A7News: Philadelphia schoolchildren sing anti-Israel songs

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Friday, May. 03 '19, כ"ח בניסן תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLCHILDREN SING ANTI-ISRAEL SONGS
2. 'YOUNG JEWS 'REFUSE TO BE VICTIMS OF THE PAST'
3. THE BLIND ALSO MARCHED AT THE MARCH OF THE LIVING
4. POLISH BISHOP DELIVERS THINLY-VEILED ANTI-SEMITIC SERMON
5. THEY CALLED HER FROM AUSCHWITZ BLOCK SHE SLEPT IN
6. ANTI-ISRAEL LEGISLATION SUBMITTED TO US CONGRESS
7. WATCH: YAD VASHEM HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY CEREMONY
8. WATCH: THOUSANDS AT MARCH OF THE LIVING


1. PHILADELPHIA SCHOOLCHILDREN SING ANTI-ISRAEL SONGS
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Muslim schoolchildren in Philadelphia sang an anti-Israel song claiming promising to liberate the Temple Mount from "Zionists" and to "crush the traitor," The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) reported.

Israel controls security on the Temple Mount, but while Muslims have full and constant access to the mount, Jews are rarely allowed to ascend and banned from praying at the site. The Jordanian Waqf manages the site.

The performances were organized by the Muslim American Society (MAS)'s Philadelphia chapter, in honor of "Ummah Day," which occurred last month.

The event was advertised as focusing on the "Golden age of Islamic science," IPT noted.

Two Twitter videos show a boys' performance and a girls' performance, both embracing terrorism and promoting anti-Semitism. Both songs featured in the performances were produced by the Jordanian "Birds of Paradise" children's group.

In the boys' song, lyrics include: "The blood of the martyrs is calling us" and "Sword and text, oh free men/ until we liberate our lands/until we reach our anchorages/ and we crush the traitor" as.well as "Oh rivers of the martyrs, lads."

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/262639

In the girls' song, students sang: "They were attacked by the army of darkness, and they occupied our Aqsa for years/ but Saladin came to us, an army committed to our religion / God with clear victory / he achieved a dream and returned al-Aqsa / And the Zionists today returned / They occupied al-Aqsa /
But we are not to blame / and our Masra will be restored."

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/262639


2. 'YOUNG JEWS 'REFUSE TO BE VICTIMS OF THE PAST'
by Yoni Kempinski

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/262641

Sam Grundwerg, World Chairman of Keren Hayesod - UIA (United Israel Appeal), spoke with Arutz Sheva at Thursday's March of the Living.

"This is the first time that I've participated in the March of the Living, and of course also the first time doing so in my relatively new capacity as World Chairman of Keren Hayesod, which is one of Israel's national institutions," Grundwerg said.

He added that in the March of the Living, "Jews and non-Jews from all over the world" are "here and participating and giving a very strong message to the world about 'never again'...despite the fact that we see a very alarming wave recently of hate and anti-Semitism."

"The fact that we are not going to let that go unanswered and quiet and that we are united around the world...is a very strong message here today," he said.

Grundwerg also said he believes the younger generation came away from the March of the Living with a "very strong message."

"I think we saw in the ceremony a very strong message when they said that they refuse to be victims of the past. Of course they will heed the lessons and the idea of memory which is so central in Judaism - memory of the past," he said, emphasizing that "they will not be victims of the past and they will go forward in the future as leaders to move away from hatred."


3. THE BLIND ALSO MARCHED AT THE MARCH OF THE LIVING
by Yoni Kampinski

A delegation of the blind from the Israel Guide Dog Center participated in the March of the Living on Thursday for Holocaust Memorial Day. An Arutz Sheva reporter spoke to group participants to find out how blind people and their sighted guides experience the March of the Living

"We're a delegation of six blind and visually impaired people from the Israeli Center for the Visually Impaired," a group guide explained. "We came here to provide the visually impaired an opportunity to experience what's happening here."

Many people say how important it is to come to the death camps and see what happened here. How do you accomplish this with a visual impairment?

"The truth is that before this earth-shattering trip, I had a lot of fears," a visually impaired group participant answered. "One of them was how I would experience this without seeing it. But the testimonies and the stories, what I touch and smell - the other senses that we have - simply turned this into an unbelievable experience."

Explain to us further. When you stand in front of a concentration camp block, for example, what do you do?

"We use our sense of smell," the group participant responded. "We listen to the sighted guides, what they tell us. We listen to the testimonies. The testimonies are chilling and for that, we don't need to see."

What does this experience teach you as a sighted person who is guiding the blind on this trip? Are you experiencing the trip through them?

"First of all, it forces us to look at things in much more detail," the group guide elaborated. "We need to explain to them what we're seeing and what we're feeling. We can't just say 'Look, here are the barracks.' We have to say, 'Here are the barracks - there are chimneys above and below is...' It forces the sighted guides to 'see' much more than usual."


4. POLISH BISHOP DELIVERS THINLY-VEILED ANTI-SEMITIC SERMON
by Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

A Polish bishop said that "a certain nation" plotted in 1937 to divide and slander the Catholic Church by controlling the media.

Andrzej Jeż, who is the top Catholic spiritual leader in the city of Tarnow near Krakow said this last month in a sermon from Easter, which was filmed and aired Thursday in an article by the Israel Broadcasting Corp., or Kan.

"A certain nation, I can't name it because I would be attacked from all sides immediately, said this: 'Our natural enemy is the Catholic Church. We need to slander them and sow hatred against them, we have to create scandals about their private lives to incite hatred and ridicule against them. We must strengthen our media because then our control will be strong and secure,'" Jez said.

The footage shown by Kan did not say where Jez was quoting from.

Rabbi Michael Schudrich, the chief rabbi of Poland, said the remarks underscore an internal fight within the Catholic Church between supporters and opponents of that institution's reform about 50 years ago against anti-Semitism.

"I've never heard anything like this said," Schudrich told Kan. "What the bishop said goes against modern-day Catholic faith." Schudrich also said that the sermon shows "there is a problem that needs addressing inside the Catholic Church" in Poland, one of the European countries where the Catholic Church enjoys the highest levels of influence.


5. THEY CALLED HER FROM AUSCHWITZ BLOCK SHE SLEPT IN
by Arutz Sheva Staff

When the two grandchildren of Holocaust survivor Yaffa Shaindy Gutman traveled to the Auschwitz death camp as part of the program "Witness in uniforms" they called her together with all their friends from the very block she used to sleep in. Her excited response is hard to forget: "The glory of the State of Israel."

Gutman (nee Shapira) was born in Bragas, in the Carpathian Mountains of Hungary. She arrived at Auschwitz at the age of 17, along with her mother and some of her siblings. Many members of her community and her family perished on the death trains and later in Auschwitz.

When they reached Mengele, he directed her mother to the right. Yaffa Shaindy, who knew that her mother was sick and saw that all the sick people were directed to the left, said to Mengele: "She's sick." Mengele looked at her and said, "If you ask ... fine."

They slept in Block 9 in Auschwitz. Toward the end of the war, the Nazis marched them on a death march. A few minutes before the final liberation, when the exchange of fire between the Allied forces and the Germans was still taking place over their heads, her Aunt Klari was hit by a bullet in her head and perished.

Yaffa Sheindi survived, immigrated to Israel and established a wonderful family together with Baruch Gutman.

In the year 2016, two of her grandchildren went on a delegation of "Witnesses in uniform" of IDF officers to the death camps. They reached the ruins of Block 9 where she slept and called her from there. Yaffa Shaindy read a letter she had prepared over the phone and all the members of the unit called out "Am Yisrael Chai."

In the recorded conversation, Yaffa Sheindi asks, "Are there still Germans there? Are there guards? "

Her grandson, Yehuda Leibowitz, who took part in the journey as a reserve soldier, said later: "At that moment I didn't understand what Savta (Grandmother) asked. I only understood later. Today I'm shocked by my grandmother's question about the Nazi guards. Today I have to make an effort to remember how the gate of the camp's entrance looked. But Savta could never forget."

Yaffa Sheindi died last year, surrounded by a loving family, with more than 100 great-grandchildren. She always repeated to her family, "You are my revenge


6. ANTI-ISRAEL LEGISLATION SUBMITTED TO US CONGRESS
by Ben Ariel

New legislation proposed by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) on Wednesday would prohibit US funding to any foreign military that detains children, including Israel.

The bill, known as the Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act, H.R. 2407, would authorize the creation of an annual $19 million fund to support non-governmental organizations that monitor rights abuses pertaining to the Israeli military's alleged detention of children.

"Israel's system of military juvenile detention is state-sponsored child abuse designed to intimidate and terrorize Palestinian children and their families," McCollum said in a statement on Wednesday. "It must be condemned, but it is equally outrageous that US tax dollars in the form of military aid to Israel are permitted to sustain what is clearly a gross human rights violation against children."

"Peace can only be achieved by respecting human rights, especially the rights of children. Congress must not turn a blind eye to the unjust and ongoing mistreatment of Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation," continued McCollum.

"I strongly believe there is a growing consensus among the American people that the Palestinian people deserve justice, equality, human rights, and the right to self-determination. It is time to stand with Palestinians, Americans, Israelis, and people around the world to reject the destructive, dehumanizing, and anti-peace policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump," concluded the statement.

McCollum's bill cites a Human Rights Watch report from 2018 which said that Israel's military "detained Palestinian children often using unnecessary force, questioned them without a family member present, and made them sign confessions in Hebrew, which most did not understand."

The legislation faces an uphill battle in Congress where it is likely to face near-uniform opposition from both Democrats and Republicans.



7. WATCH: YAD VASHEM HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY CEREMONY
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/262538



8. WATCH: THOUSANDS AT MARCH OF THE LIVING
by Arutz Sheva Staff

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/262587

On Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom Hashoah), Thursday, May 2, under the theme "Say No To Anti-Semitism," more than 10,000 Jewish and non-Jewish youth from 40 countries and dozens of Holocaust survivors and dignitaries from around the world participated in the 31st annual International March of the Living to pay tribute to all victims of the Holocaust and call for an end to anti-Semitism.

A special delegation of US Ambassadors and White House representatives headed by the US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and a distinguished delegation honoring Greek Jewry, which was almost completely annihilated by the Nazis and their collaborators, headed by His All-Holiness Bartholomew I Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, and the Speaker of the Greek Parliament, Mr. Nikos Voutsis, joined the thousands of international participants on the 3-kilometer march from Auschwitz to Birkenau.

"In taking part in the March of the Living, you are marching at a time when a growing wave of anti-Semitism is yet again sweeping the world. But in truth, anti-Semitism never really disappeared – it simply lay barely hidden under the surface waiting for the right time to strike again. And strike it did – in deadly fashion – at the Eitz Chaim synagogue in Pittsburgh last year, and just a few days ago, on the last day of Passover, at the Chabad synagogue in Poway," said Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, Founder and Co-Chairman of the March of the Living, while addressing the participants just prior to the march.

"But today, on Yom Hashoah we gather together in Auschwitz to mourn our 6 million ancestors, a third of the entire Jewish people, who were murdered in the most unprecedented genocide in history. Today, we proclaim to our enemies with a loud and clear voice: We shall not be defeated! We will return here year after year to raise our voices against anti-Semitism and, indeed, against all forms of racism and hatred. As a survivor of Auschwitz once said, the only one thing worse than Auschwitz is if the world ever forgets that there was an Auschwitz. We promise to never allow that to happen."

Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog also led a Jewish Agency delegation behind a far-reaching international campaign against anti-Semitism. In addressing the crowd at Birkenau, Chairman Herzog called on world leaders to fight the rampant anti-Semitism erupting the world over, specifically highlighting the dramatic rise of hate crimes against Jews in Europe. "It cannot be that 74 years after this wretched war, Jews are once again unsafe on the streets of Europe. Jews cannot be murdered in Pittsburgh and Poway or anywhere! Let us heed the warning and take to heart the lessons of the Holocaust. World leaders must unite in zero tolerance for hate crimes of any kind."

His All-Holiness Bartholomew I Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch echoed the sentiments of those who spoke before him, urging global attention to the current egregious wave of unchecked racism and hate. "It is not enough to remember the victims of the Holocaust in the face of the hatred that is sweeping the world. Silence in the face of helpless suffering and the ideologies of racism and intolerance only exacerbates this problem," said the Archbishop. "We must do everything in our powers to prevent another tragedy like the Holocaust. The only way to accomplish this is by striking down all actions that are an afront to our basic humanity."

One day prior to the march, more than 200 young leaders from 10 countries – Jewish and non-Jewish – gathered at the Jageillonian University in Krakow, Poland, to take part in the first-ever 'Emerging Leadership Conference,' an initiative of the International March of the Living launched in response to the torrent of anti-Semitic events and growing global trend of hate crimes against Jews over the last two years. Following a wide-ranging discussion of the young leaders' responsibilities as the new frontline in the war against anti-Semitism, the students drafted a declaration that launched a campaign to rally the support of their peers around the world. The youth delegates read their declaration aloud for the first time at the closing ceremony.

"It has been said: 'The path to Auschwitz was built by hatred, but paved by indifference.' We have the ethical obligation not only as Jews but as human beings to transform the world we see into a place where we want to be," read youth delegates Eial Rosenzvit of Argentina, Noah Tradonsky of South Africa, and Sharon Ghelman of the United States. "Reaching that goal requires us to understand that simply refraining from evil will not allow our vision to reach fruition, for it is in the active pursuit of goodness and the relentless search for kindness that humanity may fulfill its potential. With this declaration we vow to be builders of the future, not victims of the past, and here today we pledge to stand tall in the face of bigotry, raise our voice against anti-Semitism, speak out against racism, and commit to loving all our neighbors as ourselves."

The ceremony also included the lighting of six torches, each one honoring a different group of Holocaust heroes: the Righteous Among the Nations, who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust; survivors of the Holocaust, who picked up the pieces of their shattered world and established new families after suffering through unspeakable horrors; the more than 1 million innocent Jewish children murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust; the countless numbers of rabbis, scholars and teachers murdered in the Holocaust, who dedicated their lives to teaching until the very last moments of their lives; the members of the resistance, who fought to liberate Europe from the hands of Nazi Germany; and those born in the State of Israel, where the Jewish people were reborn after the Holocaust.

Other high-profile marchers and participants include Prime Minister of Romania and President of Council of EU Viorica Dăncilă, Holocaust survivor and Former Israeli Chief Rabbi Israel Lau, who has accompanied every march since 1988, and members of the Premier League's Chelsea Football Club and Major League Soccer's New England Revolution, two professional soccer teams proudly supporting the #SayNoToAntisemitism campaign. In addition, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon led a delegation of dozens of UN ambassadors from around the world, including the ambassadors of Argentina, Latvia, Guatemala, and Honduras among others.

The International March of the Living is an immersive Holocaust education experience – the largest of its kind – that brings tens of thousands of individuals to Poland every year to examine the roots of prejudice, intolerance and hatred. Since its inception in 1988, more than 300,000 participants from 52 countries have marched down the same 3-kilometer path leading from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Holocaust Memorial Day as a tribute to all victims of the Holocaust. Over the last 30 years, high-profile participants have included Israeli Prime Ministers, Presidents, Members of Knesset, Chiefs of Staff, and Ministers, as well as Presidents, Ministers of Education, intellectuals, and educators from around the world.

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