Obama during visit to Holocaust museum: ‘I will always be there for Israel’

[Scurrilous]

During his first visit to the Holocaust museum as President, Barack Obama pledges support for Israel against international anti-Semitism, while promising to ‘never forget.’

<snip>

"U.S. President Barack Obama visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington on Monday, with Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel.

Obama lit a candle in the museum’s Hall of Remembrance in front of the Buchenwald section in memory of victims of the Buchenwald camp, part of which was liberated by his great-uncle Charles Payne’s unit, the 89th Infantry Division, at the end of World War II."

<snip>

"Obama spoke about the lesson of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was celebrated in Israel last week. "I've stood with survivors in the old Warsaw ghettos, where a monument honors heroes who said, we will not go quietly, we will stand up, we will fight back. And I've walked those sacred grounds at Yad Vashem, with its lesson for all nations. The Shoah cannot be denied," said Obama.

Obama also pledged American support for Israel in the face of anti-Semitism. “ ‘Never again’ is a challenge to reject hatred in all of its forms, including anti-Semitism, which has no place in a civilized world. ‘Never again’ is a challenge to defend the fundamental right of free people and free nations to exist in peace and security, and that includes the state of Israel. And on my visit to the old Warsaw ghetto, a woman looked me in the eye, and she wanted to make sure America stood with Israel. She said, ‘It’s the only Jewish state we have.’ And I made her a promise in that solemn place. I said I will always be there for Israel.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/obama-during-visit-to-holocaust-museum-i-will-always-be-there-for-israel-1.426075

[oberliner]

1. This should be pinned to the top of this forum

For anyone who wants to know where our president stands when it comes to Israel.

[Jefferson23]

2. 'Hunger strike a signal to world's oppressed'

Khader Adnan recounts his 66-day fast in Israeli jail that has made him a symbol of Palestinian resistance.

Linah Alsaafin Last Modified: 21 Apr 2012 01:36


Adnan's 66-day hunger strike inspired others in Israeli prison to do the same [EPA]

When Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan called his mother at 11:30pm on Tuesday night, she burst into tears. "He told me, 'Mother I am on my way home,'" she said. “For the first time in months my heart was at ease again." For Palestinians, Khader Adnan has become a symbol of resistance and steadfastness, or sumoud, after he waged a 66-day hunger strike against the Israeli prison service. He began his hunger strike immediately after his violent arrest by Israeli soldiers on December 17, 2011. He was detained under what Israel calls "administrative detention", a policy adopted from the era of the British mandate. Under administrative detention, Israel can detain a prisoner for up to six months, renewable indefinitely, without ever charging the prisoner or presenting any evidence against them.

There are currently more than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, over 300 of those, in administrative detention. Adnan’s hunger strike, which eventually attracted international media attention and solidarity from around the world, inspired other administrative detainees to go on hunger strike. Hana Shalabi went on strike for 43 days before she was released and deported from her village in the West Bank to Gaza. Five others are now in the Ramleh prison hospital, including Bilal Thiab and Thaer Halahleh, who have not eaten for 52 days. After more than two months without food, Adnan’s lawyer brokered a deal in February with Israeli officials that saw him released on April 17. Coincidentally, that is the same day Palestinians commemorate Prisoners Day, which was marked this year by the open-ended hunger strike of 1,600 prisoners.

Sahar Francis, director of the Ramallah-based rights group Addameer, saw Adnan's hunger strike as a catalyst for this current mass hunger strike movement. "I definitely think the successful hunger strike of Khader Adnan and his release was a main feature in inspiring the 1,600 prisoners to carry out this act now, which is a continuation of what they began in September 2011," he says. "It should be noted that a successful hunger strike depends a lot on internal support, international pressure from the EU and UN, and the policy of the Israeli prison authorities."

Khader Adnan, who was was reunited with his family just before midnight on Tuesday, after visiting the families of the prisoners in Arrabeh, seven of whom are serving life sentences, later spoke to Al Jazeera.


Al Jazeera: You've undergone the most difficult experience of your life and have been separated for months from your family. Why did you first stop by the families of other prisoners before seeing your own, and how does it feel to be free again?

Khader Adnan: Every day we live through Prisoners’ Day and its special symbolism. I went to see the families of those imprisoned before seeing my own family as a token of appreciation for their support during my imprisonment and their enduring anguish at having loved ones behind the bars of the Israeli occupation.

in full: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/20124205447499671.html

[oberliner]

3. Khader Adnan is a member of Islamic Jihad

One ought to take a look at what that group stands for.

Or perhaps look at a list of the many terror attacks that have proudly taken credit for.

This man chose to be a part of that group.

He certainly should not be held with no charge, nor should he represent any kind of "symbol of the world's oppressed."

Islamic Jihad is a despicable organization that anyone who supports progressive values to any degree ought to have nothing to do with, at the very least, and vocally condemn.

[shira]

4. "Progressives" (Leftists) would rather condemn liberal zionists than Islamic Jihad...

Better yet, they'd label liberal zionists as rightwing kahanists/likudniks faster than they'd condemn vile, theocratic extreme rightwing Islamic Jihad murderous terror thugs who absolutely loathe women, gays, jews, christians....

Shows where their values are.

[azurnoir]

5. progressives tend to protest things like 'administrative detentions'

you know holding people sometimes for months or even years without charges

[Jefferson23]

7. You have no idea what you're talking about, none. n/t

[Jefferson23]

6. Israel must release or try Palestinian detainee on prolonged hunger strike

The Israeli authorities must release a Palestinian detainee or charge him with a recognizable criminal offence and promptly try him, Amnesty International said today amid fears the man could die in detention after more than 50 days on hunger strike.

Khader Adnan, 33, was arrested on 17 December 2011 at his home in the village of Arrabe near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli security forces burst into his home in the early hours of the morning.

Mr Adnan, a baker, is allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israel-must-release-or-charge-palestinian-detainee-prolonged-hunger-strike-2012-02-06

[oberliner]

8. Agree with that

What I don't understand is why you posted this story in a thread about the Holocaust.

[azurnoir]

9. well the thread was actually about Obama

the Holocaust was peripheral to that, which of course is quite lucky I would say as I seem to to remember 'someone' on DU2 claiming that the Holocaust had nothing to do with Israel of course the thread that the complaining was done on was deleted so of course you can claim you have no memory of this but I am sure some of us do

[oberliner]

11. No, the thread was actually about the Holocaust

I don't know if you are aware of this, but Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel was Wednesday, April 18, 2012.

The President visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC to honor that commemoration.

His comments and description of his visit are outlined in the article.

[azurnoir]

13. I was quite aware that that Holocaust Remembrance was last Wednesday it is you who

seems rather mistaken about the article in which literally every paragraph starts with Obama or US President Obama save one which starts with "Wiesel introduced Obama" now the article covers Obama's visit to the Holocaust museum not the Holocaust itself see the difference?

[Jefferson23]

10. Because there needs to be a focus on the endless refusal of the Israeli

government to end the occupation but instead talk about the alleged
threat from Iran as if there will be another Holocaust if they are not
dealt with...that's why.

[oberliner]

12. Still not seeing a connection between those sentiments and the OP

Does not make sense to me.

[Jefferson23]

14. That's ok, it makes sense to me. When remembrance of the Holocaust

becomes a moment to speak about Iran and the alleged threat, that is
an unfortunate decision.

[oberliner]

15. It's not ok

It is, in fact, insulting.

There is nothing in the OP about Iran.

[Jefferson23]

16. Then you are insulted for nothing I said, but merely an imagined one...just as you imagine

there is no influence from AIPAC or the Israeli government.

[oberliner]

17. You made a post on a thread about Obama's trip to the Holocaust museum

Presumably you thought your reply had something to do with that, otherwise what was the reason behind your posting it?

The explanation you've given (and your other comment) suggests that you find what you look for, whether it is there or not.

Edit to Add: Just to remind you and others, you posted in reply to the OP about Obama's visit to the Holocaust museum, an article (weeks old) about a member of Islamic Jihad going on a hunger strike and subsequently being released from prison in Israel.

Try to think about what message you are sending there (if you weren't aware of it initially, which appears uncertain).

[Jefferson23]

18. I already answered your questions, and you are free to re-read them if you like.

Post #'s 10 and 14. That you do not appreciate my responses is no concern
to me..you asked, I answered. And you can keep your advice btw.


And this is the second time you refer to Adnan as a member of Islamic Jihad despite the post
I presented from amnesty international. He is guilty according to you it seems despite that
the Israeli government did not prosecute and go forward with a trial.

snip* Following the State Attorney's Office announcement, the press and various web sites broadcast a video showing ‘Adnan exhorting attacks against Israeli civilians. B'Tselem reiterates its position that if there is evidence ‘Adnan engaged in illegal activities, the authorities should prosecute him, in a fair proceeding in which the specific charges, the investigative material and evidence are available to him and his attorneys. Administrative detention cannot be a substitute for the criminal justice process.

http://www.btselem.org/administrative_devention/20120223_adnan_ends_hunger_strike

[oberliner]

19. Adnan is a self-avowed member of Islamic Jihad

I don't say he is guilty of anything other than being a member of that group.

From Al Jazeera:

Khader Adnan had been arrested five times before he was married to Randa and three times since, largely for his political affiliation with the militant faction, Islamic Jihad. Over the years he rose to become their spokesperson in the West Bank, but was never active in their military wing, his family says, nor was he ever charged for such by Israel.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/02/201221984424541461.html

From Gulf News:

Born on March 24, 1978, he became politically active on behalf of the radical Islamic Jihad movement in 1996 while studying for a degree in mathematics at Birzeit University near Ramallah.

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/khader-adnan-no-stranger-to-hunger-strikes-1.984419

From Ma'an News:

The father of imprisoned Islamic Jihad Khader Adnan announced Monday that he will hold an open ended hunger-strike to show solidarity with his son.

Jihad leader Khader Adnan entered his 51st day on hunger-strike on Monday and his condition has been described as serious.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458276

[Jefferson23]

20. Uh huh.

snip from your OP* At the time of his most recent arrest he was no longer an active spokesman but the Israelis, and even the Palestinian Authority, had continued to harass him with periodic detention.

[oberliner]

21. Not every member of Islamic Jihad serves as their spokesman

I hope it has been made clear to you and anyone else reading this exchange that he was, in fact, a member of that organization. Every source indicates so including those citing his own family members. I will certainly concede that he was not their spokesman at the time of the arrest but I would hope that you would concede that he was a member.

[Jefferson23]

22. No evidence of wrong doing, no trial, only detained indefinitely by Israel's government, that was

my point, period. I think we may have taken this as far as reasonably possible.