Palestinian ambassador only believes in the human rights of certain people

Yesterday, on 3 October 2019, the European Jewish Association and our partners from the Action and Protection Foundation /Hungary/ have had a chance to further advance our ongoing promotion activities on the European Curriculum and Textbook Project against Antisemitism – this time in Prague, the beautiful capital of the Czech Republic.

At the meeting, where the EJA has been represented by Mihails Vorobeičiks-Mellers (Political Affairs Adviser) and the APF by Ferenc Olti (Board Member of the Hungarian Jewish Cultural Association) and Kálmán Szalai (Secretary), we have met with Jaroslav Faltýn (Director at the Department of Preschool, Basic, Basic Artistic and Special Education), Ladislav Bánovec (Director at the Department for International Relations) and Helena Čermáková (Department for International Relations) of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.

The conversation, lasting close to 1.5 hours, has touched upon not only the project itself as well as the earlier Hungarian seven-year-ran program it is based on, but also the Czech school curriculum, educational programs and their development, existing system of teacher training, long-time knowledge and expertise exchange initiatives (including those related to the Czech Jewish community, its history and contributions towards beloved homeland) and many other topics.

Following the very informative descriptions provided by both sides and respective opinion exchanges, not only has it been agreed that further contacts on the initiative would be more than welcome and should be strongly encouraged, but also several concrete steps have been identified, which could be shortly implemented. These include designation of contact persons and execution of at least a few possible follow-up meetings (e.g., with Jewish leadership and experts as well as student associations, including those from abroad), which may take place already very soon.

We are most thankful to Mr. Faltýn, Mr. Bánovec, Ms. Čermáková and their colleagues at the Ministry for the reciprocated interest and for being such wonderful hosts, a most interesting and insightful conversation, and very much look forward to further contacts on the present initiative.

Gidon Lev still remembers the day the Red Cross delegation came to visit Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he had been held for three years. He was nine years old.

It was 23 June 1944. The delegation toured the site, inspected its conditions, and examined detainees for signs of Nazi cruelty.

“There was a central park and we children could never go to it,” he told the JC in Prague ahead of a visit to the camp this week.

“On the day that the Red Cross came, they stood 100 metres away and took photographs.

The guards took children like me by truck from our barracks and brought them to the place and said ‘spielen’, ‘play’.

There were swings there, what do children do? They play.” Unwittingly, young Gidon had been co-opted into a Nazi propaganda exercise aimed at concealing the true aim of the Final Solution from the world.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin:

“The story of Chanukah teaches us that the Jewish people did not win the battle because they were the stronger, but because G-d saw that they were fighting for their beliefs with all their heart.

G-d created the world and everything in it. He also created the different conflicts in it.

Therefore what we should take from this fact is that if conflict or challenges are given to us in order to test us or to strengthen our resolve.

We are therefore wiser if we recognise that we should not run away from challemges but fight them and win, and in doing so we can look for more and more miracles like the one that happened at this time of Chanukah.

Dear Prime Minister, in our days, where we are experiencing a lot of racism, anti-Semitism and hatred we should not be frightened by these challenges either. Because if we will all fight it constantly, eventually our way will win.

Chag Shameach”

Israel will be allowed to compete in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest with the reworked entry “Hurricane,” organizers informed Jerusalem on Thursday.

After the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the annual musical extravaganza, threatened to disqualify two of Israel’s entries over perceived political messaging, the Kan broadcaster worked to modify the lyrics to ensure the country’s participation in May.

The last lines of “October Rain” described the condition of Israelis during the Oct. 7  attacks, in which some 1,200 people were slaughtered: “There’s’ no air left to breathe / No place, no me from day to day.”

In one of the verses, the Israeli contestant, Eden Golan, sang the word “flowers,” which is Israel Defense Forces slang for fallen soldiers, but which does not carry that connotation for European viewers.

Israel’s second choice song, “Dance Forever,” was an apparent reference to the massacre at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im, where Hamas terrorists murdered 364 people on Oct. 7.

Kan has said that the Jewish state’s third submission tells the story of a “young woman who is surviving a personal crisis.” The song, set to the tune of “October Rain,” will be presented to the public during a live TV broadcast on Sunday.

Last month, the EBU reaffirmed that Israel would be allowed to compete amid the war against Hamas in Gaza, rejecting parallels drawn by pro-Palestinian activists with Russia’s exclusion over its invasion of Ukraine.

“Comparisons between war and conflict are complex and difficult and, as an apolitical media organization, it is not our place to make them,” EBU Director-General Noel Curran told AFP.

A review by EBU’s governing bodies found “that the Israeli public broadcaster Kan met all the competition rules for this year and can participate, as it has for the past 50 years,” Curran noted.

The EBU head said his organization was “aware” of voices calling for the Jewish state to be excluded from this year’s competition.

“However, the Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political musical event and a competition between public service broadcasters that are members of EBU. It is not a competition between governments,” he said.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is taking place in Malmö, Sweden, following the Scandinavian country’s victory at the 2023 song contest. Golan, 20, will represent the Jewish state in the second semifinal on May 9. The grand final will take place two days later.

Last year, Israeli pop star Noa Kirel finished in third place in the Eurovision final in Liverpool, behind Sweden and Finland.