Archivo de 7 Abril 2007
Members of the Tribe / Forgotten exodus, forgotten community 
By Amiram Barkat
Every Pesach, while most Jews in the world are gathering to mark the Exodus from Egypt, a few Egyptian-born Jews try to evoke the memory of the "second Exodus." Between 1948 and 1956, nearly 80,000 Jews left Egypt, half going to Israel and half to various Western countries. Within eight years, the most modern, diverse and best-educated Jewish community in the Mediterranean region disappeared. Perhaps it is the heterogeneity of Egypt's Jews that is to blame for the fact that their collective memory evaporated so quickly, far more quickly than that of the Jews of Poland, Germany or Iraq.
"The history of Egyptian Jewry has been preserved in only a few books, a handful of studies and one small academic center. Two elderly people, one in Alexandria, the other in Cairo, are trying to preserve what remains of the formerly vast property of a community more than 3,000 years old. Only a few Jews in the world today know the story of Egypt's Jews.
To the eyes of a visitor, the Jewish community center of Alexandria, at 69 Nebi Daniel Street, is like a flowering garden in the middle of a desert. Large buildings surrounded by cultivated ornamental gardens stand in the heart of a filthy, neglected quarter that was once the city's magnificent center. This is the relic of a happy time when Alexandria belonged more to the Mediterranean at its feet than to the Arabian desert at its back.
Alexandria became one of the most important Jewish centers shortly after it was built in 325 B.C.E. In the first century A.D. it was home to the famos Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria. In modern times, it was the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 which transformed Alexandria into a vibrant, growing city, a magnet for migrants. Greek, Italian, French, English and Armenian were spoken in the city, in addition to Arabic. The 35,000 Jews who lived in Alexandria prior to World War II were fluent in all or most of those languages. In 1884, they built the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, one of the largest and most resplendent Jewish houses of worship in the world.
The synagogue, which easily held a thousand worshipers, is now an abandoned structure in the heart of the compound. Only the names of the community's wealthy patrons are still affixed to their seats on shiny brass plaques. Also abandoned are the rabbinical court, the high school and other community structures. The old-age home and the 17 synagogues scattered around the city were shut down long ago. Fewer than 10 Jews now live in Alexandria. The community's president, Dr. Max Salame, 94, is the last ember of the city's Jewish population.
Rich past, tragic present
Although Cairo was built by the Arabs a thousand years after Alexandria, the Jews of Cairo have a history which is just as rich, and a present which is equally tragic. For centuries, Karaite and Rabbinic Jews lived side by side in Cairo. (Karaites reject the Talmud as a source of religious law, relying on the Bible only.) At the end of the 12th century, Cairo was the most important Jewish center in the world, largely due to Moses Maimonides (the Rambam). The second great contribution of Cairene Jewry was the Cairo Geniza, a collection of hundreds of thousands of documents relating to the everyday life of the community. It was stored in the attic of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fostat (Old Cairo) for centuries before being discovered by Solomon Schechter in 1896.
Only a handful of Jews remained in Cairo after 1967. The luxurious villas the rich Jewish families built on the bank of the Nile became museums or foreign embassies, but most of the community's property was preserved. In fact, it was the Israel-Egypt peace treaty in 1979 that dealt a heavy blow to the community, because of the tremendous momentum it lent to the illegal commerce in Judaica and other valuables.
In many cases these liquidation sales had the blessing of the community's leaders. The Ben Ezra Synagogue, which was renovated and restored with the generous assistance of the Bronfman family, is nearly the only structure that escaped the looting.
Cairo's Jewish community today, like that of Alexandria, consists of only one person. Carmen Weinstein, a businesswoman in her seventies, is courageously attempting to preserve the remains, under impossible conditions. The Egyptian press routinely accuses her of having ties with Israel's Mossad. For the more militant of former Egyptian Jews, Weinstein is a traitor who seeks to transfer community property to the Egyptians in exchange for financial reward.
Famous Egyptian-born Jews include Israeli author Haim Sabato, British businessman and politician Sir Ronald Cohen and the U.S.-based media mogul Haim Saban. No influential Egyptian-born Jews, however, have sponsored efforts to save community property remaining in the country or to commemorate the community's magnificent past. Jews of Egyptian origin around the world have established many organizations, but most are one-person shows that waste their time on struggles for honor and prestige. Some, like author and peace activist Prof. Ada Aharoni of Haifa, dedicate themselves heart and soul to preserving the memory of Egyptian Jewry, but regrettably they are too few.
Only 50 years have passed since the second exodus from Egypt, but the term refers to the dismantling of a community whose existence no longer means anything to most of the world's Jews.
7 Abril 2007
IDF airstrike kills militant in northern Gaza Strip
By News Agencies
Israel Air Force helicopters fired into the northern Gaza Strip early Saturday, killing a Palestinian militant and wounding two others in what local residents described as the fiercest exchange of fire between Israel Defense Forces troops and Palestinian militants since a November truce.
A spokesman from Islamic Jihad said that IDF helicopters fired on the militant, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and Islamic Jihad gunmen as they were standing near the Gaza security fence.
The Islamic Jihad added that its militants and members of another group had been mounting an operation near the fence when the exchange of fire occurred.
An IDF spokesman said the helicopters opened fire after identifying "suspicious movements" near the border fence where militants had been operating and trying to plant explosive devices.
The residents said IDF tanks had entered the area but the IDF denied this.
On Monday, Defense Minister Amir Peretz authorized the army to carry out limited operations just inside Gaza against militants, despite a cease-fire agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinians in November.
Some militant groups have carried on firing rockets into Israel from Gaza despite the truce, and Peretz said Israel would "not allow the continued strengthening and arming" of militants in the coastal strip.
Tensions are running high in Gaza despite the formation of a unity government on March 17 between the ruling Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.
A Gunbattle in the Gaza town of Khan Yunis on Friday left at least one member of Hamas and one member of Fatah injured, local residents and rescue workers said.
Al-Aqsa head in Jenin Zubeidi lightly wounded by IDF fire
The commander of the Jenin branch of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Zakariya Zubeidi, was lightly wounded in an exchange of gunfire with IDF troops in a refugee camp in Jenin on Saturday, Palestinian sources said.
The sources stated that Zubeidi was wounded in his shoulder and is in stable condition. The IDF has confirmed that troops did shoot an armed Palestinian in Jenin.
Also in Jenin on Saturday, a large explosive device was detonated next to an IDF jeep and unknown gunmen fired on the jeep. No one was wounded in the incident.
7 Abril 2007
Nuevos informes condenan violaciones a los derechos humanos en Cuba y Venezuela
EE.UU. y la OEA adiverten de la difícil situación en ambos países.
Por Eric Green
Redactor del Servicio Noticioso desde Washington
Washington - Estados Unidos y la comunidad interamericana están unidos al condenar la represión de los derechos humanos en Cuba y Venezuela.
El Departamento de Estado dijo en un nuevo informe sobre derechos humanos, emitido el 5 de abril, que a finales del año 2006 en Cuba había por lo menos 283 prisioneros políticos.
El informe indica que miles de otros ciudadanos en Cuba han cumplido
sentencias en 2006 acusados de "peligrosidad", a falta de de cualquier
actividad criminal. Además el informe habla de las palizas y abusos a los
detenidos y prisioneros, incluidos a los activistas de derechos humanos,
que se aplican con impunidad, así como de las duras condiciones en las
prisiones, amenazadoras para la vida humana, lo cual incluye negación de
cuidados médicos.
El gobierno cubano utiliza el concepto de "peligrosidad" como intento de
justificar la detención de sus ciudadanos, implicando que esas personas
tienen supuestamente una "inclinación especial" a cometer delitos.
Al mismo tiempo, una entidad encargada de los derechos humanos en la
Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA) indica en su reciente informe
que el pueblo cubano está sometido a una "violación permanente y
sistemática" de sus derechos fundamentales. Treinta y cuatro países de las
Américas y el Caribe son miembros de la OEA. Cuba, que es estado miembro,
tiene suspendido participar en la organización desde 1962.
La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos expresó su preocupación en
su informe emitido el 29 de marzo sobre las "precarias" condiciones de
detención de 79 líderes del movimiento disidente cubano sentenciados a
prisión en abril de 2003, así como por la situación de otros prisioneros
políticos. Varias personas detenidas han sido maltratadas físicamente por
las autoridades carcelarias así como han sido objeto de largos períodos de
aislamiento, lo que ha causado un serio deterioro a su salud física y
mental, indica el informe de la comisión. (Ver artículo relacionado (
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-spanish&y=2007&m=March&x=20070321174824liameruoy0.8143579
))
Eric Watnik, portavoz del Departamento de Estado, dijo al Servicio
Noticioso desde Washington el 4 de abril, que la comisión de la OEA ha
citado de modo continuo durante años el hecho de que en Cuba hay un
"registro abismal en derechos humanos, subrayando la responsabilidad de los
Estados, según la carta de la OEA, de respetar los derechos individuales
fundamentales de sus ciudadanos".
El Departamento de Estado, según Watnik, considera que la OEA puede tener
"un papel constructivo en la ayuda a una transición auténtica a la
democracia en Cuba, y el informe de la OEA marca un hito importante al
destacar el derecho del pueblo cubano a disfrutar los elementos esenciales
de una democracia representativa tal y como se contempla en la Carta
Democrática Interamericana".
SITUACIÓN EN VENEZUELA
En relación con Venezuela, el Departamento de Estado informó que la
situación de los derechos humanos en 2006 estuvo caracterizada por la
"politización de la judicatura y el acoso de los medios y de la oposición
política".
El informe indica que las violaciones de derechos humanos en Venezuela
incluyen muertes ilegales, desapariciones con la participación de las
fuerzas de seguridad, tortura y abuso de detenidos, duras condiciones en
las cárceles, arrestos y detenciones arbitrarias, y ataques a los medios
independientes.
El informe expresa que la estrategia estadounidense para promover la
democracia y los derechos humanos en Venezuela consiste en apoyar los
esfuerzos de los ciudadanos del país para fortalecer la sociedad civil
independiente.
El informe de la comisión de la OEA sobre Venezuela plantea su preocupación
por la administración de justicia en el país, el problema de los sicarios y
la "impunidad con que se informa de ejecuciones extrajudiciales por parte
de agentes" del gobierno venezolano.
Las muertes extrajudiciales son particularmente preocupantes en Venezuela.
Más de 6.370 personas fueron víctimas de homicidios cometidos entre 2000 y
2005 por "agentes" de las fuerzas de seguridad del Estado en Venezuela,
indica la comisión. El informe dice que apenas 100 de esos agentes han sido
condenados por estas muertes.
La comisión expresó particular frustración ante la falta de cooperación del
gobierno venezolano para permitir una visita en el lugar para inspeccionar
la situación de los derechos humanos en Venezuela. La última visita local
de la comisión a Venezuela tuvo lugar en mayo de 2002. Desde entonces, la
comisión explicó que "ha venido solicitando infructuosamente al Estado,
tanto verbalmente como por escrito" autorización para hacer otra visita a
Venezuela.
La comisión dijo que la "imposibilidad" de que sus representantes visiten
uno de sus estados miembros "por falta de anuencia o voluntad política" por
parte del gobierno de Venezuela se "contrapone el espíritu mismo que llevó
a los Estados a crear los entes del Sistema de protección de derechos
humanos" en el Hemisferio Occidental.
Las secciones relacionadas con Cuba y Venezuela en el informe del
Departamento de Estado, Apoyo a los Derechos Humanos y la Democracia: el
Historial Estadounidense en 2006 está disponible, en inglés, en su sitio
electrónico.
Las secciones del informe de la OEA relacionadas (
http://www.cidh.org/Default.htm ) con Cuba y Venezuela están disponibles en
el sitio web de la organización.
Para más información ver Cuba (
http://usinfo.state.gov/esp/home/regions/central_america_caribbean/cuba.html
), América Central y el Caribe (
http://usinfo.state.gov/esp/home/regions/central_america_caribbean.html ) y
América del Sur (
http://usinfo.state.gov/esp/home/regions/south_america.html ).
(El Servicio Noticioso desde Washington es un producto de la Oficina de
Programas de Información Internacional del Departamento de Estado de
Estados Unidos. Sitio en la Web: http://usinfo.state.gov/esp)
************************************************************
La Oficina de Programas de Información Internacional del
Departamento de Estados Unidos distribuye WF-Noticias.
Puede encontrar información adicional en
http://usinfo.state.gov/esp/
7 Abril 2007
