Russian bill against denial of Holocaust and Nazi crimes gains initial approval
(JNS.org) Russian legislators have given initial approval to a bill against the “rehabilitations of Nazism” that will punish historians for denying Nazi crimes, including the Holocaust, Voice of Russia reported.
“Our country has not simply defended itself. We have defended the whole world from Nazism. Our people suffered the greatest casualties in this war. For us, the rehabilitation of Nazism will always be a crime against our country and our people,” said the head of Russia’s Lower House Committee for Security, Irina Yarovaya, one of the bill’s main sponsors.
If the bill passes, those convicted could face fines of up to 300,000 rubles ($8,300) or prison terms of up to three years. Those fines and prison terms increase for public officials or members of the media.
While the bill was first proposed several years ago, recent events in Ukraine led by anti-Russian protestors and the new government there, which Russian state propaganda has labeled as “fascists,” has caused renewed interest in this type of legislation.
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Israeli Arab lawyer indicted for aiding Hamas
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Haifa District Prosecution has indicted Mohammed Abed, a 42-year-old attorney from the village of Baana near the northern Israeli city of Acre, for a series of security offenses concerning his contacts with senior Hamas operatives.
A gag order placed on the case was partially lifted Monday, revealing that Abed was arrested Feb. 24 in a joint Israeli police, Shin Bet security agency, and Israel Defense Forces operation.
Abed was charged with multiple counts of contacting a foreign agent and providing services to an illegal association. The indictment alleged that for years, while legally representing Hamas members jailed in Israel, Abed has been a go-between for several senior Hamas operatives—including Abbas al-Sayed, who planned the 2002 Passover bombing at Netanya’s Park Hotel—and Hamas officials in Gaza and the West Bank.
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National Library of Israel acquires rare Montefiore family Passover Haggadah
(JNS.org) The National Library of Israel has acquired a rare Passover Haggadah that once belonged to well-known philanthropist Moses Montefiore, Israel Hayom reported.
The unique Haggadah is thought to have been printed in London in 1837 and is written in Hebrew with an English translation. The front of the book is adorned with the stylized Montefiore family’s symbol, which includes the word “Jerusalem.” On the cover, there is a note indicating that the book belongs to Montefiore.
Inside of the Haggadah, there is a hand-written dedication explaining that the book was given to Rabbi Joseph Myers, a friend of Montefiore’s. The dedication shows that the Haggadah was given to Myers on the eve of Passover in 1849 in the seaside town of Ramsgate, England, where Montefiore lived.
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New probe of former PM Ehud Olmert in full swing
(JNS.org) The Israeli Police National Fraud Unit on Monday questioned former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert—convicted of corruption last week—on suspicion of obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and suborning perjury in the Holyland trial.
The new allegations arose from tapes given to the State Attorney’s Office by Olmert’s former bureau chief, Shula Zaken, as part of a plea bargain she signed in the Holyland case, Israel Hayom reported.
A police source said Olmert has yet to be confronted with the information included on the tapes, and was asked what was described as “general questions about the various investigations held into his affairs over the past few years.”
The “Zaken diaries,” as they are now known, are journals in which Zaken documented various details concerning two other criminal cases for which she was named as Olmert’s co-defendant—the first involving cash payments Olmert allegedly received from American businessman Morris Talansky, and the second involving the fraudulent use of a double-billing system concerning his travels. The journals were excluded from the Holyland trial since Zaken exercised her right to remain silent.
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Ya’alon: ‘Every time, the Palestinians run away and try to blame us’
(JNS.org) The Palestinian Authority (PA) is a partner that only wants to receive, without giving anything in return, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Tuesday during a visit to northern Israel to observe a military exercise.
Ya’alon said that Israel is in the midst of a crisis with the Palestinians regarding the peace process, as in recent months, the PA has told Israel that it is not prepared to discuss recognition of a Jewish state or giving up the “right of return.”
“I’m not a prophet of doom, I’m a realist,” Ya’alon said. “Unfortunately, on this issue, I find myself saying repeatedly, ‘I told you so.’ I wish the situation was different.”
“Every time, the Palestinians run away and try to blame us,” he said.
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Israeli lunar mission, iCenter team to promote science and technology
(JNS.org) The iCenter, a national Israel education organization, has teamed up with SpaceIL, an Israeli nonprofit seeking to land the first Israeli spacecraft on the Moon, to develop a series of educational materials to engage North American Jewish students in Israeli science, technology, and space flight.
SpaceIL is the only Israeli team currently competing in the Google Lunar X Prize competition to become the first team to successfully land a robotic spacecraft on the Moon and send pictures back to Earth.
Anne Lanski, executive director of the Chicago-based iCenter, said in a statement that SpaceIL “represents an unprecedented opportunity to engage North American Jewish youth in an inspiring narrative of contemporary Israel.”
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Dutch Jesuit priest shot twice in the head in Syria
(JNS.org) Father Frans Van Der Lugt, a Dutch Jesuit priest, died after being shot twice in the head on Monday by an unknown assailant in the rebel-held Syrian city of Homs.
“A man came into his house, took him outside and shot him twice in the head. In the street in front of his house,” Jan Stuyt, secretary of the Dutch Jesuit Order, told AFP.
Van Der Lugt first arrived in Syria in 1966 after spending two years studying Arabic in Lebanon. He lived in a local Jesuit monastery where he ministered to local Christians and helped the poor.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Van Der Lugt refused to leave the besieged city as long as Christians remained there.
“If the Syrian people are suffering now, I want to share their pain and their difficulties,” Van Der Lugt told AFP in February.
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Israeli official says Assad used chemical weapons in late March
(JNS.org) The Syrian government used a non-lethal chemical weapon on March 27 near Damascus, according to an Israeli security official.
The Israeli government source said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used the weapon on rebel fighters in Harasta, a suburb of Damascus. The official said that the chemical “neutralizes but does not kill,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
According to Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Syria has destroyed all of its chemical weapons production centers and most of its ammunition designed to activate chemical weapons. Ya’alon believes that nearly 60 percent of Syria’s chemical materials have already been removed, Haaretz reported.
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Burgas bomber was Hezbollah operative, Bulgarian minister confirms
(JNS.org) Bulgaria’s interior minister said he is “certain” that Hezbollah was behind the summer 2012 Burgas bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian bus driver.
“All traces lead there,” Tsvetlin Yovchev said Monday, the Sofia News Agency reported. “What can we prove in court is another matter. If you’re asking me if I am certain of this—yes, I am.”
According to additional Bulgarian media reports, the suicide bomber was born in Algeria, later lived in Morocco, and trained with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
In February, Bulgarian authorities announced a third suspect had been found in addition to a Lebanese-Canadian man named El Hajj Hassan and his accomplice Meliad Farah, but the third suspect’s identity has not been revealed because the authorities are continuing their investigation.
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