Lawfare Project fights pro-Israel battles in Spain, Germany
The Lawfare Project is now celebrating a string of major victories in Spain. A court in Barcelona last week voided a BDS measure passed by the city’s council of arts, a court in Andalusia last month suspended a large city’s boycott of companies that engage in free trade with Israel, and, just a few days ago, a court in northwestern Spain stopped a motion passed by a city council to boycott Israeli companies. These three decisions prove that justice and civil rights will win out no matter how BDS proponents try to justify their hateful, discriminatory policies. To date, The Lawfare Project has realized 44 victories since it began operating in Spain.
At the same time, The Lawfare Project has made waves in Germany, where an appellate court heard a case we brought against Kuwait Airways on behalf of an Israeli passenger. Our client was barred from a Kuwait Airways flight originating within Europe because of the airline’s discriminatory policy banning all Israelis from flying. Unfortunately, the German appellate court upheld the lower court’s verdict permitting Kuwait Airways to discriminate against Israelis and Jews.
The Lawfare Project has sought justice against Kuwait Airways for many years. We successfully forced the airline to terminate half its U.S. operations and all inter-European flights, and we are now pursuing legal actions in other jurisdictions.
The Lawfare Project will appeal this latest German ruling to secure justice for our client. At the same time, we continue to encourage Germany’s elected leaders to take action in response to this clear violation of European laws and unquestionable contradiction of its values. We are confident that the court’s ruling was incorrect and will be overturned on appeal, if not nullified by political action.
Tremendous outrage over this discriminatory policy has brought mounting political pressure against Kuwait Airways. Several major political figures, including Germany’s transport minister and justice minister have said they will pursue this issue politically and diplomatically. Earlier this year, three regional parliaments in Germany also passed resolutions condemning Kuwait Airways for its racist and discriminatory policy.
“Our position is clear: it cannot and must not be that an airline refuses to carry Israelis in Germany,” said federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer. “Discrimination and anti-Semitism are absolutely unacceptable.”
The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency deemed the Israeli ban “unacceptable” in a press statement and called for an extension of discrimination laws to counteract such cases in the future.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, said, “It is 2018. No airline should be allowed to categorically reject Israelis.”
Similar opposition was voiced last year when the Frankfurt District Court found in favor of Kuwait Airways. Christian Lange, German State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, issued a strong rebuke to Kuwait Airways and wrote to Chancellor Angela Merkel to demand her intervention in the matter: “I would like to ask you hereby, as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, to personally ensure that the landing rights of Kuwait Airways in Germany are immediately withdrawn. We must never be silent when Jews are discriminated against or harassed. And the German federal government must make it clear that it rejects this form of discrimination and hatred — and that we are on the side of our Israeli friends. Our friendship with Israel is non-negotiable. Such discrimination is not tolerable!” Michael Roth, Germany’s Foreign Minister, contacted the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Germany to request that he raise this matter with the Kuwaiti government. In comments to the newspaper Die Welt, he said: “It is incomprehensible to me if in today’s Germany a passenger cannot board a plane simply because of his nationality.”
Volker Beck, former Bundestag member from the Green Party, said: “Stop the discrimination or stop doing business in Germany.”
It is shocking and appalling that a court has legitimized hatred and discrimination against Jews in Germany during our day and age. We must never stand by when Jews or Israelis face discrimination. The Lawfare Project’s international network of lawyers is on the front lines around the world, working to stop hatred and protect the civil and human rights of the Jewish people.
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UC San Diego tells next two seminars in public Holocaust series
This fall, the Holocaust Living History Workshop (HLWH) at the University of California San Diego once again launches its year-long series of educational events composed of eight seminars, a documentary film screening and a photography exhibition underscoring this year’s theme, “History, Memory & Meaning of the Holocaust.”
The series, now in its tenth year of programming, is presented by the UC San Diego Library and the UC San Diego Jewish Studies Program.This year’s seminars approach the history of the Holocaust in terms of layers of meaning that are constantly being written, erased and rewritten.
Each workshop draws on the expertise and experience of distinguished scholars and survivors/witnesses of the Holocaust.
Whether the topic is a photographer’s journey to the Lithuanian killing fields, individual acts of resistance against Nazi oppression in the Third Reich, or the experience replaced with memories of a Yugoslav child survivor, memory and meaning provide the signposts in their attempts to make sense of the past.HLHW events aim to preserve the testimonies of victims and survivors of the Holocaust, allowing their firsthand stories to enlighten and inspire action against intolerance. All workshops are free and held in Geisel Library’s Seuss Room from 5 to 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted
.October 10 – Past is Prologue: A Journey of Discovery with Barbara Michelman
The first event this fall features photographer Barbara Michelman who will share the story of her father who was born in the village of Paneriai, the site of one of the worst massacres of Jews during World War II. For Michelman, Paneriai is a landscape of loss and silence—a silence exemplified by her father who was born there. Though he escaped the slaughter, he was haunted by the tragedy.
After a trip to Paneriai in present-day Lithuania, Michelman was so moved by the experience that she converted her feelings into art. In her solo exhibition, “Past is Prologue,” Michelman showcases a series of photo montages made with a mixture of words and images, portions of old letters, documents, names of people and towns, all echoing the voices of the vanished. In addition to Michelman’s lecture on October 10, part of her exhibit will be on display in Geisel Library’s West Wing on the 2nd (main) Floor from September 24 – December 13, 2018.
Michelman’s lecture on October 10 is preceded by a tribute to Dr. Edith Eva Eger, a prominent clinical psychologist, motivational speaker and survivor of the Holocaust. Dr. Eger is the author of the award-winning memoir “The Choice: Embrace the Possible.” The tribute begins at 4:30 p.m. Registration is required for the pre-event and lecture. Register at hlhw-michelman.eventbrite.com.
November 8 – Life in Crazy Times: An American Internee in War-torn Europe with Lou de Beer
Lodewyk “Lou” de Beer, the son of American parents, was born in Amsterdam in 1931. He witnessed the arrival of the German troops in 1940 and lived through the dark days of occupation. When the U.S. joined the war, the de Beers were declared enemy aliens and subjected to a lengthy odyssey through concentration and internment camps. On the periphery of WWII and the Holocaust, Lou caught glimpses of devastation and oppression without fully grasping their significance until he experienced the hardship of war firsthand during his service in Korea in the 1950s.
His journey adds an important and generally overlooked angle to the history of WWII in Europe. The talk will be recorded and available for viewing through the UC San Diego Library’s Digital Collections.This event is preceded by a book introduction featuring Judith Hughes. In “Witnessing the Holocaust,” Hughes presents the writings of individuals like Victor Klemperer, Ruth Kluger, Michal Glowinski, Imre Kertész and Béla Zsolt. The pre-event begins at 4:30 p.m. Registration is required for the pre-event and lecture. Register at hlhw-debeer.eventbrite.com.
The UC San Diego Library is one of only three university libraries on the West Coast to have access to the Visual History Archive, which includes around 55,000 testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides. Members of the campus community and the public can access the testimonies conducted in 64 countries and in 42 languages ranging from Bulgarian and Greek to Japanese and Spanish, from any computer on the UC San Diego campus.For more information about UC San Diego’s Holocaust Living History Workshop, contact Susanne Hillman at shillman@ucsd.edu.
— From UC San Diego
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Chabads to sponsor Hannukah Menorah Lighting Dec. 3 at Liberty StationThe Chabad Centers of Pacific Beacn and Downtown team up for a Hannukah Memorah lighting from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Monday, Dec. 3, at the Central Promenade of Liberty Station.Following the ceremony, celebrants can partake in an evening of ice skating at the Rady Children’s Ice Rink after the Menorah Lighting—tickets are $15 for adults and $13 for children. — From Liberty Station
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Jewish groups praise departing U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley
Republican Jewish Coalition National Chairman Norm Coleman issued the following statement on the announcement that Ambassador Nikki Haley will be leaving her post at the UN later this year:
“First and foremost, I want to thank Ambassador Haley for the bold leadership and moral clarity she brought to the UN. Amb. Haley has been instrumental in reclaiming American leadership on the global stage, in stark contrast to the previous eight years. Her leadership on confronting Iran, North Korea, and the audacious biases against Israel represent a new high-water mark for US diplomacy. Across the political spectrum, Nikki Haley is overwhelmingly respected and liked because people recognize her hard work and accomplishments. Our country is better because of her service.”
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America expressed its sincere gratitude to H.E. Nikki Haley for “her outstanding service to the United States and the world through her service as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The Orthodox Union particularly notes Amb. Haley’s staunch support for the State of Israel.” The statement went on to say:
Soon after becoming ambassador, Ms. Haley made clear that she would be a strong supporter of Israel, taking on its many longtime foes in the United Nations. She was also vocal about the ill treatment she witnessed against Israel at the U.N., stating recently: “When I saw literally how abusive all of those countries were being to Israel…I had no choice but to get up and say this is completely wrong.”
Orthodox Union President Moishe Bane stated: “Amb. Nikki Haley has been a tremendous public servant for this country. We will miss her willingness to stand up for what is right and speak strongly to those who use the United Nations to unfairly attack the United States and other countries. We are confident that after an appropriate break, the U.S. will again benefit from Amb. Haley’s principled leadership.”
The American Jewish Congress had this comment:
Today, Nikki Haley announced her resignation as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. To say we are sad to see her go would be a great understatement. In addition to being a diplomat and orator of the highest caliber, Nikki Haley is a true friend of Israel.
For decades, the United Nations has had a serious problem with anti-Israel bias, to the point that it substantially lowered the credibility of the institution. The Security Council repeatedly passes dramatic condemnations of Israel while neglecting to speak on the greatest humanitarian crises of the day; UNESCO routinely denies Jewish history despite archaeological evidence; and UNCHR continuously targets Israel, while failing to condemn regimes with some of the worst track records on human rights. Those are just a few examples of a systemic problem. From day one, Ambassador Haley vowed to stop tolerating this absurd and discriminatory behavior, and she lived up to her promise. Over and over, she called out UN member states and bodies on their hypocrisy and bias. She insisted that Israel be treated just like any other country, and the Jewish people like any other people. And she advocated for and defended the U.S. government’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Yet as significant as Ambassador Haley’s defense of Israel was, no less was her understanding of why. She understood that the UN’s anti-Israel bias obstructs the UN’s noble goals of international peace, cooperation, and understanding; that treating Israel like any other country is necessary for the equal treatment of all countries going forward; that discrimination against the Jewish people is intertwined with other forms of discrimination as well, and to fight one form of hatred is to fight them all. In that sense, Ambassador Haley represented the core values of the American Jewish Congress, which we believe, by extension, are fundamental values of the United States: that our rights and freedoms are only truly safeguarded if they are for everyone.
Thank you, Nikki Haley, for your exemplary service to the United States of America, and for your bold defense of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. We wish you the best in all your future endeavors, and warmly remind you that you are among friends.”
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued this statement from Arthur Stark, Chairman and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO.
We thank Ambassador Nikki Haley for her outstanding tenure as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. From her first days, she was a forceful voice for reforming the international body, articulating US interests, and seeking to end the pervasive and obsessive bias against Israel. In a time when the legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel is constantly questioned in UN fora, Amb. Haley demanded that the UN treat Israel as it would any other nation and she repeatedly took the floor of the UN to denounce the blatant and absurd mistreatment of the world’s only Jewish State. As an effective, courageous leader who reshaped the debate in the UN, Ambassador Haley stood for the values and principles that inspired the creation of this world body. We wish her well and hope that her strong voice will continue to be heard.
– From the organizations cited above.
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Preceding culled from news releases. Send yours to editor@sdjewishworld.com