Censorship in Beirut

Taken from an oped in the Wall St. Journal on censorship in Beirut by William Marling:

A professor at the American University here recently ordered copies of "The Diary of Anne Frank" for his classes, only to learn that the book is banned. Inquiring further, he discovered a long list of prohibited books, films and music.

This is perplexing -- and deeply ironic -- because Beirut has been named UNESCO's 2009 "World Book Capital City." Just last week "World Book and Copyright Day" was kicked off with a variety of readings and exhibits that honor "conformity to the principles of freedom of expression [and] freedom to publish," as stated by the UNESCO Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Even a partial list of books banned in Lebanon gives pause: William Styron's "Sophie's Choice"; Thomas Keneally's "Schindler's List"; Thomas Friedman's "From Beirut to Jerusalem"; books by Philip Roth, Saul Bellow and Isaac Bashevis Singer. In fact, all books that portray Jews, Israel or Zionism favorably are banned.

Writers in Arabic are not exempt....

All of Jane Fonda's films are banned, since she visited Israel in 1982 to court votes for Tom Hayden's Senate run. "Torn Curtain" is banned: Paul Newman starred in "Exodus." And the television series "The Nanny" is banned because of Fran Drescher.

[....]

Even works by self-proclaimed Islamists such as Assadeq al-Nayhoum's "Islam Held Hostage," have been banned, and issued only when re-edited in sympathetic editions (in Syria).

Censorship is a problem throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Though a signatory of the Florence Agreement, the Academy of Islamic Research in Egypt, through its censorship board al-Azhar, decides what may not be printed: Nobel Prize winner Naghib Mahfouz's "Awlad Haratina" (The Sons of the Medina) was found sacrilegious and only printed in bowdlerized form in Egypt in 2006. Saudi Arabia sponsors international book fairs in Riyadh, but Katia Ghosn reported in L'Orient that it sends undercover agents into book stores regularly.

Works that could stimulate dialogue in Lebanon are perfunctorily banned. "Waltz with Bashir," an Israeli film of 2008, is banned -- even though it alleges that Ariel Sharon was complicit in the Sabra and Shatilla massacres. According to the Web site Monstersandcritics, however, "Waltz with Bashir" became an instant classic in the very Palestinian camps it depicts, because it is the only history the younger generation has. But how did those copies get there?

The answer is also embarrassing. Just as it ignores freedom of circulation, Lebanon also ignores international copyright laws. Books of all types are routinely photocopied for use in high schools and universities.

Mr. Marling is a visiting professor of American Studies at the American University of Beirut and professor of English at Case Western Reserve University.

Holocaust Denial

The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored murder of approximately six million Jews and many other victims by the Germans and their collaborators during World War II.

The Holocaust is one of the most thoroughly researched periods of history. The amount of existing research is enormous and growing constantly as historians pour through archives full of extant documents and artifacts. While important questions remain to be researched, nearly all trained historians who have studied this period agree on the basic facts: The Nazi's "Final Solution" was an official, systematic program of extermination of the Jewish race involving mass murder on an industrial scale which "succeeded" in killing between 5 and 6 million Jews, or approximately 1/2 of the Jewish population of Europe, before it was ended by the Allies' victory over Germany in 1945.

"Holocaust deniers" deny these well established facts about the Holocaust. They assert that the murder of approximately six million Jews during World War II never occurred and that the Germans are victims of a Zionist plot to extort vast sums of money from them on the basis of a hoax. Under a rallying cry created by Holocaust denier David Irving -- "Sink the Battleship Auschwitz!" -- they deny the existence of the poison gas chambers in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, as that camp lies at the symbolic core of the Holocaust and stands as the icon for Jewish suffering.

The goal of Holocaust deniers in the West is political -- they want to rehabilitate Nazism and fascism in general and Adolf Hitler in particular -- and to promote anti-Semitism and, at times, anti-Israel sentiment. Holocaust denial in the Arab and Muslim world seems to be driven primarily by the goal of undermining what is perceived to be a powerful justification for Israel's existence.

Although the number of active Holocaust denier authors is small, during certain periods they have been able to attract attention that is grossly out of proportion to their numbers and the level of their scholarship. Under the guise of a reasonable person's search for truth, Holocaust deniers spread falsehoods and misinformation that appears reasonable to the uninformed reader. Often times they claim the mantle of free-speech saying they are for “continued research” into a “complex” and “misrepresented” history; yet, their method is never truly historical. Deniers do not rely on artifactual and documentary evidence to create their hypotheses, instead they develop a history of opinion in which any manipulation or distortion of history is acceptable as one’s personal belief.

This website is designed to empower the open-minded reader to identify and reject the lies, distortions and misleading innuendo used by Holocaust deniers. Our Myth/Fact sheets concisely analyze each of the deniers' arguments and refute them with high quality scholarship. In addition, our online archive of trial documents from Professor Deborah Lipstadt's legal battle with Holocaust denier David Irving provides a wealth of detailed information.

Excerpt from: http://www.holocaustdenialontrial.com/en/denial

Learning the lessons of the Holocaust: Seneca Valley teacher wins international award for Holocaust curriculum. By Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Ga

"Teaching the Holocaust" in many schools means touching briefly on one of the most horrific chapters of human history and then moving on.

But Jim Lucot, a teacher at Seneca Valley High School in Butler County, had other ideas for his 11th grade class in U.S. history.

"You can't discuss Holocaust on Tuesday and be talking about the end of the war on Thursday," Mr. Lucot said. "That doesn't give a student any conceptual basis to begin understanding how it happened."

So he developed an in-depth curriculum that would give them that understanding. And in recognition of his efforts, he's been chosen for an international award from the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous in New York City, which has named Mr. Lucot the 2009 recipient of the Robert I. Goldman Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education.

He will receive the honor, plus a $1,000 cash award, before 800 people at the foundation's annual dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. The organization is covering the cost of the trip for Mr. Lucot and his wife.

Stanlee Stahl, foundation vice president, said the education committee chose Mr. Lucot for the depth and quality of his course, as well as his passion for extending his own knowledge through seminars, research and exploration.

"It's hard for history teachers in many school districts to teach the Holocaust for any length of time because of all the standards they have to teach to," she said. "He has been very creative in weaving the subject into his curriculum. And he's not in a school with a significant number of Jewish students."

Mr. Lucot, who is not Jewish himself, begins his World War II curriculum in 1890 with Kaiser Wilhelm II. He raises the specter of anti-Semitism in the first week of class, then weaves it all the way through World War I and the Weimar Republic, the Great Depression, the rise of Nazism and Hitler, "so students have a solid foundation on how the most educated country on that continent could begin to do something like this.

"By the time we get to Hitler, they know anti-Semitism existed way before him and was not hatched out of an egg when he came to power."

Mr. Lucot's class also looks at the Holocaust from multiple perspectives -- victims, perpetrators, rescuers, bystanders and liberators.

"We talk about all of it so they can try putting themselves in those shoes. I give them many provoking decisions to make. And I know it's working because they ask all kinds of questions, which they do not do in other sections. They are really interested in this subject."

The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous -- www.jfr.org -- was founded to provide financial support to needy, elderly non-Jews who risked their own lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. It is currently assisting 1,000 such rescuers worldwide. The foundation also conducts teacher education on the Holocaust and rescue through seminars, European study programs and the Alfred Lerner Fellowships, which are five-day intensive seminars at Columbia University where participants meet survivors, rescuers and experts.

Mr. Lucot is a former Lerner Fellow, nominated to the program by Edie Naveh, director of the Holocaust Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

"Jim is indefatigable in his constant effort to learn more about the Holocaust and that period of time, and to find the best ways of teaching the subject," she said. "He has tremendous dedication."

Mr. Lucot, 43, lives in Cranberry. A registered nurse, he decided about 10 years ago to become a teacher and began substituting at a Catholic high school where state certification was not required. When then-Gov. Tom Ridge began a program for professionals to get teaching certification, he enrolled, taking a class each semester for three years. Eventually he was hired by Seneca Valley.

"I really love it," he said. "I'm fortunate to do what I do."

He has 116 students in all, with 90 in U.S. history and the rest in honors government.

"Jim gets students involved making contact with veterans, doing research, encouraging the kids to seek out memorials to put relevance to the subject, like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island," said Mark Korcinsky, principal of the high school. "His classroom is wallpapered with flags and autographed pictures of guest speakers."

Mr. Lucot said he crams it all in by going "bell to bell.

"I keep adding to the curriculum without taking anything away. My World War II component is 350 power point slides right now."

Students come into his class with an interest in the Holocaust but not much knowledge.

"They want to know about it, but they are grossly misinformed. They've read an excerpt from Ann Frank and they think they know everything."

But they soon realize how much there is to learn.

Mr. Lucot said he's passionate about the subject because of its lessons for young people in contemporary society.

"If you look at the problems in the world today, most are based on racial and religious hatred," he said.

As for the award -- he's one of just two educators in the world being honored this year -- he's still trying to process it.

"I've met some amazing Holocaust educators and I've been thinking a lot about why they chose me. I think they know I was self-educated, so I'm a good model of what they can do with a teacher like that."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09331/1016620-298.stm#ixzz0Y4GCYITv

Gisella Perl: Angel and Abortionist in the Auschwitz Death Camp. By Anne S. Reamey

Gisella Perl was a successful Jewish gynaecologist in Sighet, Romania before the Second World War. She was best known for her innovative research into female reproduction. Over the course of her professional life she delivered thousands of babies, saved countless lives, and provided medical and emotional comfort to those in need.

In 1944 she, along with almost all of Sighet's Jews, was transported to Auschwitz, where she was put to work in the infirmary. In the years since the war, her role as a physician in Auschwitz has led her work to be cast under ethical scrutiny: Perl has been simultaneously considered a murderer by some and a saint by others. This controversy largely revolves around her role as an abortionist within the camp. The following article explores her life before, during and after the war aiming to provide a balanced view of her struggles and accomplishments.

to read more go to: http://www.holocaust-history.org/auschwitz/gisella-perl/

March of the living is an international, educational program that brings Jewish teens from all over the world to Poland on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, to march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest concentration camp complex built during World War II, and then to Israel to observe Yom HaZikaron, Israel Memorial Day, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day. This coming April over 14,000 teens will march silently together in solidarity.

Since it's inception in 1988 March of the Living has impacted over 150,000 Jewish youth from around the world. It has helped to bolster Jewish identity, made for them a way to build a closer connection with Israel and has set in motion their involvement with human rights issues. By witnessing the atrocities of the Nazis first hand, and hearing the stories from survivors directly, these young people are inspired to help build a world free of oppression and intolerance, a world of freedom, democracy and justice, for all members of the human family.

The worldwide economic climate has made this year an extremely difficult one for us. We are constantly searching for new partners and sponsors in order to continue ongoing efforts in teaching the lessons of the Holocaust and to help stop the phenomenon of Holocaust.

One of our main focuses right now is the preservation and documentation of our most precious resource, Holocaust Survivors. It quite conceivable that in the next 5-10 years there will not be any survivors left. One of the powers of the March of the living is the tremendous emotional connection our kids make by seeing with their own eyes, and hearing with their own ears. You can actually see a "light bulb" switch on, they understand that they are part of a people with vast culture and deep experiences.
Without the participation of the survivors, it isn't the same experience. That is why we are going to great measures to insure that future March participants will have the same experience and emotional connection.

The Marching of the Living "Survivor Speaks" program is one such way. Filming survivors, documenting their stories, sending messages to the future Jewish leaders of tomorrow. We are working to develop technology that would enable a hologram of a survivor to join the children throughout their journey, and guide them through their experience "first hand".

A donation to the March of the Living will help insure that our grandchildren will be able to stand up and proclaim "Never again!"



Chanan Elias
Executive Director of Resource Development
March of the Living International

Antisemitism in public schools

NaplesNews.com NAPLES — Ten North Naples Middle School students were suspended last week after district officials said they participated in “kick a Jew day.”

District Spokesman Joe Landon said a student told the dean of students at dismissal on Thursday that she was kicked because it was “kick a Jew day.”

The following morning Principal Margaret Jackson addressed the entire student body on the morning news regarding the incident, reviewing the code of student conduct, explaining why what happened was wrong, the need to respect one another and possible consequences, Landon said.

Jackson asked that anyone with information on the incident come to the office and speak with her or the assistant principal as they investigated the incident.

As a result, the district determined that 10 students should be punished. The students received a one day, in-school suspension, which was served today. The parents of the 10 students were also called and conferences with the parents followed the phone calls, according to Landon.

Parents of the students who were kicked were also notified of what happened, Landon said.

Landon said until further notice, the school will focus the first 20 minutes of each day on character traits, beginning with respect and kindness. Homeroom teachers will speak with the students about these traits and will focus on bullying prevention, he said. Videos on the topic will be sought out and used as part of the training, he said.

Landon said the first 20 minutes of the school day is normally used for reading time and tutoring time if students need help.

Welcome to March of the Living's new blog. Trying to spread consciousness in the world about Holocaust education. Dedicated to combating Holocaust denial.