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The infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign stolen last December from Auschwitz and broken into three pieces has been returned to the museum at the site of the Nazi death camp.

Police, who had quickly recovered the damaged sign after its theft, gave it to museum officials at a brief Jan. 21 ceremony in Krakow. It was then taken to the museum 50 miles away, where conservation experts examined the three dark steel pieces of the sign, whose cynical Nazi slogan means “Work Sets You Free.”

Thieves had cut up the sign at the site of the death camp the night of their heist to make it easier to transport in their getaway car.

Five Polish suspects have confessed to stealing it on Dec. 18. However, officials earlier this week were still seeking a suspected neo-Nazi from Sweden who is believed to have ordered the theft, possibly for a collector of Nazi memorabilia, prosecutors said.

Auschwitz spokesman Pawel Sawicki said officials must still decide whether to eventually put back the original sign or leave up the replica now in its place.

See related articles posted December 19, 2009 and January 9, 2010.

By Roger Boyes, www.TimesOnline.co.uk

The sign was broken into three pieces.

A former leading European neo-Nazi has claimed that he was the middleman in the theft of the Auschwitz sign bearing the three most powerful words from the Holocaust: “Arbeit Macht Frei”.

According to Polish and Swedish investigators, the theft was organised by Anders Hoegstrom — who set up the virulently anti-immigrant National Socialist Front in Sweden in the 1990s. “My role was to get the sign in Poland,” he told the Swedish tabloid Expressen. “I was the middleman and was supposed to take care of the sale.”

Mr Hoegstrom claims that he turned himself in to the Swedish authorities when he suddenly became aware that the sign was to be sold to a collector and the money used to fund a campaign to disrupt the Swedish election campaign this year, if necessary with violence.

“That was not something I wanted to be involved in or carry out in any way,” he said.

The wrought-iron lettering — meaning Work Sets You Free — was nailed by the Nazis to the gate leading into the concentration camp where more than a million Jews were killed.

The sign was stolen last month by a gang of five Poles, apparently to be shipped to Sweden and then sold. It has since been recovered and the gang believed to be responsible is under arrest.

The Swedish intelligence agency SaePo has confirmed that it is investigating reports of a neo-Nazi plot to blow up the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, and the home of the Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt. The leader of the Polish gang, named only as Marcin A by the Polish authorities, got to know Mr Hoegstrom two years ago while doing odd jobs on his family estate in southern Sweden.

When Mr A returned to his small building company in Poland, the two men stayed in touch.

Last autumn Mr A received word from Sweden that he should put together a group of experienced thieves to unscrew the sign and smuggle it out of the country.

The gang, aged between 25 and 39, with nicknames such as “Old Mouse” and “Sparrow”, realised that it was out of its depth when the theft on December 18 prompted an international outcry and a nationwide manhunt. The sign had been broken into three parts and hidden in woodland. Communication was reportedly then made between the Poles and Mr Hoegstrom, and the Swede decided to turn himself in to the police.

“I contacted the police immediately as soon as the sign was stolen and gave them all the information I had,” he said. “I haven’t committed any crime. I was the one who saw to it that the sign was found.”

The plot then thickens and indeed begins to resemble the bestselling thrillers of Stieg Larsson, who first made his name as a journalist investigating the far-right fringe in Swedish politics. Sweden’s neo-Nazi movement has shown itself capable of violence in the past. In 1999, for example, far-right attackers shot the trade unionist Bjoern Soederberg.

It was this and other attacks that spurred the journalistic endeavours of Mr Larsson — who worked for a while as the Scandinavian correspondent for the Britsh anti-fascist magazine Searchlight — and persuaded Mr Hoegstrom to change sides.

He renounced his party, which has since splintered and renamed itself, and now co-operates with a group that helps former neo-Nazis to return to normal life.

This leaves several questions unanswered. Why should Mr Hoegstrom be involved in such a high-profile and apparently ideologically driven theft if he has renounced his ways? Who was being lined up to be the final buyer of the sign? And who, if anybody, was really trying to raise cash to blow up parliament?

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Anti-Semitism is being used to delegitimize the State of Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said recently.

Speaking at the Foreign Ministry’s third annual Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, Lieberman said “classic anti-Semitism, along with Iranian funding and Islamic anti-Semitism, is being used to incite hatred against Jews, and to delegitimize the State of Israel.”

He said that global anti-Semitism had “crossed the line,” and that those behind the effort were “seeking to destroy the Jewish state piece by piece… using academic boycotts and economic sanctions.” He also noted “human rights groups’ effort to deny Israel legitimacy by pushing the United Nations Security Council to adopt the Goldstone Report,” which accused Israel of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.

“Modern anti-Semitism,” the foreign minister asserted, “has taken on the form of being anti-Israel… Instead of saying ‘throw the Jews into the sea,’ they talk of a world without Zionism, and without Israel.”

Referring to the matter of Iran, Lieberman said, “It’s scary that 60 years after the horrors of the Holocaust, we see examples of anti-Semitism being funded by Iran.” He added that the Islamic republic “denies the Holocaust, calls for the destruction of Israel, and is trying to achieve nuclear capability. These efforts remind us of [the Nazis' rise to power] 70 years ago.”

According to the registration list, over 500 participants to attended the two-day conference at Jerusalem’s Crowne Plaza Hotel. Delegations comprising diplomats, academics, and policy makers from the United States, Germany, France, Hungary, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Venezuela, and Argentina were listed on the GFCA roster.

Also speaking at the conference was Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, who cited anti-Semitic attacks around the world in the past year, noting that they took place “in 2009, not 1937.”

He too spoke of a change in the nature of anti-Semitism: “No longer permissible to openly proclaim hatred of the Jews? So the anti-Semite must seek new forms and forums to release his poison.”

“No longer politically correct to openly hate Jews? So he has repackaged his hate, and in doing so has been able to gain endorsement from academics, media outlets, and even political parties.”

Edelstein went on to tell delegates that Israel had become the focus of global anti-Semitism, saying, “There are no more Jews. Instead there are Israelis. [So, the anti-Semite claims that] Israeli soldiers kill babies; Israeli soldiers attack pregnant mothers; Israelis started wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

During his travels abroad, the minister said, he often heard people expressing support for the creation of a Palestinian state, as well as the removal of the Jewish state, which they called “inherently racist.” In response to such sentiments, Edelstein said, “I do not know if a more contradictory, irrational, and illogical argument has ever been made in the same sentence. The Palestinians are a people and therefore deserve a state. The Jews are a people, and therefore should not be allowed to have a state.”

He concluded his address by stressing the need for education on tolerance, saying, “It is our moral duty to educate our children about anti-Semitism and the evils of senseless hatred.”

By Vanessa Gera And Ryan Lucas, Associated Press

This two photo combination shows above: a Polish Police handout showing the entrance to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz Birkenau, without the Nazi infamous iron sign inscription declaring 'Arbeit Macht Frei', German translated to 'Work Sets You Free', which was stolen from the entrance of the former Auschwitz death camp, Polish police said, in Oswiecim, southern Poland, Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. The photo below shows an exact replica of the sign, produced when the original received restoration work years ago, which was quickly hung in its place, Friday Dec. 18, 2009. (AP Photo)

OSWIECIM, Poland – Thieves stole the notorious sign bearing the cynical Nazi slogan “Work Sets You Free” from the entrance to the former Auschwitz death camp on Friday, December 18, cutting through rows of barbed wire and metal bars before making their escape through the snow.

The brazen seizure of one of the Holocaust’s most chilling symbols brought worldwide condemnation.

“The theft of such a symbolic object is an attack on the memory of the Holocaust, and an escalation from those elements that would like to return us to darker days,” Yad Vashem [Israel’s Holocaust Museum] Chairman Avner Shalev said in a statement from Jerusalem.

“I call on all enlightened forces in the world who fight against anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and the hatred of the other, to join together to combat these trends.”

The 16-foot sign bearing the German words “Arbeit Macht Frei” — “Work Sets You Free” — spanned the main entrance to the Auschwitz death camp, where more than 1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed during World War II.

Working under the cover of darkness and timing their theft between regular security patrols, the culprits unscrewed the 90-pound steel banner on one side and tore it off on the other, then carried it 300 yards to an opening in a concrete wall.

The opening, which had been left intentionally to preserve a poplar tree dating back to the war, was blocked by four metal bars, which the thieves cut. Footprints in the snow led to the nearby road, where police believe the sign was loaded onto a vehicle.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who spoke with Israeli President Shimon Peres about the theft, ordered authorities to do all in their power to recover the sign swiftly and catch the perpetrators. “I treat this as a priority,” Tusk said.

Police deployed 50 officers, including 20 detectives, and a search dog to the Auschwitz grounds, where barracks, watchtowers and rows of barbed wire stand as testament to the atrocities of Nazi Germany.

The sign disappeared between 3:30 a.m. and 5 a.m., a police spokeswoman said. Authorities were reviewing footage from a surveillance camera that overlooks the entrance gate and the road beyond, but declined to say whether the crime was recorded or if the suspects could be seen in the darkness.

However, Auschwitz memorial director Piotr Cywinski told reporters the camera broadcasts live images on the Internet and the footage is not recorded. He announced a $34,000 reward for information leading to the sign’s recovery and the apprehension of the culprits.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called the theft a “disgraceful act.”

Poland’s chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, said he had trouble imagining who was behind the theft.

“If they are pranksters, they’d have to be sick pranksters, or someone with a political agenda. But whoever has done it has desecrated world memory,” Schudrich said.

He said the theft could have been committed by neo-Nazi extremists, or even people scheming to sell the sign on the black market.

British historian Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War and other books about World War II, said the sign would generate huge interest on the burgeoning market for Nazi memorabilia.

“This is the biggest thing to happen in that sinister black market in a long time,” Roberts said. “I fear that this being the ultimate image of the Holocaust that it’s been stolen to order by a collector of Nazi paraphernalia.”

He said the market for Nazi goods started in the 1960s and is centered in Germany—where it is illegal—Britain, and the United States.

“When one thinks about what the medals and weapons of the Third Reich are worth, you can imagine what this would be worth to a seriously warped person,” he said.

An exact replica of the sign, produced when the original underwent restoration work years ago, was quickly hung in its place.

After occupying Poland in 1939, the Nazis established the Auschwitz I camp in the southern Polish city of Oswiecim, which initially housed German political prisoners and non-Jewish Polish prisoners.

In 1940, Nazi guards ordered the Polish inmates to make the sign with its cruelly ironic slogan, museum spokesman Pawel Sawicki said.

Two years later, hundreds of thousands of Jews began arriving by cattle trains to the wooden barracks of nearby Birkenau, also called Auschwitz II, where most were killed in gas chambers.

The slogan “Arbeit Macht Frei” appeared at the entrances of other Nazi camps, including Dachau and Sachsenhausen, but the long curving sign at Auschwitz is the best known.

Friday’s theft was the first major act of vandalism at the site, which previously has suffered graffiti, including spray-painted swastikas.

In Jerusalem, the International Auschwitz Committee said the theft “deeply unsettles the survivors.”

“The sign has to be found,” said Noach Flug, an Auschwitz survivor. “The slogan and the camp itself will tell what happened even when we won’t be able to tell any more.”

Other Holocaust memorials have suffered neo-Nazi vandalism. Sachsenhausen on the outskirts of Berlin was attacked in 1992, when two barracks were set on fire. That crime remains unsolved.

By Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Jennifer Packer,   www.TheIsraelProject.org

Photos of Israeli naval force intercepting ship with 500 tons of arms (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

A cargo ship filled with tons of Iranian weaponry en route to Iran-backed terror groups that was intercepted Tuesday (Nov. 3) 100 miles (161 km) from Israel’s coast provides further evidence of the Islamic Republic’s status as the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. The ship, carrying hundreds of tons of advanced weaponry and missiles,[1] including Katyusha rockets, assault rifles, mortar shells, grenades, and anti-aircraft platforms, was to be delivered to the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.[2]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (Nov. 5) said Iran’s attempted shipment of arms to terrorists – and the Islamic Republic’s intent to kill Israeli civilians — was a war crime the UN Security Council should investigate. “Their goal was… to kill as many civilians as possible,” Netanyahu said. The weapons shipment also constitutes yet another breach of UN Security Council resolutions 1747 and 1701, which forbid the Islamic Republic from exporting or trading weapons.

Also on Nov. 3, Israeli military intelligence revealed that the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas successfully tested a rocket with a range of up to 37 miles (60 km), which places Israel’s second largest city Tel Aviv within firing range.[3] Hamas also possesses other Iranian-manufactured rockets like the Fajr-3, which has a range of up to 29 miles (47 km).[4]

Since 2001, Iran-backed terrorist groups have fired over 12,000 rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israel.[5] Hezbollah launched over 4,000 rockets into Israel in 2006 during Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah, also known as the Second Lebanon War, and has stockpiled more than 20,000 rockets in southern Lebanon since the end of the war.[6]

Following is important background information about Iran’s financial support of terrorism worldwide.

Iran: Leading State Sponsor of Terror Across the Globe

Iran is widely recognized as the world’s leading state sponsor of international terrorism.[7] Both directly and indirectly, Iran funds, trains and arms groups that share the regime’s stated goal of destroying Israel and the West, as well as overthrowing regimes in Muslim countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia[8]. These groups include Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.[9] Iran also provides support to insurgent groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan which have inflicted casualties on American, British, Australian and other multinational forces.[10]

Iran is expanding its terror network beyond the Middle East, using Hezbollah and splinter groups of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to recruit and train sleeper cells in foreign countries.[11] The terror network that Iran has created and continues to sustain, combined with the regime’s determination to become a nuclear power, is a serious international security issue and a growing global concern.[12]

FBI officials have also noted that Hezbollah has a sizeable presence in the United States, and suspects that Hezbollah may be planning to activate sleeper cells in the New York City area.[13]

Iran poses different threats to nations and regions across the globe.

Middle East

The terrorist group Hezbollah, which operates primarily out of Lebanon, is one of Tehran’s primary weapons against Israel and Western interests in the region. Iran helped found, organize and train Hezbollah and gives the group over $200 million a year,[14] in addition to an estimated $300 million after the war with Israel in 2006.[15] It also continues to provide arms to the group,[16] despite the demands of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. [17]

Since Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah in 2006, Iran has replenished Hezbollah’s arsenal of artillery rockets, and has supplied more advanced anti-tank weapons and surface-to-air missiles.[18] At least 4,500 Hezbollah operatives have received intensive training from Iran.[19] In August 2009, Egypt intercepted a group of Hezbollah militant cells planning the assassination of Israel’s ambassador to Egypt, as well as its link to another group planning on targeting Israeli tourists to Jordan.[20] That same month, Egypt was hit by a barrage of mortars launched by militant Islamic groups in Gaza.[21]

Iran also supports Palestinian terror groups opposed to a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.[22] From 1993-2006, Iran provided approximately $30 million in annual subsidies to Hamas.[23] Since Hamas’ electoral victory in 2006, Iran has transferred several hundred million dollars annually to Hamas.[24] The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has trained approximately 950 Hamas terrorists in rocket and bomb construction, tactical warfare, weapons operation and sniper tactics.[25]

Iran also provides the vast majority of Hamas’ weaponry.[26] Since Israel’s defensive Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, Iran has supplied Hamas with advanced weaponry, including dozens of Iranian-produced 122mm Grad rockets which have significantly increased the range of Hamas’ rocket arsenal.[27] During the operation, the Iranians claimed that more than 70,000 Iranian college students from universities throughout Iran volunteered to serve as suicide bombers to carry out attacks against Israel. The rush of volunteerism came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a religious decree stating that anyone who carried out an attack against Israel on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza would be considered a martyr.[28]

In 2002, the Israeli Navy intercepted “Karin A,” a ship carrying 50 tons of advanced weaponry and rockets supplied by Iran and Hezbollah that was bound for Palestinian terrorist groups through Gaza’s waterway.[29]

Iraq

In Iraq, Iran has fomented violence by giving insurgents about $3 million monthly and providing arms and training for them.[30] Iranian-supplied explosively formed penetrators (EFP’s) are a serious concern for U.S. soldiers; the weapons were responsible for 18 percent of U.S. combat deaths in the last quarter of 2006, and 30 percent in -dominated areas.[31] In July 2007, Iran planned an operation that killed five American servicemen, according to the U.S. Army.[32] Shia groups now use Fajr-3 rockets bearing the markings of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard dated 2007, and Hezbollah also uses the Fajr-3.[33] Attacks on U.S. bases have included the use of these rockets as well.[34] Iran has sought to provoke sectarian violence in Iraq, and to that end, arms Sunni groups as well.[35] Iran has sent revolutionary guard units to Iraq to train Shia militia fighters,[36] and sent explosive-laden motorcycles across the border.[37]

Afghanistan

Iran arms the Taliban’s campaign against NATO forces and civilians in Afghanistan even as it publicly supports Hamid Karzai’s government.[38] Iran provides the Taliban with 107mm mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, C-4 explosives and small arms.[39] Iran also gave the Taliban surface-to-air missiles, which they use against British troops.[40] Iran is the main supporter of Hekmatyar,[41] a major warlord and drug trafficker.

Europe and beyond

Europe serves as a popular location for Hezbollah operatives to conduct fundraising activities, accruing an estimated $198 million a year.[42] E.U. officials have identified 900 Hezbollah terrorists residing in Germany and sleeper cells in 20 E.U. nations.[43] Hezbollah cells are using key European capitals as intelligence-gathering centers. In 2008, evidence suggested Hezbollah had planned terrorist attacks in Rome and Paris, as well as the kidnapping of major figures.[44]

Iran has worked directly and through proxies, including small groups linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, to recruit potential suicide bombers to attack Israel, Europe and the United States. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has praised martyrdom as an “eternal art.”[45] The Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign, backed by the regime and linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, has reportedly enlisted 40,000 people to carry out suicide attacks.[46]

Iran maintains terrorist training camps within its borders and abroad. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, an extra-territorial arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, operates 20 known terrorist training camps and centers.[47] Hamas, Hezbollah and groups in Iraq send fighters to camps in Iran for months and even years of intensive training. Through Hezbollah, Iran trains insurgents in Iraq.[48]

During the 1990s, Iran sent arms to the Muslim-led Bosnian government, a move violating a United Nations embargo on all sides of the civil war.[49] Additionally, between 2004 and 2007 it was reported that over 300 Iranian operatives had entered Bosnia-Herzegovina.[50]

Latin and South America

Hezbollah also carried out terrorist attacks in Argentina,[51] and killed 241 Americans in the 1983 suicide bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut.[52] On Aug. 21, Iranian President Ahmadinejad nominated Ahmad Vahidi, wanted for his part in planning the 1994 Argentinean attack that killed 85 at a Jewish community center, as defense minister.[53]

Hezbollah is very active in Venezuela, Bolivia and Uruguay, as well as other Latin American countries, seeking to plan new attacks against Israeli or Jewish targets in the continent.[54] In 2009, the anti-American Hugo Chavez of Venezuela continued to strengthen his ties with Iran.[55] Additionally, Hezbollah has been using Mexican smuggling routes, to smuggle drugs and people into the United States, in order to bring in money to finance terrorist operations.[56]

Attacks on U.S. and British citizens

In 1988, an Iran-backed terrorist organization was responsible for the kidnapping, torture and murder of Col. William Higgins, a U.S. Marine officer serving under a UN mandate in Lebanon.[57] Additionally, Iran has placed a death warrant on British author Salman Rushdie, attempted to assassinate him in 1989 and has kept a $2.5 million bounty on him.[58]

Asia

North Korea and Iran have maintained strong ties. In 2007, the two countries signed a cultural and scientific exchange plan.[59] Additionally, North Korea has shared its nuclear technology know-how with Iran[60] and North Korea has provided arms and training to Hezbollah through this relationship.[61] Such ties have also involved rocket experiments; in May 2009, a Scud missile reportedly tested by North Korea, Syria and Iran killed more than 20 people in a Syrian market.[62]

********************

Footnotes:

[1] Katz, Yaakov, “Over 60 tons of advanced arms and missiles found on vessel” The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 4, 2009,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256799077483&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

[2] Katz, Yaakov, “Over 60 tons of advanced arms and missiles found on vessel” The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 4, 2009,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256799077483&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

[3] Waghorn, Dominic, “Hamas Rocket ‘Could Hit Tel Aviv From Gaza’,” Sky News, Nov. 4, 2009,
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Israel-Claims-Hamas-Has-Test-Fired-Rocket-That-Could-Hit-Tel-
Aviv-From-Gaza-Hamas-Is-Denying-Claims/Article/200911115433590?lpos=World_News_First_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15433590_Israel_Claims_
Hamas_Has_Test_Fired_Rocket_That_Could_Hit_Tel_Aviv_From_Gaza%2C_Hamas_Is_Denying_Claims;
Teibel, Amy, “Israel, PM accuse Iran of war crime over arms ship,” Associated Press via The Baltimore Sun, Nov. 5, 2009,
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-ap-ml-israel-arms-boat,0,251054.story

[4] “Gaza rockets can now hit Tel Aviv,” UPI, Nov. 3, 2009,
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2009/11/03/Gaza-rockets-can-now-hit-Tel-Aviv/UPI-73651257283344/

[5] “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gaza Facts,” Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nov. 4, 2009. http://www.mfa.gov.il/GazaFacts/

[6] “Explosions at Two Hezbollah Arms Caches in villages in South Lebanon” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. Oct. 14, 2009, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah_e0142.htm;
“Behind the Headlines: The Second Lebanon War – Three years later,”  Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, July 12, 2009, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/The-Second-Lebanon-War-Three-years-later-12-Jul-2009.htm

[7] “State Sponsors of Terrorism,” U.S. Department of State, Apr. 30, 2009,
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2008/122436.htm

[8] Mansharof, Y., “Calls in Iran to Topple Egyptian, Saudi Regimes,” Middle East Media Research Institute No. 479, Dec. 12, 2008, http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA47908

[9] O’Toole, Pam, “Rice: Iran is terrorism ‘banker’,” BBC News, Feb. 17, 2006,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4722498.stm, accessed July 7, 2006

[10] Harding, Thomas, “Taliban ‘using missiles from Iran to target British troops,” The Daily Telegraph, May 22, 2007; Gordon, Michael R.; Shane, Scott, “Behind U.S. Pressure On Iran, Long-Held Worry Over A Deadly Device In Iraq,” The New York Times, March 27, 2007

[11] Levitt, Mathew A., “Islamic extremism in Europe,” Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, United States House of Representatives, April 7, 2005,
http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/lev042705.pdf

[12] Thomas, George, “Iran trains ‘ultimate martyrs,’” Christian World News, May 12, 2006,
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/CWN/051206Iran.asp;
International Institute for Strategic Studies, “Iran’s nuclear programme,” Strategic Comments, Volume 12, Issue 1, Feb. 2006

[13] Thomas, Pierre, “Some Experts Fear Hezbollah Attack in the United States,” ABC News, July 28, 2006, http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Mideast/story?id=2246657;
“Hezbollah may activate sleeper cells,” United Press International, May 22, 2006, http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2006/05/22/Hezbollah-may-activate-sleeper-cells/UPI-82771148307908/

[14] “State Sponsors of Terrorism,” U.S. Department of State, Apr. 30, 2009,
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2008/122436.htm

[15] Partlow, Joshua, “U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html?hpid=topnews

[16] Rotella, Sebastian, “In Lebanon, Hezbollah arms stockpile, bigger, deadlier,” The Los Angeles Times, May 4, 2008,http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/04/world/fg-hezbollah4

[17] U.N. Security Council Resolution No. 1701, Section 15,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785963.stm

[18] Hughes, Robin, “Iran Replenishes Hizbullah’s Arms Inventory,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, Jan. 3, 2007

[19] Fisk, Robert, “Hizbollah turns to Iran for new weapons to wage war on Israel,” The Independent, Apr. 8, 2008, http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/hizbollah-turns-to-iran-for-new-weapons-to-wage-war-on-israel-805763.html

[20] Shiffer, Shimon, “Hezbollah suspected of setting camp in Venezuela,” YnetNews, Aug. 13, 2009,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3761491,00.html

[21] “Rafah: Gazan escapes clashes to Egypt, child hit by bullet,” Ma’an News Agency, Aug. 16, 2009, http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=219187

[22] Country Reports on Terrorism, Chapter 6- State Sponsors of Terror Overview-Iran,” U.S. Department of State Web site, April 28, 2006,
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/64337.htm

[23] Wurmser, Meyrav, “Iran-Hamas Alliance,” Hudson Institute, Oct. 4, 2007,
https://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=5167

[24] “Iranian Support of Hamas,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Jan. 12, 2009, p. 20,
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/iran_e004.pdf

[25] “Senior Hamas operative figure tells London Sunday Times’ Gaza Strip correspondent about Iranian and Syria military aid, detailing the training received by hundreds of Hamas terrorist operatives and describing the transmission to Hamas of Iranian technical know-how for the manufacture of rockets and IED,” The Intelligence and Terrorist Information Center, Mar. 17, 2008,
http://www.terrorisminfo.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_160308e.htm;
Colvin, Marie, “Hamas wages Iran’s proxy war on Israel,” The Times, Mar. 9, 2008,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3512014.ece

[26] Cohen, Yoram and Matthew Levitt, “Hamas Arms Smuggling: Egypt’s Challenge,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Watch #34, Mar. 2, 2009,
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=3020

[27] Cohen, Yoram and Matthew Levitt, “Hamas Arms Smuggling: Egypt’s Challenge,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Watch #34, Mar. 2, 2009,
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=3020

[28] “Iran says 70,000 volunteer for Israel fight,” The Associated Press, Jan. 5, 2009,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3Y3DBA09cm20SrlOg47GI4Ixp4gD95H5LI00

[29] “Seizing of the Palestinian weapons ship Karine A,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jan. 2, 2002, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2002/Seizing%20of%20the%20Palestinian%20weapons%20ship%20Karine%20A%20-

[30] Partlow, Joshua, “U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html?hpid=topnews;
“U.S. commander: Iran still supports Iraq attacks,” USA Today, June 30, 2009,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2009-06-30-odierno-iraq-iran_N.htm

[31] Gordon, Michael R.; Shane, Scott, “Behind U.S. Pressure on Iran, Long-Held Worry Over a Deadly Device in Iraq,” The New York Times, March 27, 2007

[32] Burns, John F., Gordon, Michael R., “U.S. Says Iran Helped Iraqis Kill Five G.I.’s,” The New York Times, July 3, 2007

[33] Wright, Robin, “Iranian Flow Of Weapons Increasing, Officials Say; Arms Shipments Tracked To Iraqi, Afghan Groups,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/02/AR2007060201020.html

[34] “Iraqis find Iranian-made rockets after US attacked,” AP, Aug. 19, 2009, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD9A584680

[35] Rubin, Alissa J., “U.S. Suspects That Iran Aids Both Sunni and Shiite Militias,” The New York Times, A12, April 12, 2007

[36] “Iranian fighters tracked in Iraq, general says,” USA Today, Aug. 19, 2007,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-08-19-fighters_N.htm

[37] “Police: Iranian fighters in southern Iraq,” UPI, Sept. 23, 2008,
http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2008/09/23/Police-Iranian-fighters-in-southern-Iraq/UPI-24701222206742/

[38] Straziuso, Jason; Daniszewski, John, “General: Iran aid to Taliban is strategic,” Newsday (Associated Press), June 12, 2006.

[39] Farmer, Ben, “Iranian Weapons Getting through to Taliban,” Telegraph, June 8, 2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/5477283/Iranian-weapons-getting-through-to-Taliban.html;
Wright, Robin, “Iranian Flow Of Weapons Increasing, Officials Say; Arms Shipments Tracked To Iraqi, Afghan Groups,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2007;
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Blair, Tony, “What I’ve learned,” The Economist, May 31, 2007,
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9257593

[40] Harding, Thomas, “Taliban ‘using missiles from Iran to target British troops,” The Daily Telegraph, May 22, 2007

[41] Joscelyn, Thomas, “Iran and the Taliban, allies against America,” The Long War Journal, July 28, 2009, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/07/iran_and_the_taliban.php

[42] Levitt, Mathew A., “Islamic extremism in Europe,” Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, United States House of Representatives, April 7, 2005,
http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/lev042705.pdf

[43] McElroy, Damien, “Iran election: Tehran backs Hizbollah operations around world,” Telegraph, June 26, 2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/5651837/Iran-election-Tehran-backs-Hizbollah-operations-around-world.html;
Levitt, Mathew A., “Islamic extremism in Europe,” Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, United States House of Representatives, April 7, 2005,
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[44] Sasinini, Guglielmo, “Hizballah Planned Attacks in Rome and Paris,” Libero, Jan. 31, 2008.

[45] “Iran’s new president glorifies martyrdom,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 945, July 29, 2005, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP94505

[46] Colvin, Marie, Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter, “Iran suicide bombers ‘ready to hit Britain’,” The Sunday Times, April 16, 2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article706132.ece

[47] Razi, Farhad, “20 Terrorist training camps in Iran uncovered,” Global Politician, March 1, 2006,
http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=1639&cid=2&sid=4

[48] Partlow, Joshua, “U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2007,
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[49] Jehl, Douglas, “U.S. Looks Away as Iran Arms Bosnia,” The New York Times, April 15, 1995,
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[50] “More than 300 Iranian Intelligence operatives entered BiH from 2004 to 2007,” March 6, 2009,
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[51] “Breakthrough made in ’94 Argentina bombing,” MSNBC, Nov. 9, 2005,
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[52] Murphy, Jarrett, “Beirut Barracks Attacks Remembered,” CBS News, Oct. 23, 2003, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/world/main579638.shtml

[53] “Iranian Cabinet Nominee Wanted in Argentine Attack,” The New York Times, Aug. 21, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/21/world/AP-ML-Iran.html?_r=1

[54] “Hezbollah operation in S. America,” UPI, Aug. 13, 2009,
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[55] Shiffer, Shimon, “Hezbollah suspected of setting up camp in Venezuela,” YnetNews, Aug. 13, 2009,
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[56] Carter, Sara, “Exclusive: Hezbollah uses Mexican drug routes into U.S.,” The Washington Times, March 27, 2009, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/27/hezbollah-uses-mexican-drug-routes-into-us/

[57] Weinraub, Bernard, “U.S. Says C.I.A. Believes It Is Probable Higgins Was Killed Before Monday,” The New York Times, Aug. 3, 1989, http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/03/world/us-says-cia-believes-it-is-probable-higgins-was-killed-before-monday.html

[58] Loyd, Anthony, “Tomb of the unknown assassin reveals mission to kill Rushdie,” Times Online, June 8, 2005, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article531110.ece

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[61] Mohammed, Arshad, “North Korea may have aided Hezbollah, LTTE – U.S. report,” Reuters, Dec. 13, 2007, http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-30964520071213

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The Israel Project is an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. The Israel Project provides journalists, leaders and opinion-makers accurate information about Israel. The Israel Project is not related to any government or government agency.

By Rabbi Tzvi Nightingale,  www.aish.com

Was that my father standing behind the barbed wire?

Looking through some photographs I found inside a drawer
I was taken by a photograph of you
There were one or two I know that you would have liked a little more
But they didn’t show your spirit quite as true
-Jackson Browne

My father has three birthdays. Yes, three. His biological birthday is May 10, 1924. When he came to Canada after the war, he was too old to qualify as an orphan, so he had to rearrange his age a bit and make himself younger. 5/10/24 became 10/5/27 and he was now born on October 5, 1927. (Please don’t tell the Canadian government about this. I would hate to see him deported at this stage of his life.) Oddly, our family has been celebrating this completely fictitious birthday ever since.

My father was finally liberated from Dachau on April 29, 1945.

But it is his third birthday that he speaks about with the most emotion; the one that carries the most meaning for him. He spent years in various forced labor and death camps after his town of Staszow, Poland was liquidated by the Nazis in 1942. He was finally liberated on April 29, 1945 from Dachau concentration camp in Germany. My father has never been one to speak at length about his experiences as a survivor of the Holocaust, but he does talk about this one particular day. Among other things, I have heard him praise the American army for quickly delousing the inmates soon after they freed the camp. Being free from the Nazi hell and from the lice that infested his body for so long gave him a new lease on life.

The day after Yom Kippur I went to my office and did what I do after every Yom Kippur — not much. Not only am I tired from the fasting and teaching, but truth be told, I find the next day to be a bit of a downer. After intensely thinking about life, God, goals and being a better person, and trying to inspire 150 people who come to our Aish center for services, I am just not up to the everyday mundane grind that comes rushing back. So trying to recapture some of the seriousness and meaning of Yom Kippur, I found myself on YouTube and typed in “Dachau” in the search box. The top of the list was a film called Dachau Concentration Camp Liberation.

It was not a sophisticated piece, by any means. It consisted of photos slowly being panned to the background music from Schindler’s List. There were photos of soldiers approaching the camp and arresting surrendering Nazis, a bird’s eye view of the camp and photos of the main entrance and a gate with the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei.

A picture appeared of an American soldier walking on a wall perpendicular to a building, and I wondered, If my father were to see this short film, would he remember some of the structures and buildings? I briefly thought of showing him the film but knew I would not follow through due to his extreme sensitivity whenever the subject of the Holocaust comes up. In all the years I have known my dad, I have only heard snippets here and there.

At 1:50 into the film a photo appeared that made me hit the pause button. It was a relatively clear photo, a close up of sorts, of three inmates behind barbed wire, all smiling and waving — presumably at their saviors. The short man on the left has an overcoat, obviously given to him by one of the soldiers. The man on the right with the moustache is taller and appears to be saluting. They are wearing the familiar striped concentration camp garb.

And the man in the middle looks like my father.

Could this really be my father?

I began to stare intensely and analyze every detail of the physical features to see if they match my dad’s. The widow’s peak hairline, the shape of the face, the somewhat larger ear, the gap between his front teeth — all were consistent with his look. Could it be? Could this really be him? I kept asking myself. But the trait that made me think it was him the most was the shape of his waving hand. I have always noticed this about my father, how his index finger curls and seems slightly raised higher than his middle fingers and how his thumb comes to almost meet them. Today, thanks to his arthritis, his hand is almost frozen in that position, and this was the shape of the hand of the man in this photo.

I immediately emailed the link to my three brothers in Toronto with the subject line, “Something very weird” and told them to pause the film and tell me what they think. By next morning, they agreed that this could indeed be our father in the photo.

Then things got a little complicated. We were faced with the dilemma of showing this photo to my father. Will it bring back too many painful memories? Should we subject him to an image of himself from so long ago of the most horrible time in his life? What effect would possibly seeing himself in Nazi prisoner garb have on his psyche?

My oldest brother, Reuben, has always been closest to my father ever since he went to work for him in his meat packing plant at the age of 15. My dad gave him the most noxious job there to discourage him from working at Grace Meats, but packing tripe did not turn Reuben away. They have been very tight ever since. Reuben felt that we should think this through and “sit on it” for a while. “He has not seen the photo for all these years, another day or so will not change things.”

Sid, the next oldest brother and the peacemaker in our family, agreed. Murray and I wanted to show it to him but for the time being we deferred to the elder siblings. But the following day Murray came up with a Solomonic solution: Let’s show the picture to my dad’s one surviving sibling, Henya, who was with him in the camps earlier in the war and would be able to recognize if this indeed was him.

Murray called me that morning on his way to Auntie Henya. I told him to call me on my cell as soon as he spoke with her. Murray called me at 12:30 pm. “She was unequivocal – it’s him. And not only that, but the man standing next to him with the overcoat was his childhood friend, Herschel D.”

With that Murray then called my dad and asked if he wished to see a photo of himself on the day of his liberation from Dachau. He did. Murray went up to his condo and showed him the picture. With tears in his eyes my father declared, “Yeah, that’s me.”

On April 29, 1945 a handful of photos of the liberation of Dachau were taken by Robert Spring, an X-Ray technician serving with the 59th Evacuation Hospital of the U.S. Army Medical Corps. There were 32,000 inmates on that day and most of the photos taken by soldiers were of men too skeletal to discern their identities, too grainy to see any specific faces, or group shots taken from far away. But Mr. Spring decided to take one photo of a random group of nameless survivors whom he would never see again.To the Nazis, the man in the photo was prisoner number 147 963 and for 64 years and five months it was a photo of a nameless prisoner experiencing freedom for the first time in many years.

On the day after Yom Kippur in the year 5770, Tuesday September 29, 2009, it was discovered that the smiling inmate in Nazi prisoner garb was not just prisoner 147 963 , and he was not a random nameless survivor that a heroic soldier happened to capture on camera. He was born Icek Nachtigal, Yitzchak Dovid ben Reuvain, and he goes by the name of Irving Nightingale. He was born on May 10, 1924 but he will tell you that his real birthday is April 29, 1945.

And he is my father.

The photo we found.

By Shmuel Rosner– Chief U.S. Correspondent, www.Haaretz.com

(written in 2007 when Letters From Nuremberg was first published)

There are too many Jews around here, thought the prosecutor, Thomas Dodd. “Col. Kaplan is now here, as a mate I assume for Commander Kaplan. Dr. Newman has arrived… it is all a silly business.” In the prosecution team of the Nuremberg trials, in which Nazi high officials are indicted, there is no need for such number of Jews, that’s what Dodd was thinking. “One would expect that some of these people would have sense enough to put an end to this kind of parade.”

“Grace, my dearest one,” thus Dodd opens many of his letters from those stormy days to his wife. They are very personal, and let the reader peep into the nature of relationships between Thomas and Grace. But these letters also constitute a fascinating historical documentation of the many back stage events of the Nuremberg trials. Dodd was the right hand man of Judge Robert Jackson, the leading prosecutor. He later became a Congressman and a Senator. The letters he sent are now published in a new book, Letters from Nuremberg, authored by his son, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, with the help of a friend, Lary Bloom. One should assume that timing it is no mere coincidence: Dodd is now running for President.

Focusing of the too-much-Jews letter doesn’t do justice to Dodd. There’s no reason to believe that he didn’t want them around him because of personal dislike or racist prejudice. “You know how I have despised anti-Semitism,” he writes to his wife, who stayed at home, in the US, while he was spending more than a year abroad. The trials failed to make the case against the Nazi persecution of the Jews. They were blamed for war crimes, but left unspoken the truth about the nature of the war they have declared against one particular nation.

“Jews should stay away from this trial – for their own sake,” Dodd explains. He doesn’t want them to supply anti-Semites and isolationists with ammunition – afraid of a possible growing sentiment to describe the war as “war for the Jews.” His son, the Senator, added a foot note reminding readers of comment made by Charles Lindbergh, leading the anti-war movement, back in 1941. Three forces are pushing America to get involved in the war, he said: The Brits, the President, the Jews.

Senator Dodd told me that he doesn’t necessarily agree with the sentiment articulated by his father in the letter sited above. He is convinced, though, that this was an honest assessment. Thomas Dodd really thought the number of Jewish members in the team was bad for the Jews themselves. There was no doubt in the son’s mind that the letters should be published in full, not censored. While speaking to three Jewish reporters about the book, he focused more on its political implications, in the broader sense, that on the events of those long-gone times.

Much more than the content of any letter, this is the really controversial side of this book. The son is using the father’s writings to promote his beliefs regarding foreign policy, the international law, human rights. Quoting them, he is trying building a case against the Bush administration, blaming it for a “fundamental shift” in America’s policy, as far as international norms of justice and the rule of law are concerned. Dodd argues that there’s a stark difference between the way America chose to react to the crimes of the Nazis, hence, his fathers’ letters, and the path it has taken after the events of September 11. In conversation, Dodd agrees that the differences between now and then are more than cosmetic. However, the first part of the book is mostly dedicated to drawing the political lessons he sees fit.

“Civilized nations respond differently,” Dodd says, armed with the proof: these newly released letters. Civilized nations do not execute, hold people in secret prisons indefinitely, circumvent the courts – but rather prosecute. The letters show that this is what the father believed. But most of them don’t deal with politics, or philosophy, but rather describe the daily struggles of a man in a unique position. In the morning, he was questioning Hitler’s deputy, Rudolph Hess; in the evening writing about it to his wife, “He is gone mentally and I doubt that he can answer for his offenses.” In the next letter he describes an encounter between Hess and Herman Goering, the Air-Force chief and second in command to the Fuhrer. “Don’t you recall me?” he asks Hess. “I am really very sorry,” Hess replies. “It is genuine,” writes Dodd. He really couldn’t recognize him.

In one of the most dramatic moments of this trial, Dodd was the one presenting to the world the shrunken head of a Polish prisoner. The photo depicting him holding this dreadful piece of evidence is still memorable. The head was used as a paper holder at the office of a Nazi officer. But from the letters, one learns about the personal relations that developed between Dodd and some defendants. Franz Von Papen, short-time deputy to Hitler and one of the few to be found not guilty at the end of the trial, is called “my friend Papen.”

Dodd the father died relatively young, at the age of 64. His political career ended in turmoil and he was censured by the Senate for personal usage of public funds. His son, as one expects, wants this book to serve as a tribute to the better days of the father (he had many good days and some achievements as a legislator too). He said that publishing the letters now, a decade after they were discovered, is the culmination of a long and slow process. There are many family members involved, and making decisions takes time. If he doesn’t mention the campaign as a reason, one should assume that it is only because this will be just stating the obvious.

No dramatic revelations can be found in this book. But it is a fascinating history lesson, and a great way to learn more about the people taking part in the trial of the century. And as it is always with people, much space is dedicated to rivalries, maneuvers, egos. “The worst of [Colonel Robert] Gill, however, is his disloyalty to Jackson,” writes Dodd about one member of the team. But he also remembers that this is not the everyday trial, that he is playing a part in one great drama. “I like the assignment,” he writes. “It is an important and worthwhile one.”

www.nydailynews.com

Dare defend yourself from terrorist attacks and risk international war crimes prosecution.

That is the lesson of the October 16 action by the UN Human Rights Council, which voted 25 to 6, with 11 abstentions, to endorse the Goldstone Report, a document that brands Israelis as war criminals for trying to stop deadly rocket-fire from Gaza 10 months ago.

Ever since Israel’s 2005 pullout from Gaza, Israeli civilians were battered by thousands of mortars and rockets launched by Hamas in its war to destroy the Jewish state and kill its people.

And, straight from the terrorist textbook, Hamas was assembling and launching its rockets from civilian neighborhoods, near mosques, near schools, near hospitals.

Late last year, Israel finally launched a military offensive to stop the terror. Wherever and whenever civilians might be harmed, Israel’s military dropped leaflets to urge civilians to clear out. An innovative new technique of “knocking” on roofs with non-exploding noisemakers was employed as well, to give ordinary Palestinians every opportunity to save themselves.

Because, it was Israel’s objective to punish and disarm the terrorists, no one else.

For this, the Human Rights Council – already known for its anti-Israel bias – opened an investigation, producing a report calling the terrorists and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) equally culpable. Equally guilty of crimes against humanity.

The Council has now formally ratified this libel and urged Israeli and Palestinian authorities to demonstrate that they are investigating the alleged crimes. Or else the charges will be referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

In fact, Palestinian Authority officials recenlty visited that court to argue for its jurisdiction over these matters.

Which means Israeli commanders who set out to defend innocent people from indiscriminate attacks, with painstaking plans to protect civilians in the process, could wind up alongside the butchers of Darfur, alongside those tried at Nuremberg.

Only five nations stood with the U.S. in opposition: Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Good for them.

We have to ask, again, what’s the use of Americans sitting on the Council, spitting into its hurricane-force winds? 25 nations are party to the crime—among them: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia. Shame on them. Do you see a pattern?

France and Britain were among the abstainers. Unlike the abstaining dictatorships, the democracies should have known better; so, double shame on them.

As Elie Wiesel once said, “Silence in the face of evil is always on the side of the aggressor.”

By Amy Teibel, Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon on Sunday that Israel “will not hold back” when attacked and holds the Lebanese government responsible for any assault on his country.

Netanyahu delivered the warning after two rockets fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Friday. Israel responded immediately with artillery fire, and the exchange ratcheted up persisting tensions between the two countries.

“We view this very gravely,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet. “We will not hold back when Israeli territory comes under fire, and will not reconcile ourselves to missile fire or any other form of terror directed at Israeli citizens.”

It was not immediately known who fired the rockets Friday. But radical Palestinian factions in Lebanon have been blamed in four firings at Israel this year.

The Israel-Lebanon border has been tense since Israel mounted a monthlong war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in the summer of 2006. More than 1,200 people in Lebanon and 160 Israelis died in that conflict, which ended in a United Nations-brokered truce.

On Sunday, Netanyahu put the onus of maintaining the cease-fire squarely on the shoulders of the Lebanese government.

“We see it responsible for all these violations and hostilities directed at our territory that originate from Lebanese soil,” he said.

Hezbollah has a large rocket arsenal, but is not believed to have used them against Israel since the 2006 fighting. It has denied involvement in previous rocket attacks on Israel.

But friction between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated as Lebanese politicians wrangle over the formation of a new government. The Hezbollah-led opposition would likely be a part of that cabinet.

In mid-July, a suspected Hezbollah arms depot exploded near the Israeli border. Israel said this was proof the group was rearming and stashing weapons in populated villages.

Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper reported Sunday that the U.N. force in Lebanon, which was beefed up significantly after the war to monitor the border, had been warned of a possible attack 10 days earlier.

The U.N. force relayed this information to the Lebanese army two days before the attack, the report said.

A spokesman for the U.N. force, Milos Strugar, said an investigation under way “is pointing in the direction of some extremist groups.” He did not elaborate.