Judge Dorner and the recommendations of her commission of inquiry concerning Israel's treatment of Holocaust survivors are being ignored by the Israeli government.
Yet again
Judge Dorner, chairperson of the governmental investigative commission in the
matter of assistance to Holocaust survivors, and the Israeli Prime Minister are
located on two sides of the ethical divide. While the Dorner Commission
concluded that the allocations given to the survivors must be linked to 75% of
the allowance paid by Germany
to Israel
for each survivor, and that this recommendation should be implemented
immediately, the Prime Minister is trying, yet again, to buy time. The
disagreement over time is much more important than that over the amount, as
time acts to the detriment of the survivors, almost all of whom have reached an
advanced age.
Each day
that passes decreases the financial debt of Israel to the Holocaust survivors. The
government’s decision to postpone discussion of these recommendations to 2009
means delaying implementation by one year, which means disinheriting thousands
more survivors from what they deserve, and already today not so many survivors
remain. This is not only daylight robbery, but also crass desecration of the
memory of the Holocaust and its victims. The State of Israel exists thanks to
the Holocaust of European Jewry, and in two ways: firstly, without the
destruction of European Jewry and the existence of hundreds of thousands of
survivors-refugees whom no state wanted, it is doubtful whether the
international community would have given its support to the establishment of
Israel, at a time when the world was beginning a process of decolonialisation. Secondly,
a majority of the payments were given by Germany
to Israel
and not to the survivors and families of the victims. Under pressure of the
international Jewish committee and the Zionist Histadrut, Germany
decided to compensate the Jews collectively, through the State of Israel which
presented itself, with absolutely no justification, as the representative body
of world Jewry throughout the ages! The initial infrastructure of Israel was built thanks to the hundreds of
millions of dollars paid by West
Germany in compensation for the Holocaust of
European Jewry.
It must be
noted that in transforming Israel
into the representative of the destroyed communities in Europe
there is much bad taste, to say the least. As is known, the Zionist leadership
did not overextend itself to attempt and save European Jewry, neither prior to
nor during the war, even if it is correct to note that its abilities were
limited. Even on the level of empathy toward the victims and survivors, Israel does not
receive a good mark – again also to say the least. “The Seventh Million” of Tom
Segev brings endless testimonies which document the lack of sensitivity of the
Zionist leadership toward the victims of the Holocaust.
So much for
history. However, the behaviour back then pales in comparison to that of the
current leaders. Their delayed responses to the recommendations of the Dorner
Commission transform them into grave robbers, as simple as that. Stealing from
those who have nothing, in the light of day and with absolutely no compunction.
If not empathy and a sense of honour, then at least the debt owed by Israel to the
Holocaust survivors obligates it and its leaders to guarantee them a
respectable and comfortable old age. However, this is not the case! In Israel,
thousands of survivors subsist on the edge of hunger and endure living
conditions difficult to describe.
It is easy
to imagine what would happen if one state in the world would treat the Jewish
Holocaust survivors with a tenth of the cynicism that Israel demonstrates toward them: Israel and its
mouthpieces in the Western press would initiate a huge international campaign
against the anti-Semitic state that desecrates the Holocaust victims. However,
what is forbidden for Holland, France and of course Germany, is permissible for the
state of the Jews. And if this is the way in which the heads of state act
toward their survivor relatives, flesh of their flesh, the remainder of
European Jewry, how can it be expected that they will demonstrate empathy and
justice toward the local Palestinian population?
The
violation of Palestinian rights is of course a result of the Zionist
enterprise. The treatment of a few thousand elderly Jewish survivors puts the
cruelty toward the Palestinians in another light: the Zionist leaders are evil,
cold hearted and unfeeling.
And on a
more personal note: Two decades ago, Judge Dorner sat on the bench that
sentenced me to prison, and she even suggested increasing the sentence imposed on
me by the other judges. In light of the holy work she has done for the rights
of the Holocaust survivors, and her unwavering stance against the grave robbing
government, I forgive her from the bottom of my heart.
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