Jewish Life Digital Edition February 2014

ROUND-UP NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD HOLOCAUST HISTORIAN TO RETURN AWARD T EX T C OM P I L E D B Y L I Z S A M UE L S THE GORDIAN KNOT? Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, said in a recent interview that he could accept an Israeli military presence in the West Bank for a three-year transition period as part of a peace deal. But he added, “Whoever proposes 10 or 15 years for a transition” was not serious about an agreement. The question of who should be responsible for security, particularly in the Jordan Valley, and for how long, has been crucial in the American-brokered peace talks between the Mahmoud Abbas Israelis and the Palestinians. Israel has long insisted it can depend only on its own soldiers, not an international force, with some leaders suggesting they might stay for 40 years or more. Palestinian officials have said they could not tolerate even a single Israeli soldier patrolling their future state, though they have acknowledged that some transition period would most likely be required. Abbas, speaking at a conference organised by the National Security Studies, added, “We are willing to allow a third-party to take Israel’s place during and after a withdrawal in order to soothe our concerns and Israel’s.” He suggested NATO could be “the suitable party”. Addressing the problem of refugees and establishing a Palestinian state roughly along the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital would “be an acceptable, lasting and legitimate solution”. He said Hamas, the militant Islamic faction that runs the Gaza Strip, had signed an agreement with him supporting the negotiations process, and “is not a problem”. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the same event, said “the Palestinian state must be demilitarised”, and that any deal would require “security arrangements that are embedded in the hands of Israel so we will be able to secure ourselves and protect ourselves”. Two senior ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition expressed deep scepticism about any prospects for peace. Naftali Bennett, the leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party, sharply criticised some of Netanyahu’s proposals, particularly a recent suggestion that some Jews in outlying settlements might live under Palestinian sovereignty in a future agreement. “Why can’t Palestinians rule over Jews? Because they’ll kill them,” said Bennett, who advocates annexing large swaths of the West Bank. “Why should Jews live in Tel Aviv with Israeli sovereignty and in Eli and Hebron under Palestinian sovereignty? Open up the Book of Genesis and form an opinion. I demand that this idea be removed from the agenda.” He warned, “Our forefathers and ancestors and our descendants will never forgive an Israeli leader who gives away our land and divides our capital.” 6 JEWISH LIFE ISSUE 70 Holocaust survivor and historian Randolph L Braham will return a State Award to Hungary in protest over what he says are government efforts to rework history and gloss over the country’s role in the Holocaust. Braham also asked the Holocaust Memorial Center in Budapest to remove his name from the BrahamTheque Information Center, which collects his research results and publications. He said the memorial was “a cowardly attempt to detract attention from the Horthy regime’s involvement in the destruction of the Jews and to homogenise the Holocaust with the ‘suffering’ of the Hungarians – a German occupation, as the record clearly shows, was not only unopposed but generally applauded.” Miklos Horthy was Hungary’s leader of World War II. Braham’s two-volume, The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary, from 1981, for which he received the Medium Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic, is considered to be the definitive work on the subject. The Hungarian government, under the leadership of prime minister Viktor Orban, has also been criticised on several occasions for allowing statues of Horthy to be set up by farright groups. BROTHERS IN ARMS The Hayat brothers – 24-year-old Miki and 20-year-old Yehuda – are the first in the Orthodox community in Bnei Brak to teach the martial art technique, ‘Capoeira’, and have set up a dojo (training room) where they tutor nearly 200 students. Capoeira originated in Brazil during the 16th century. It has been called a cross between dance, gymnastics and kung fu. Low sweeping moves are the hallmarks of the style when used in combat. Dr Yaakov Wise, an academic expert on Orthodox Judaism at Manchester University, England, explained, “While Judaism forbids any form of aggressive behaviour not connected with self-defence, participa ѥ

Jewish Life Digital Edition February 2014 | Page 10