 |
 |
 |
|
|
Israeli flags line the sidewalk outside the community Holocaust Remembrance day event in LA, Sunday. (AP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Israel Insider staff and partners April 24, 2006 |
|
| |
 |
| Holocaust survivor, Esther Hancz, 83, raises her hand as a survivor of the holocaust during a community Holocaust Remembrance day event at Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles, Sunday. (AP) |
| |
Israel's consul general in New York said Sunday that the world needs to take a tougher stance with Iran and warned that a "strong" and "determined" Israel will never allow another Jewish Holocaust.
"It's important that the world understands that this is not an Israeli issue, it's a world problem, and the world must stop Iran," Arye Mekel said. "At this time, we would hope that the Security Council of the United Nations would impose economic and political sanctions against Iran. Let's be clear: That country cannot, cannot have nuclear weapons."
Mekel delivered his pointed remarks at Hunter College during the Annual Gathering of Remembrance, which commemorates the deaths of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Joining Mekel was New York Senator Charles Schumer and U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, who also warned about the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran.
Israeli officials believe Iran could be just a few years away from obtaining the capability to make nuclear weapons, and they view Iran as a gathering threat.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims his country's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes but has said Israel should be wiped off the map and that the Holocaust didn't happen.
Mekel said Israel will protect Jews from Iran or terrorist groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah.
"We are strong and we are determined, and our youth is as strong as ever in this noble idea of defending the Jewish people and the Jewish state," Mekel said.
Bolton told the crowd of several hundred that Iran gives fresh meaning to the Holocaust and its survivors, many of whom attended Sunday's event with their families.
"When a country like Iran seeks a nuclear weapons capability under the leadership of a man who denies the Holocaust, it is the reason why this prospect of the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction weighs so heavily on the president as he contemplates the risk to the United States and all of its friends and allies but in particular the risk of a second, a nuclear, holocaust," Bolton said.
Schumer also had strong words for Iran, calling Ahmadinejad a "madman." But he warned against other threats to Jews.
"In Europe itself," he said, "we see a vehement double standard against Israel and the Jewish people. We see countries recognizing a government, Hamas, dedicated to killing Jewish women, children and men."
Schumer said there was little difference between the Nazis and Hamas.
Hamas might not use gas like the Nazis, he said, "but the result is the same."
The central ceremonies for Holocaust Remembrance Day in the evening and the following morning in Israel are held at Yad Vashem - The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority and memorial museum. On Monday evening, April 24th, 2006, in the presence of the President of the State of Israel and the Prime Minister, dignitaries, survivors, second and third generations will gather together with the general public to take part in the memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem in which six torches, representing 6 million Jews are lit.
Olmert says Iranian nuclear program threatens Western civilization
Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday urged the international community to work against the Iranian nuclear program, saying Tehran's ambitions threaten not only Israel but all of Western civilization.
Israel has long identified Iran as its biggest threat, and these concerns have grown amid repeated calls by Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for Israel's destruction.
"From the point of view of seriousness this tops the state of Israel's list, it is potentially an existential threat," a government statement quoted Olmert telling the weekly Cabinet meeting.
"The Iranian nuclear program should concern many countries, especially those with global responsibility," Olmert said, adding that the international front against Iran should include the United States, Europe and other Western countries.
Iran this month announced it enriched uranium for the first time, a process that can be used to build atomic weapons as well as for electricity generation.
Iran on Sunday said its nuclear program is irreversible, rejecting a U.N. Security Council deadline to end the enrichment.
The U.S., Israel and some Western allies charge Iran is using the program as a cover for weapons production. Iran says it is designed only for power generation.
Iran also supports the Palestinian and Hizbullah terrorist groups.
AP contributed to this report.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
