese tourist. The plane was headed to Lukla, a popular stop for trekkers and mountaineers. Shekhets, a Brooklyn law school graduate, was celebrating her 30th birthday by trekking in Nepal.