1. SIMON
WIESENTHAL LEADERSHIP WITH A GLOBAL REACH
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Vol.1Issue6 Spring/Summer2013
2. SWC on the Frontlines:
France: With French Jewry still reeling from the murders of a
rabbi and three Jewish children in Toulouse last Spring, and
with a poll saying that 40% of France’s population feel that Jews
are too powerful in business, Center senior staff continues to
meet with senior French officials. Pictured with French Interior
Minister Manuel Valls (2nd left), who detailed his commitment
to do what is necessary to protect French Jews and their
institutions, are Rabbi Cooper SWC Associate Dean, Dr. Shimon
Samuels, SWC International Relations Director and Richard
Odier, President, SWC France.
Belgium: “Anti-Zionism:
The New Anti-Semitism?”
was the focus of Dr.
Samuels (pictured 2nd
left) at the European
Jewish Parliament (EJP)
Conference on “European
Integration and its Impact
on Anti-Semitism”. Dr.
Samuels was also the
keynote speaker at the
“The Diaspora Facing
Terrorism” conference in Paris attended by over 1200 academics,
members of the media, community activists, and politicians and is
newly-elected as a European Jewish Parliament member.
Lithuania: Authorities were
urged by Dr. Efraim Zuroff,
SWC Chief Nazi Hunter
to ban neo-Nazi marches
in Kaunas and Vilnius.
Since 2008, the marches
have incited against
the country’s, minorities
especially against the
small Jewish communities.
The SWC has also
fought against Lithuanian campaigns to promote historical equivalency between
Communist and Nazi crimes and against those who have glorified World War II
nationalists who actively participated in the persecution of Lithuanian Jewry during
the Holocaust. Also pictured: Vilnius activist Professor Dovid Katz.
Germany: Center officials have spoken out against campaigns to ban circumcision
and the kosher slaughter of animals across Europe including Germany, Switzerland,
Poland, Holland, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and beyond. In Berlin, Center
officials met with German Justice Minister Sabine Leuthuesser-Schnarrenberger
(pictured middle) ahead of hearings in the Bundestag which passed a law to protect
the right of Jewish parents to circumcize their infant sons.
HUNGARY: SWC officials met with Hungarian political leaders and members of
the Jewish community in Budapest following rising anti-Semitism, along with the
strong electoral showing of the xenophobic Jobbik Party, and the departure of
some of the country’s Jewish population.
DENMARK: A travel advisory was issued by the Center for travel to Copenhagen
in the wake of warnings by Israel’s Ambassador and others advising Jews not to
wearyarmulkes,jewelrywithreligioussymbols,ortospeakHebrewonthestreets.
BELGIUM: After Bulgaria blamed Hezbollah for a suicide bombing that killed five
Israelis, the European Union was urged by the United States and human rights
activists to place the Lebanon-based group on its terrorist list .
VATICANCITY: VaticancriticismandaGermancourtdecisionagainstaHolocaust
denying Bishop was hailed by the SWC .
SWEDEN: A Swedish gallery reluctantly removed a painting from its art exhibit
that used ashes of Jews murdered in Treblinka following protests by the SWC and
other groups.
Czech Republic: Justice
for Holocaust Survivors
and calls for restitution
of stolen property by
European governments
to help provide needed
care for Survivors was the
subject of the “Immovable
Property Review” Confer-
ence attended by Mark
Weitzman, the SWC’s
Government Affairs Direc-
tor, pictured with US Ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman
Eisen in Prague and hosted by the Czech Foreign Ministry.
EUROPE:
RESURGENT ANTI-SEMITISM
Photo: defendinghistory.com
FOLLOWSWCON WWW.WIESENTHAL.COM
3. 2012 TOP TEN ANTI-SEMITIC/ANTI-ISRAEL SLURS
Campaigns Targeting Israel
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood led by President Mohammed
Morsi, the Iranian regime, Hungary’s right-wing Jobbik party,
European (soccer) fans, Greece’s Golden Dawn party were
among those who made the SWC’s Annual Top Ten anti-Israel
Anti-Semiticslurslistof2012:www.wiesenthal.com/2012slurs
Campaigns aimed at wreaking the
greatest harm on Israel and its Jewish
and gentile supporters by furthering
theBDS(Boycott,DivestmentandSanc-
tions), movement took central stage at
the World Social Forum held in Porto
Allegre, Brazil. Dr. Samuels (right) and
Sergio Widder, Latin American Rep-
resentative (left), the only representa-
tivesfromaJewishorganization,witnessedtenthousandprotesters
marching with anti-Israel banners. Read Samuels and Widder’s
op/ed, Welcome to Porto Alegre, tropical hub for the global BDS
movement at wiesenthal.com/welcometoportoalegre
SWC SPECIAL REPORTS:
Iran Targets Israel: The Fateful Confrontation
www.wiesenthal.com/irantargetsisrael
BDS: The Anti-Peace, Anti-Semitic Poison Pill
www.wiesenthal.com/BDS2013
Extreme anti-Israel Brazilian
cartoonist Carlos Latuff, who is a past
winner of the Iranian government’s
International Holocaust cartoon competition, struck back at the
SWC by mocking Rabbi Hier (right) after being placed as number
three on the 2012 list for slandering Israel and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.
The inclusion of a leading German media figure on the Top Ten list fueled a raging
controversy on the scope of anti-Semitism in Germany today. Pictured is Rabbi Cooper
(left) at a Berlin press conference where he thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel
fordirectlyconfrontingvisitingEgyptianPresidentMorsiforlabelingJews‘warmongers’
and ‘sons of apes and pigs’ (right).
Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden with Rabbi Marvin Hier,
SWC Dean and Founder and Rabbi Meyer H. May, SWC Executive
Director at the Naval Observatory Residence in Washington, D.C.
where they discussed Iran and hopes for Middle East peace.
WASHINGTON DC
With VP Biden
At the White House
Concerns over Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government had Rabbi Hier reiterating
that, “anti-Semitism is the foundation of their foreign policy” to Samantha Power,
special assistant to President Obama and senior director for multilateral affairs and
human rights, (pictured left) during a White House meeting where Rabbi Hier (left)
expressed deep reservations about President Morsi and Egypt’s government and also
urged the Obama Administration to make the protection of religious minorities around
the world a priority. Also pictured, Rabbi Cooper (right).
A Historic First: Genocide Beamed into Iran
“Iran is the center of denial of the
Holocaust in the entire world,” Rabbi
Hier told the New York Times on the eve
ofInternationalHolocaustRemembrance
Day when, in an historic break-through,
the SWC’s Academy Award®-winning
documentary was beamed into Iran by
satellite with Farsi subtitles as a way to
debunk the Iranian regime’s ongoing
state-sponsored Holocaust denial and made possible through the cooperation of
exiled Iranian opponents to the regime. “This is a powerful way to debunk the
regime’s Holocaust denial,” added Rabbi Hier.
Translation:“Iammybrother’skeeper.Ihaveneverforgottenyou.”SimonWiesenthal
Official
White
House
Photo
by
David
Lienemann)
Photo:
MEMRI
TV
4. EVENTS
Los Angeles: Silver Linings
Playbook, the award-winning film
starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer
Lawrence, and Robert De Niro had
a screening and panel discussion
at the MOT which included the
filmmakers, experts and leading
voices in the mental health field.
Pictured, MOT Director Liebe Geft,
producer Bruce Cohen, writer/
director David O. Russell, and
Rabbi Hier.
Miami: Ambassador Yehuda
Avner (2nd left) author of The
Prime Ministers, Moriah Films’
newest documentary, spoke at
the home of George and Mariita
Feldenkreis (middle) in Miami
about the importance of the
Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem
project. Also pictured, (left-right):
Rabbi May, Rabbi Hier and Janice
Prager, SWC National Director of
Development.
New York: Newsweek magazine’s 2012 Most Influential Rabbi,
David Wolpe, was the featured speaker at the SWC’s annual
Dorothy Gardner Adler State of Anti-Semitism Lecture. Rabbi
Wolpe spoke about “A Different Look at Anti-Semitism – How Jews
Manage Anti-Semitism through the Ages”. Pictured, (left-right):
Rabbi Hier, Alan and Frances Adler, Rabbi Wolpe and Rabbi May.
Chicago: At the Chicago
premiere of the Simon
Wiesenthal Center’s Moriah
Films documentary, It is
No Dream: The Story of
Theodor Herzl, pictured (left-
right): Herb Franks, Eileen
Franks, Betty Sobelman,
Judy Franks-Farah, and
Illinois State Representative
Jack Franks.
Toronto: Close to 3,000 students from the Greater Toronto area
and beyond joined Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for
Holocaust Studies (FSWC) for the third annual Freedom Day. The
program commemorates the life and legacy of Simon Wiesenthal,
celebrates Canada’s rights and freedoms, raises awareness about
human rights, and empowers youth to effect positive change.
UPCOMING EVENTS
LOS ANGELES:
World Film Premiere
The Prime Ministers
April 24, 2013
National Tribute Dinner
Honoring Jim Gianopulos
CEO Twentieth Century Fox Film
June 11, 2013
TORONTO:
Spirit of Hope Gala
featuring Condoleezza Rice
June 13, 2012
NEW YORK:
Humanitarian Award Dinner
Honoring Kenneth M. Jacobs
Chairman & CEO, Lazard, Ltd.
October, 2013
Los Angeles: Former U.S. Senator
Christopher Dodd, current
Chairman and CEO of the Motion
Picture Association of America,
Inc., (right) with Rabbi Hier at an
event honoring Jeffrey Katzenberg,
CEO of DreamWorks Animation
and SWC Board Member who
received an honorary Oscar,
the Academy’s Jean Hersholt
HumanitarianAward.
Los Angeles: Speaker
of the U.S. House of
Representatives John
Boehner with Rabbi
and Mrs. Marlene Hier
at an event where
he spoke about Iran
and Israel and also
extended an invitation
toIsraeliPrimeMinister
Netanyahu to address
the U.S. Congress as
a show of bipartisan
supportforIsrael.
5. EVENTS
Washington DC: Then White House Chief of Staff and Secretary
of the Treasury-nominee Jack Lew (right) with Congressman Eliot
Engel (D-NY, 2nd left) with Rabbis Hier and Cooper at the White
House Chanukah celebration hosted by First Lady Michelle and
President Obama.
New York: Fashion Icon Tommy Hilfiger with Rabbi Hier at a lunch
held at the Leviev jewelry flagship store hosted by SWC supporter
Jona Rechnitz. Mr. Rechnitz will chair the forthcoming New York
premiere of the Moriah Films documentary, The Prime Ministers.
Los Angeles: Caroline Kennedy hosted the “JFK50: Justice for All” event at the MOT in
partnershipwithBinghamMcCutchenLLPandtheJohnF.KennedyLibraryFoundation.
Ms. Kennedy also participated in a panel discussion and tour of the MOT with 100 Los
Angeles-area high school students accompanied by Thurgood Marshall Jr. and Sylvia
Mendez, civil rights activist and 2011 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Los Angeles: Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren toured the
Museum of Tolerance and spoke to the Center’s Board of Trustees. Pictured are, (left-
right): Ambassador Oren, SWC Board Chairman Larry Mizel and Liebe Geft.
The Courage To Remember: A Quarter of a
Century... Six Continents...Teaching the
Legacy of the Holocaust to Millions
The Center’s landmark traveling exhibition on the Nazi Holocaust, The Courage To Remember,
has been shown throughout the world including all over North America, in Australia, South
Africa, Cuba, India, Thailand, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Czechoslovakia, Spain, France, Kenya,
and South Korea. It was the first exhibit on the Holocaust produced by a Jewish institution
to be officially shown in the Soviet Union and in China. In Japan alone, over 2,000,000
viewed the exhibit where Mrs. Yukiko Sugihara, wife of Chiuni Sugihara, Holocaust hero,
attended the opening. Courage
has been translated into
numerous languages including
English, French, Spanish,
Russian,Chinese,Japanese,Thai,
Estonian, and Croatian. Pictured
at the opening of Courage in
Mumbai, India (bottom right),
with students in Bangkok,
Thailand(top)andinCuba(left).
Cuba, 2013
Thailand, 2013
India, 2012
6. MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE LOS ANGELES
MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE
JERUSALEM
MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE NEW YORK
Celebrating 20 years
and over 5 million visitors
In celebration of the Museum of Tolerance’s 20th anniversary, volunteers and
Holocaust survivors gathered for a special commemoration on International
Holocaust Remembrance Day. Holocaust survivors share their stories of hope and
inspiration three times a day with Museum visitors. The Museum has hosted over
5 million visitors with 350,000 visiting annually including 150,000 students. Over
1.5 million children and youth have participated in the Museum experience and
its programs. Over 200,000 adults have been trained in the Museum’s customized,
professional development programs which include Tools for Tolerance®, Teaching
Steps to Tolerance, Task Force Against Hate, National Institute Against Hate Crimes,
Tools for Tolerance for Teens and Bridging the Gap.
Construction continues on the three-acre Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem site in the
heart of the city. Simon Wiesenthal Center Board Member, Ed Snider (L) hosted an event
where Ambassador Yehuda Avner, author of theThe Prime Ministers, lauded the Center’s
Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem project.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is pleased
to welcome accomplished Jewish leader,
Rabbi Steven Burg, as its new Eastern
Director. To find out about upcoming
events in New York or to visit the
Museum of Tolerance New York, go to
museumoftolerancenewyork.com
or call 212-697-1180.
A French interfaith group working on bridge-building between
MuslimandJewishcommunitiesandoutreachtopromotediversity
and inclusion toured the Museum of Tolerance and conferred
with Dr. Linda Blanshay, Director, Program Development, Beverly
LeMay, Director, Tools For Tolerance For Educators & Teens, Liebe
Geft and SWC Interfaith Director Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein.
Institute for Jewish & Community Research head Aryeh
Weinberg (left) spoke at the Museum of Tolerance
New York on “Anti-Semitism Today: Real or Not?” He
also addressed situations faced by students at Rutgers
University, Columbia University, UC Santa Cruz and
other campuses, and the recent events at Brooklyn
College where he accompanied SWC Campus Outreach
Director Rabbi Aron Hier (right) to a meeting with
Brooklyn College President Karen Gould (see page 7).
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