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Massive US-Jordan exercise wraps up
Yesterday
The biggest international training exercise in Jordan’s history is wrapping up, with a clear and unmistakable military message sent east to Syria, and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
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Nazi henchman Laszlo Csatary is charged
Yesterday
98-year-old war-crimes suspect Laszlo Csatary has been formally charged by Hungarian prosecutors for his "wilful assist in the execution and torture of the Jews deported from Kosice, Slovakia to concentration camps in territories occupied by the Germans" in World War Two.
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Peres celebrates his 90th birthday
Yesterday
Israeli President Shimon Peres celebrated his 90th birthday in the presence of world leaders and international celebrities.
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Yemenis protest Guantanamo Bay prison
Yesterday
Dozens of Yemeni activists and family members of prisoners detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre have held a protest outside the American Embassy in Yemen’s capital.
After the Arab Spring: Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan says Israel has 'unique' opportunity for new regional alliances in a 'rapidly shifting Middle East'
Hydrocarbon policy: Israel to permit 40% gas exports from new gas finds and keep the remainder on the domestic market
Iran atomic dawn: Former US counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke says Israel is running out of time to deal with Tehran’s nuclear programme but that outright military intervention could have 'apocalyptic' consequences
Old prejudices: Holland’s deputy Prime Minister has condemns an anti-Semitic comment made on Dutch television about a concert by Barbra Streisand
Southern Comfort: Micky Arison’s Miami Heat beat San Antonio to level Championship series
Hydrocarbon policy: Israel to permit 40% gas exports from new gas finds and keep the remainder on the domestic market
Iran atomic dawn: Former US counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke says Israel is running out of time to deal with Tehran’s nuclear programme but that outright military intervention could have 'apocalyptic' consequences
Old prejudices: Holland’s deputy Prime Minister has condemns an anti-Semitic comment made on Dutch television about a concert by Barbra Streisand
Southern Comfort: Micky Arison’s Miami Heat beat San Antonio to level Championship series
Lonely Planet: Tel Aviv is world’s top party city
Lonely Planet has ranked Tel Aviv among its top 10 ultimate party cities, calling it 'Miami of the Middle East'.
Israel’s second city is renowned for its eclectic architecture, Bohemian spirit and its golden beaches, enjoyed by millions of the tourists who visit Israel each year.
Tel Aviv won the title in two nightlife categories: ‘Ultimate Party Cities’ and ‘Top Ten Hedonistic City Breaks’.
Residents of Tel Aviv are, according to the Lonely Planet guide, ‘oozing style and hungry for the finest art, fashion, cuisine and clubbing.’
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President Shimon Peres celebrates 90th birthday
Although it isn’t until August 2 nd , Israeli President Shimon Peres is celebrating his 90 th birthday a bit early this year. Many high profile guests are invited, including Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. Born on August 2 nd , 1923 in Poland, Peres is widely respected for his Middle East peace efforts.
He has been a Labour Party prime minister two times, but Peres never won a general election outright over five tries from 1977 to 1996. He was elected Israel’s president by parliament in 2007.
Peres was popular during his first term as prime minister in 1985 – 1986 where he improved relations with Egypt and cut inflation down from 445 percent a year to under 20 percent.
In 1994 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Peres took over after Rabin was shot dead in 1995, but 1996 saw an election loss to Benjamin Netanyahu.
In 2005 Peres surprised his supporters by leaving the Labour party to join the newly formed Kadima party that was established to end the conflict with the Palestinians.
As Israel’s president, Peres has promoted making peace with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas along with the isolation of Hamas.
Peres has written several books. He is married, with three children.
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NYC couple fight for WWII property
Since the 1989 democratic transition, Poland has pledged time after time to pass a law dealing with private property restitution from the Second World War . But no such law has passed and the number of heirs is fast dwindling. Still that hasn’t stopped a New York City couple from fighting for what they feel is their rightful property.
This yellowed schematic from 1929 outlines in rough detail the family property Lea Evron says belongs to her.
Lea Evron:
“Behind the building there was a little garden, and behind the garden was the factory that my father owned with his brother. And you know I have very nice memories from before the war, but that’s about it.”
Born to a Polish Jewish family in 1935, Lea was just four years old when the Nazis invaded. The Germans confiscated her father’s apartment house and factory in the southern city of Zywiec. Lea and her mother went into hiding -- her sister and father perished.
Lea Evron:
“When the communists came they took over the factory, and the -- as I was told -- some of the workers were living in the building, because when we came back we couldn’t get into our apartment.”
In the decades after the war, Lea hopscotched from Sweden to Switzerland to Israel and finally to the United States. And over the years, she and her husband Jehuda procured hundreds of pages of documents, including a deed that lists her as the rightful heir .
Jehuda Evron:
“We have all the deed and everything.”
- So you have all the paperwork?
Lea Evron:
“I have everything.”
Jehuda Evron:
“We have all the paperwork.”
Lea Evron:
“Everything.”
The documents fill drawers and shelves in the Evrons’ study. But because Poland has no mechanism for the reclamation of property seized during the war, Lea has so far been unsuccessful in her attempts to reclaim her father’s land -- despite multiple Polish court rulings in her favor.
Steven Schwager, World Jewish Restitution Organization:
“We know unofficially there are at least 40 thousand potential Jewish claims for heired property.”
Steven Schwager co-chairs the executive committee of the World Jewish Restitution Organization.
Steven Schwager, World Jewish Restitution Organization:
“The issue is not getting their property back and it’s not getting money for it. None of those things can make up for the horrors of the Holocaust. But it is a symbol of justice.”
Meanwhile, Jehuda and Lea have said they will continue their fight. Their children have pledged to carry the torch in the event of their deaths.
Jehuda Evron:
“You see, to give up, in my opinion, it’s not an option, because there’s too much of injustice.”
Lea Evron:
“And really why? Why? I mean, my father worked for it hard.”
Jehuda Evron:
“All his life!”
Lea Evron:
“All his life and his brother. Why should they get it? Why?”
Poland does have a law dealing with the restitution of communal property -- things like synagogues and schools, that were seized during the war. But the Polish Foreign Ministry says the courts are where private cases should be adjudicated, and that the legal situation of Jews is ‘no different from the situation of other persons.’
Stephen Fee, JN1 , New York
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7-11 exploits immigrants
The owners of over a dozen 7-Eleven stores in the United States have been accused of hiring illegal immigrants while forcing them to live in substandard housing, giving them stolen identities, and stealing their wages.
The nine people charged in the scheme ran 7-Eleven convenience stores in New York and Virginia. The scheme generated millions of dollars in profits. The immigrants were given identities stolen from more than 25 people, including dead people and children. Most were Pakistanis and Filipinos who had overstayed their visas. They were forced to work over 100 hours a week upon threats of deportation.
Federal agents have issued search warrants for about 30 other 7-Elevens across the country in an ongoing investigation. The nine defendants were charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud, identity theft, and harbouring illegal immigrants. If convicted they could each face 20 years in prison.