Archive find undermines claim Franco helped Jews

It was the list that would have sent thousands more Jews to their deaths in Auschwitz and other extermination camps run by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime during the second world war, but this time the victims were to be Spaniards.

The Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco, whose apologists usually claim that he protected Jews, ordered his officials to draw up a list of some 6,000 Jews living in Spain and include them in a secret Jewish archive.

That list was handed over to the Nazi architect of the so-called "final solution", the German SS chief Heinrich Himmler, as the two countries negotiated Spain's possible incorporation into the group of Axis powers that included Italy, according to the El País newspaper today.

The newspaper printed the original order, recently unearthed from Spanish archives, that instructed provincial governors to elaborate lists of "all the national and foreign Jews living in the province ... showing their personal and political leanings, means of living, commercial activities, degree of danger and security category".

Provincial governors were ordered to look out especially for Sephardic Jews, descendants of those expelled from Spain in 1492, because their Ladino language and Hispanic background helped them fit into Spanish society.

"Their adaptation to our environment and their similar temperament allow them to hide their origins more easily," said the order, sent out in May 1941.

Read the rest of the article in the Guardian

Original article in ElPais (unfortunately I do not understand Spanish, and although google translate could help me out here, I believe the Guardian summary will be sufficient for now.)

[Must read] a selection

Jewish conspiracy in Malaysian elections

BN, PR trade ‘Jewish’ jibes as campaign unfolds

The first day of the official Hulu Selangor campaign saw the main contenders, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, exchange allegations of Jewish links against each other in the race for the majority Malay vote.

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Muslims and Christians can't get along in Africa?
Christians, Muslims almost equal in numbers in Africa

Northern Africa is heavily Muslim and southern Africa is mostly Christian but where the two religions meet in a 4,000-mile belt from Somalia to Senegal has often turned violent, especially in Nigeria, where hundreds of Muslims and Christians have died since January fighting each other.
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Christians are less positive in their views of Muslims than Muslims are in their views of Christians," senior researcher Greg Smith said, adding that both Christians and Muslims also showed concern about extremism within their own ranks.

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Prosecuted Christians in Pakistan
Christian couple touches Qur‘an with dirty hands, gets 25 years in prison

A court in Kasur district, Punjab, convicted a Christian couple, Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi, to 25 years in prison. According to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), judge Ajmal Hussein convicted the couple for touching the Qur‘an without washing their hands.
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In the last two months, there were two more convictions against Christians in Pakistan.

On 11 January, a court in Faisalabad sentenced Imran Masih, a 26-year-old Christian man, to life imprisonment for insulting and desecrating the Koran. He was accused of deliberately burning Qur‘anic verses and an Arabic book in order “foment interfaith hatred and hurt the feelings of Muslims.”

On 25 February, a court in Karachi sentenced Qamar David, also a Christian, to life imprisonment for hurting the religious feelings of Muslims when he sent blasphemous SMS.

CLAAS announced that it was filing an appeal with the High Court in Lahore to have the 25-year sentence against Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi overturned.

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"Can we be moral without science? I think not."
Science allows society to maintain its moral thread

Can science help us be moral? Yes, science frees our intellect from inadequate morals which have impeded humanity and provides knowledge from which we make better moral decisions. We should not perceive science and religion as opposing principles, but as complementary choices - compatible pathways to progress. Perhaps a more important question is, can we be moral without science? In today's scientific era, I think not.

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An Israeli monument to the perished Iraqi Jews
ISRAEL: New monument pays tribute to old hurt of Iraqi Jews

When talking about life in the old country, Israel's Iraqi-born Jews acknowledge two eras: before the Farhoud, and after. In June 1941, during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, nearly 200 of Baghdad's Jews were slain in a killing rampage that went on for several days. Things were never the same after the pogrom that marked the beginning of the end of the Jewish community that had lived in Iraq since antiquity. Most of Iraq's Jews -- about 150,000 -- left for Israel within a few years of the massacre.
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In 1969, dwindled Iraqi Jewry suffered another shock, when nine men from Baghdad and Basra were rounded up and accused of spying for Israel.

Shi'a Wakf claims that Ezekiel's shrine is Muslim

In the week that Jews read the Biblical story of Ezekiel's valley of dry bones, there are resurgent fears that the Shi'a Wakf (religious endowment) wishes to turn the shrine of the Jewish Prophet Ezekiel into a mosque.

(Sign the petition!)

Two activists on behalf of the preservation of the shrine, at Kifl south of Baghdad, Mr Maurice Shohet from New York and Professor Shmuel Moreh, an Israeli emeritus professor of Iraqi origin, sent Point of No Return an article published on 2 April in the respected Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat in London and on the Sawt al-'Iraq site (The Voice of Iraq) in Baghdad. The article proves that the Islamic authorities consider that the tomb of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel is an exclusively Muslim shrine.

"That being the case, we find that we have to appeal to international authorities such as UNESCO, the US and European governments to redouble their efforts to save the Jewish character of Ezekiel's tomb," says Professor Moreh.

Religious authorities in Iraq are determined to convert the tomb of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel into a mosque after deleting Hebrew inscriptions, according to Al-Hayat and Sawt al-'Iraq. But a debate is still raging about the ownership of the shrine, and some Iraqis are prepared to stand up for Jewish interests.

The newspaper quotes the official in charge of the Shi'a Waqf (Endowment), Salih al-Haydari, who denies that the shrine belongs to the Jews. He says that the tomb is that of Dhu al-Kifl, a prophet mentioned in the Koran - proof enough that the site belongs to the Muslims. Recent excavations at the site, he claims, prove that it is not a Jewish site, although the findings have not yet been published!

The Shi'a Waqf in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is currently restoring the shrine. The foundations of the site have always been at risk from flooding and its minaret is in imminent danger of collapse.

However Mrs Mariam Omran, director of the Babylon heritage site, points out that Iraqi Jews used to visit Ezekiel's shrine up until their migration in the mid-20th century. "The removal of Hebrew writings and inscriptions is part of the process of erasing the memory of religious minorities who were the original inhabitants of Iraq and other parts of the Middle East," she says.

Mrs Omran says that the authorities responsible for preserving Iraq's ancient heritage have come under pressure from Islamists to remove Hebrew words and ornamentation, in readiness for the building of a mosque over the tomb of Ezekiel.

The article points out that the tomb was not previously of interest to Muslims until 2003, when the Shi'a Waqf started campaigning for the restoration of the site.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Tourism has denied reports that the character of the shrine is being altered. The tomb is being faithfully restored using original materials and old photographs, he claims.

The Department of Antiquities and Heritage has allocated about 250 million dinars for restoration work and maintenance, which began in the summer of 2008. A spokesman claims that the Muslim prophet Dhu al-Kifl is the same person as the Jewish prophet Ezekiel, who was taken prisoner by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 589 BC.

The shrine dates back to the 14th century. The Ottoman period witnessed a struggle for control between Jews and Muslims. Most of the buildings and surrounding shops belong to Jewish families and rent is still being paid to the landlords in Israel and European countries.

Read article (in Arabic)

Please sign petition to save Ezekiel's Shrine

(Copied from Point of no Return)

See also:
* Iraqi intellectuals to inspect state of Ezekiel's tomb
* What about Ezekiel's tomb, Irina Bokova?
* Why digital mapping might save Ezekiel's tomb
* Iraq will 'entrust shrine to international authorities'
* Ezekiel's shrine has suffered 'irreversible damage'
* Save Ezekiel's tomb before it's too late
* Islamic parties plan to de-Judaise Ezekiel's shrine
* A 1910 visit to the tomb of Ezekiel
* Muslims 'planning a mosque' on the tomb of Ezekiel
and many more

Secular western tolerance for Muslim intolerance

Seculars in the west are often quick to condemn any expression of 'Jewish bigotry', while ignoring the antisemitism rampant in the Arab press and media. Where is their contextual counterbalance?

"The mainstream media in the United States is quick to denounce any perceived affronts to Arab or Islamic culture, and just as quick to condemn any alleged expressions of Jewish or Israeli chauvinism. But the media is reluctant to criticize antisemitic expressions from Arab or Muslim sources, draw any connection between Islamism and terrorism, acknowledge the history of Arab expansion and colonialism, or discuss the supremacist implications of jihad – even as it openly plays out in Europe. Rather, liberal pundits often wax dreamily poetic when discussing the so-called “golden age of Islam” or the myth of Islamic tolerance. Moreover, they tend to rationalize any antisemitic or anti-Western expressions in the Arab world as reactions to Israeli intransigence or American colonialism.

In reality, there was no real sense of tolerance for “infidels” in the Arab-Muslim world. Historically, Jews in Arab lands were relegated to the status of dhimmi who often lived in ghettos, were endowed with few if any substantive rights, and were subject to the whim and whimsy of their hostile neighbors. Although many in the West believe that Jewish life was more tolerable through the ages in the Islamic lands, the general treatment of Jews there was in fact not much different than in Christian Europe, and sometimes was even worse.

During the early Islamic period, for example, Jews were required to wear distinctive badges or metal seals around their necks, and starting in the 9th Century the Caliphate in Baghdad required Jews to wear the yellow badge – a practice that was later adopted in Christian Europe during the Middle Ages. Starting in the year 1005, the Jews of Egypt were required to wear bells on their garments, and in Medieval Baghdad they were often physically branded. In many Arab countries Jews were required to live in ghettos and were not permitted to use the same public bath houses as Muslims. At various times throughout Islamic history, Jews of the Mideast and North Africa were subjected to pogroms, massacres and forced conversions just as they were in Europe.

Despite the fantasy of the “Golden Age of Spain” when Jews were supposedly free, equal and prosperous, Iberian Jewry often fared little better in Muslim Spain than in Christian Europe. The reality was famously evidenced by the experience of Maimonides. Despicable though the anti-Jewish policies of the Catholic Church may have been, the Rambam and his family were exiled from their native Cordoba not because of Christian persecution, but because the conquering Almohads gave the Jewish community the choice of conversion to Islam or death.”

Read post in full

And not only concerning Jews, also concerning Muslim women the secular western world is deafening silent. Some of the videos you are about to see in this youtube playlist of Women and Islam are graphic:

Amazing LIFE pictures of Israel 1948

I already mentioned before the LIFE archives, which you can access through Google. Today, I came across this weblog which shows (some of?) the collection LIFE has of Israel in 1948.

See:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

See also:

Israel in 1960

And I could not help, but notice the following question relating to the post:
Micky Schwarz 09.20.2009 at 10:00 am

Where are the Jewish refugees from Jerusalem today? Have they ever been recognized as refugees by the UN? And their descendants in second, third and fourth generation, are they recognized as refugees?

which got an excellent reply by Sheila Raviv 09.27.2009 at 3:48 am:

Many families still live in Jerusalem, some even returned to their former homes but are considered “settlers” and occupiers for doing so. Jewish refugees have never been recognised as such by any organisation except after WW2; not the refugees from Arab occupation of Jerusalem nor those who fled persecution from Arab countries and found refuge in Israel. At one time we refused to call them refugees since they were considered as coming home but this apparently back fired since neither their refugee status nor their homecoming were recognised!

Only 12 % Moroccan Muslims feel 'close' to Jews

Despite Morocco's long symbiosis with the Jews, the average Moroccan identifies more closely with an Afghan Muslim than a Moroccan Jew. This is one of the findings in Paul Vermeren's new book, Le Maroc de Mohammed Vl: La transition inacheve. Editions la Decouverte) summarised in Information Juive (July/August 2009). Here is a potted translation:

Morocco is something of an exception in the Arab world. It's got the largest Jewish community - 2,500 ( which is not saying much when you consider it once had 260,000 - ed). It attracts 5,000 Israeli-Moroccan visitors every year. The Moroccans are the second biggest community in Israel - after the Russians. In spite of Morocco's passionate support for the Palestinian cause, Morocco has always kept channels open to Israel. The liaison office was closed in 2000 due to the intifada, but in 2003, Mohammed Vl received the Israeli foreign minister.

Morocco knows that it suffered a tremendous loss with the rapid exodus of this hardworking but mostly very poor population. Seventy percent went to Israel, with the remainder moving to France, Canada and the US. The country is proud of its Jewish sons 'done good' abroad, be it an Israeli minister or an artist like the stand-up comic Gad Elmaleh.

The problem for Morocco's Jews has been the constant conflation in Muslim minds of 'Jew' with 'Zionist' and 'Israeli'. This confusion caused a profound unease, and hastened the departure of young Jews. They were off as soon as they had their school-leaving certificate in their pockets. Much blame lies with antisemitic textbooks, but no-one dares turn the clock back.

Several groups have tried to reverse this state of affairs - a handful of Jewish anti-Zionist and Marxist intellectuals (A. Serfaty, E Amrane El Maleh, Sion Assidon, Simon Levy) stayed on in Morocco and have been especially active. Another group of Moroccan-born French interface between the palace, business interests abroad and western allies like France,the US and Israel.

Moroccan intellectuals such as Mohammed Kenbib, Mohammed Hatmi and Jamaa Baida, together with Hebrew language specialists in Arabic studies departments and journalists, try to keep the memory of a shared past alive. Tel Quel (November 2008) published a supplement called 'The Jew within us: at the heart of Moroccan identity'.

But a survey on religious attitudes in 2007 showed the limitations of such an approach: 63 percent of all Moroccans questioned felt closer to a Muslim Afghan than to a Moroccan Jew (12 percent). The exodus of the Jews from towns and villages has given way to an antisemitism largely fed by anti-Israeli feeling. If the younger generation only rediscovered the forgotten Jewish element of their national identity might the dam be shored up - assuming that the state is willing to incorporate it in its school textbooks and syllabi.

Source: Point of No Return

Poet masks Israeli ID to win Arab prize

One name sticks out from the list of winners in the prestigious El Hizjra poetry competition intended for Dutch Arabs, which was announced last week -Tuvit Shlomi, press officer for Holland's largest Zionist group.
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Although the competition is intended for Arabs, it is open to anyone. Past winners include renowned Dutch authors such as Abdelkader Benali, Mohammed Benzakour, and Rashid Novaire.
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She is the daughter of a Jewish-Dutch mother and an Israeli father who immigrated to Holland. Her parents met in Israel after her mother immigrated here. The couple then moved to Holland to study and ended up staying. "Winning the competition is an opportunity for me to show that I'ma rooted in the Middle East just as much as the other applicants. That Israel is for me what Morocco is for them," said Shlomi, who had lived in Israel for a year, frequently visits the country and speaks fluent Hebrew.
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The pseudonym which Shlomi selected was Wallada bint al-Mustaqfi, an opinionated 11th century Arab-Andalucian poetess and proto-feminist who spurned the hijab, kept multiple lovers and embroidered fragments of her poetry onto her clothes. "Her message is something well-worth remembering, especially today," Shlomi said.

Read the whole article

TuningBAGHDAD.net - An audio-visual collection from the Iraqui Jewish music scene

Tuning Baghdad brings together a growing archive of rare video footage, audio clips and historical information on Iraqi Jewish musicians and the music scene that was displaced from Baghdad in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The last generation of Iraqi Jewish musicians who performed in Baghdad, now in their 70s and 80s, represent an era when an unusually large number of the Iraqi-Jews were composing and performing Arabic music. For decades, these musicians were the national teachers and beloved performers of Iraq’s traditional maqams and modern compositions on Iraq’s National Broadcast Station.
Many of these Iraqi musicians and enthusiasts now live in Israel, England or North America where they trade home-made cassettes and organize musical parties at which this international community comes together. The musicians continue to play and produce an Arabic repertoire of Iraqi folk songs, popular Egyptian and Lebanese songs as well as Iraqi-Jewish ceremonial songs at weddings and Bar-Mitzvahs. The video chapters on this website feature intimate performances, conversations in Iraqi-Jewish dialect, and rehearsals with key musicians, fans, historians and ethnomusicologists. They also feature home-movies of ‘Charlghis’ from the 1970s until today. The podcasts and links accompanying each video act as tangents, providing an expanded layer to the performers, the songs, and their lyrics. To accommodate this complex scene, the audio/visual component will be regularly updated with donations of rare cassettes and footage.

Source: Salon Jewish Studies Digest

Men and women not separated at Western Wall

Again I stumbled upon an old picture on which clearly can be seen that men and women were not praying separately at the Western Wall as they do nowadays:


Source: Ynet

Collections of must-reads

Already tense relations between Egypt and Hamas have soured after Cairo for the first time openly accused the Islamists of torpedoing Palestinian reconciliation talks.

Finally there is more discussion about Jewish refugees from Arab countries after Guardian posted in article about what Obama can do for the Middle East. Professor Geoffrey Alderman started it at Dec 04 08, 3:05pm. Read it all and contribute.

Sad news in the physics world: CERN has issued its final report on the failure of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and has said that the device cannot be restarted before June 2009.

Not sad news in the field of astronomy, however:
Astronomers have used light echoes from a supernova explosion as a time machine to look again at a historic stellar event first witnessed on Earth more than 400 years ago. The brilliant 'new star' appeared in the sky in 1572 and was so bright it could be seen during the day. It was observed and charted by astronomer Tycho Brahe who discovered it was far away from the moon. [sure it was far away from the moon, hehe]

Jewish history in Jerusalem in pictures

Found this terrific old photo of Jews praying at the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem (dated at 1896) in the LIFE archives.

And searching further I also found these interesting pictures:

"Arabs Sack The Holy City. Terrified young Jewish girl Rachel Levy, 7, fleeing fr. street w. burning bldgs. as the Arabs sack the Holy City after its surrender during Palestinian Civil war." - Israel, May 28, 1948

"Jewish families waiting outside their homes to be evacuated by Arab troops." - Jerusalem, June 1948.

"Rubble lying in the streets after Arab looting of Jewish homes." - Jerusalem, June 1948

You might wonder why they had to leave their homes in (East) Jerusalem in the first place and why their houses got looted and this part of the city sacked and why these pictures are not spread all over the world....
Soooo, for the sake of neutrality, I'll publish them :)

(note the caption stating Palestinain Civil War)