Four Attacks on Jews Now Linked to Suspect Still Wanted by London Police

I was grateful for the White House invitation to witness the historic opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Truth be told, I believe that every Jew in attendance was thinking of a father, a grandmother, a sibling wiped out in the Nazi Holocaust or any of the millions of Jews, who over two millennia were scattered to the four winds of exile—and on whose shoulders we stand today. For it was they, from Baghdad to Moscow, from New Delhi to New York, from Warsaw to Waukegan who down through the centuries–against all odds– dared to dream that someday, somehow, their offspring would return home to Zion, to Jerusalem.

From abandonment to validation

For over 1,900 years Jews in exile lived with the bitter bile of abandonment, bereft of rights, subject to the whims of rulers, demonized by religious authorities and derided by neighbors for being different.
The ultimate abandonment came with the Nazi Holocaust in the 1940s with the destruction of European Jewry. In fact, it was the West’s abandonment of Jews in the 1930s that sealed their fate long before the Nazis mass-murdered 6 million of our people—one third of world Jewry.
Validation
So how was possible that less than three years after Auschwitz, that the Jewish nation was (re)born?
It was in large measure because of one man who bucked the advice of diplomats and pundits to support a Jewish state— President Harry S. Truman.
Watching the video in Jerusalem of President Donald Trump’s speech from the White House, I kept thinking about the similar challenges both presidents faced when it came to U.S. policy in The Holy Land.
Truman, who never expected to be the vice president in 1944, let alone could have imagined that he would soon be president of the United States, had zero experience in foreign policy.
Once he became president he would rely heavily on Secretary of State George Marshall, a World War II hero who would go on to win the 1953 Nobel Peace Prize for The Marshall Plan that rebuilt a Europe shattered by war.
Marshall was bitterly opposed to a Jewish state. He was more concerned about having an uninterrupted supply of Arab oil than a people devastated by war and was convinced that the Jews couldn’t withstand an Arab military onslaught.
Marshall’s opposition was buttressed by virtually the entire State Department. At one point Marshall even threatened Truman that he would oppose the president’s reelection.
No matter, “Give ‘em Hell Harry” — with a push from his Jewish buddy and partner Eddie Jacobson—decided to override the “experts” and actively support the Jewish people’s quest for freedom.
On November 29, 1947, he instructed the U.S. to vote for statehood at the United Nations. A few months later, Truman decided that the U.S. would be the first nation to recognize the State of Israel, just 11 minutes after David Ben-Gurion declared the Jewish State.
Through his actions Truman not only changed history, he validated a people who had been left for dead.
Today the Jewish state is alive– a vibrant democracy and a font of ingenuity and creativity. But it is a nation still under siege—threatened by over 100,000 Hezbollah and Hamas missiles, terror tunnels and Iranian nuclear-tinged saber rattling.
Israel also faces a relentless asymmetrical war of demonization and delegitimization. From U.N. resolutions to church groups to academic assaults to global boycotts to social media campaigns, Zionists are denounced as racists and Israelis as Nazis, latter-day colonialists, interlopers and even  “fake” Jews.
Enter Donald Trump. With the stroke of a pen, he validated 3,500 years of Jewish history by opening the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, debunking the global smear campaign against the Jewish State.
His decision will also have an impact on Christian-Jewish relations. My grandparents fled Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 20^th Century primarily because of theologically-fueled hatred from Christian churches and clergy.
They would have been shocked to see the hundreds of Christian Zionists who sat shoulder to shoulder with American and Israeli Jews at the embassy opening on Monday. And they would have been amazed to learn it was American Christians, led by a few million Evangelicals, who consistently reminded President Trump about candidate Trump’s promise to do right by Israel.
Unlike his predecessors who never lived up to their campaign promises — Trump just did. His place in history and in the annals of the people of Israel are secured forever.
The Article was published on Fox News

The European Parliament is set to discuss Tuesday in Strasbourg US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The debate in the plenary session of the parliament will focus on the status granted to the city by Presdient Trump who set out last Wednesday his intention to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that was subsequently backed up by two EU member states, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
STRASBOURG —The European Parliament is set to discuss Tuesday in Strasbourg US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The debate in the plenary session of the parliament will focus on the status granted to the city by Presdient Trump who set out last Wednesday his intention to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that was subsequently backed up by two EU member states, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The decision has prompted a backlash and led to violence on the Palestinian side.
Some officials in Europe have asserted that the American decision will ignite tensions in the region.
Ahead of the Strasbourg debate, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the founder and Director of the Brussels based European Jewish Association which represents Jews across the continent, wrote a letter to the European Parliament President, Vice-Presidents and heads of political groups asking them to act as “voices of Reason” during the debate. 
In his letter Rabbi Margolin said, ‘Some have asserted that this decision will ignite tensions in the region. It should be noted that some Member States unilaterally recognised the State of Palestine even before the respective parties reached understandings.’’
He continued, ‘The European Parliament has a delegation for relations with Palestine which was put in place before official state recognition and before the parties again reached understandings. There are Palestinian embassies all over the world, before the parties reached understandings.‘President Trump did not say that united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. He said the borders will be discussed during the negotiations between the sides.’
For Rabbi Margolin,  the furore over the US move is ‘’unwarranted, unjustified and is one-sided to say the least.’’
‘’Furthermore such voices reward the incitement to violence and violence that is being perpetuated on the Palestinian side. Such a reward would be incompatible and would not be expected from the House that you represent,’’ reads the letter to the MEPs.
“I earnestly hope that voices of reason will prevail during the debate, and you will use the opportunity to remind the house of the facts outlined in my letter,”  Rabbi Margolin concluded.   

Brussels 14 October 2020. After the Polish Senate voted today to postpone the controversial animal rights Bill provisions to ban the export of Kosher meat, European Jewish Association Chairman (EJA) Rabbi Menachem Margolin said he was encouraged by the clear opposition to the Bill but vowed to keep fighting to stop any eventual ban.
The EJA Chief had instigated an open letter signed by dozens of Jewish Leaders and Parliamentarians across Europe and Israel in which signatories voiced their opposition to the provisions on Kosher meat in the Bill and called on the Polish Government to reject them.
In a statement today Rabbi Margolin said,
“The provisions in this Bill relating to Kosher exports have had a very rough ride. It is clear that they enjoy little support from farmers and command little enthusiasm from the Senate itself.
“This is encouraging and we thank all of those Senators who have responded in such a strong way and who have taken what is a principled stand, as well as all the parliamentarians and Jewish leaders from across Europe who made their voices heard.
“But the battle isn’t over. It has merely been postponed. If you kick a can down a road, you will eventually run out of road.
“We will continue to oppose this Bill, today, tomorrow, next week, next month and for the next years. Just as we have from generation after generation whenever our way of life, our very faith is called into question. In the weeks and months ahead we will redouble our efforts to ensure that 2025 becomes permanent instead, starting with the Polish Sejm where this Bill next appears for a vote.”
In closing Rabbi Margolin said,
“The European Jewish Association will never falter in its determination to stand up for Jewish life, tradition, values and practice wherever and whenever they are under threat in Europe”

נשיאת הפרלמנט האירופי, רוברטה מטסולה, בביקורת חריפה נגד רוסיה באשר למלחמה אותה היא מבצעת באוקראינה. מטסולה, פוליטיקאית ממלטה, השתתפה אתמול (שני) באירוע אזכרה במחנה ההשמדה אושוויץ – בירקנאו שנערך במסגרת כנס המנהיגים האירופאים השנתי למאבק באנטישמיות שמקיים איגוד הארגונים היהודים באירופה (EJA). הכנס נערך בסמיכות ליום השנה ה-84 לפוגרום ליל הבדולח, שהיווה את המתקפה האלימה רחבת ההיקף הראשונה של המשטר הנאצי נגד האוכלוסיה היהודית ברחבי הרייך הגרמני.

בכנס השתתפו גם ראש ממשלת מונטנגרו, הנציב האירופי לענייני הרחבת האיחוד, ראשי הפרלמנט מצרפת ומצ׳כיה ונציגים נוספים מכ-20 מדינות.

בתשובה לשאלת ״ישראל היום״ על היוזמות הממסדיות ברחבי האיחוד האירופי לאסור מסורות יהודיות כשחיטה כשרה ומילה, אמרה מטסולה: ״אנחנו רואים דוגמאות שונות לאנטישמיות במדינות-חברות שונות של האיחוד האירופי. אנחנו רואים גם סובלנות גדלה לכך. זו לא רק אחריותנו הפוליטית אלא גם משפטית לפעול באמצעות המוסדות שלנו להגן על כל אזרח שחי באיחוד״.

הנציב להרחבת האיחוד האירופי, אוליבר ווארהליי, הבהיר מצדו שהאיחוד האירופי לא יכול להסתפק רק בגיבוש אסטרטגיות למאבק באנטישמיות, אלא לעבור למעשים. ״פעולה משמעה לא רק מאבק באנטישמיות אלא החזרת החיים היהודיים לאירופה״, הדגיש ווארהליי, ״זה מה שחסר לנו. באופן מצער אנטישמיות לא רק נוכחת באירופה אלא גם צומחת. אנחנו רואים סוגים אלימים שלה. אחריותנו בכל המדינות האירופיות ובכל דרג שלטון היא לקום, להתנגד לכך ולהילחם בכך. הנציבות הבהירה שלא ייתכן שיהיה ספק כלשהו לגבי הצורך במאבק באנטישמיות או בעצידה לצד הקהילה היהודית. הקהילה היהודית היא העוצמה שלנו. על כולנו לתמוך בה״.

הרב מנחם מרגולין, יו״ר איגוד הארגונים היהודיים באירופה, סיפר למשתתפי הכנס ששני ילדיו בני העשרה חוו רק לפני שבוע אנטישמיות, לא הרחק ממטה האיחוד האירופי בבריסל, כשנוסעת באוטובוס קיללה אותם ״יהודים מלוכלכים״. ״אנחנו עדים לעלייה באנטישמיות בכל רחבי אירופה״, התריע מרגולין, “ליהודים יש הרבה מה לתרום לחברה האירופית, ואני מקווה שכולם ישלבו כוחות כדי להבטיח שליהדות באירופה יהיה עתיד טוב יותר. עתיד טוב יותר ליהודים, יהיה עתיד טוב יותר לאירופה״.